Brian Cashman made a major miscalculation this offseason, but it’s one that could end up proving his success is about more than just dollar signs.
The Yankees were convinced Cliff Lee would be wearing Pinstripes this season, and while they were waiting for the lefty to make up his mind they watched as other free agents went elsewhere. The rival Red Sox signed Carl Crawford and traded for Adrian Gonzalez, moves that added two big lefty bats to an already dangerous lineup and made the signing off Lee more crucial for the Yankees.
It wasn’t until a couple of days before Lee signed with the Phillies that the Yankees realized a third team — other than them and the Rangers — were a serious player. Lee passed on Yankees dollars and took a discount to land back in Philadelphia, where he helped pitch the Phillies to the NL pennant in 2009.
Andy Pettitte followed with his decision to retire and the Yankees were suddenly left with CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and a bunch of question marks for their rotation. If we would have known then Hughes would be sporting a 13.94 ERA and be on the disabled list after three starts the panic level would have reached Mets levels.
With no high-tier options left, Cashman and the Yankees took a rare trip to the bargain bin where they found Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. With A.J. Burnett handed the No. 2 spot in the rotation because of his inflated salary, and Ivan Nova a prohibitive favorite for No. 4, Garcia and Colon spent spring training jockeying for the final spot in the rotation.
Colon was the better pitcher in Tampa, Garcia won the spot, but the Yankees were the big winners.
Garcia had 12 wins with the White Sox last year, so it would be no great shock if he could replicate that with Yankees. But Colon’s signing was met with fat jokes, and no one gave the robust 37-year-old righty much of a chance to make the team.
Cashman trusted his Winter League scouts who saw a little jump back in Colon’s fastball and gave him a chance. Even before limiting the Blue Jays to two runs over 6 2/3 in Wednesday night’s 6-2 win, Colon had been a precious commodity. He stepped in for Hughes in all three of his starts, and after giving up four runs before retiring five batters in his first outing against the Tigers, Colon has been spectacular. In that time he has allowed three runs over 16 innings and is a threat to stay in the rotation even when Hughes finds his fastball and comes off the DL.
The failure to sign Lee was just part of an odd offseason for Cashman. He was seen scaling walls and tending bar. He publicly admitted he was overruled by Yankees ownership in the decision to sign setup man Rafael Soriano to a three-year, $35 million deal. And Cashman made those comments at the press conference introducing Soriano. Speculation surfaced he wanted out of The Bronx.
Cashman used far less money to bring in Colon, Garcia, Russell Martin and Eric Chavez, all of whom have had impactful starts in their inaugural Yankees seasons.
If the Yankees had signed Lee, it would simply have been written off as another example of the Yankees getting their way by waving a checkbook. The same cannot be said of the others, particularly Colon, who would have taken a contract from anyone to get back in the big leagues.
He’s the anti-Cliff Lee, and the Yankees would be in a terrible spot without him.
