Pump the brakes on the Yankees blockbuster move
Patrick Zeng
@Roundtripper891
Brian Cashman is one of the best general managers in all of baseball. He might even be one of the best general managers in all of professional sports. With some great moves in his back pocket, Cashman was out to make a deal that would help spark a sputtering Yankees team that has the worst record in the MLB since mid June. Last night the Yankees acquired David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle as well as Todd Frazier from the White Sox for Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard and two other solid prospects, but don't expect it to be season saving.
The Yankees biggest needs have been well publicized at this point in the season. They need a first baseman as well as starting pitching over anything else. The bullpen additions are going to be really good for New York. Robertson helps to give more support to a struggling duo of Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances and gives Joe Girardi another option in the seventh or eight inning. Kahnle could actually be a really nice find. With a staggering 15 K's per nine this season to go along with a maybe even more impressive 1.8 walks per nine, it seems Cashman is trying to re-assemble the super bullpen that the Bronx Bombers had before dealing away Chapman and Andrew Miller last season.
So where's the problem in this deal? First, Todd Frazier is not a true first baseman. He has made 94 appearances at first base over his seven year career. That's an average of 13 appearances per season. And over the past three years he has only played 11 games total there. Frazier won't add much defensively with a .2 dWAR(the wins above a replacement level player solely based off of fielding, though for Frazier it is drawn from his time at third base) but that is an improvement over Chris Carter who was giving the Yankees a -.5 dWAR. The comparisons don't end there between Carter and Frazier. Carter who was widely looked at as a huge hole in the lineup hit to a tune of .201 this season with 8 home runs. Frazier is only hitting .207, but the increase in home runs will come as a welcome addition with his 16 at this point in the season.
In a perfect world for the Yanks, Yonder Alonso would have been the ideal move at first base for them. Coming off his first All Star game, Alonso is batting .267 with a .365 on base and 21 home runs. That type of offensive production would have had the ability to be a real game changer in the Yankee lineup.
The other part where this deal just doesn't all add up is the Yankees spent one of their top prospect trade chips in this deal in Blake Rutherford. Rutherford is a 20 year old lefty swinging outfielder that New York drafted 16th overall in last summer's MLB draft. While it does make sense to move Rutherford who would be stuck in a glut of Yankees outfielders with; Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, the albatross of Jacoby Ellsbury's contract and others, this doesn't seem like the deal it should have been in. The Yankees desperately need a top of the line starting pitcher to lead their rotation. A hot and cold Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Cessa is just not enough to make a run deep into October.
On the White Sox side of the deal, it's a no brainer. They sent off a pending free agent in Frazier, shed the final year and a half of David Robertson's huge contract and in doing so acquired even more solid prospects and paved the way for the top prospect in all of the MLB to be called up in Yoan Moncada. The White Sox now have 5 of the top 50 prospects in baseball and 8 in the top 100 according to Baseball America's rankings(@ChrisCotillo). Another great move for the south siders as they continue their full on rebuild.
This deal may turn out to be what the Yankees needed. Todd Frazier may catch fire in the sweltering heat of the Bronx summer and bash his way to 40 homers and hold down the fort at first base. The Yankees bullpen may channel the first half of last season and shorten games to where the lack of quality or depth in the starting rotation doesn't matter as much. The Yankees needed to make a deal to help turn things around before a promising season blows to the wayside like their counterparts in Queens, this one just wasn't the right one to make.
@Roundtripper891
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| Southsideshowdown.com |
Brian Cashman is one of the best general managers in all of baseball. He might even be one of the best general managers in all of professional sports. With some great moves in his back pocket, Cashman was out to make a deal that would help spark a sputtering Yankees team that has the worst record in the MLB since mid June. Last night the Yankees acquired David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle as well as Todd Frazier from the White Sox for Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard and two other solid prospects, but don't expect it to be season saving.
The Yankees biggest needs have been well publicized at this point in the season. They need a first baseman as well as starting pitching over anything else. The bullpen additions are going to be really good for New York. Robertson helps to give more support to a struggling duo of Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances and gives Joe Girardi another option in the seventh or eight inning. Kahnle could actually be a really nice find. With a staggering 15 K's per nine this season to go along with a maybe even more impressive 1.8 walks per nine, it seems Cashman is trying to re-assemble the super bullpen that the Bronx Bombers had before dealing away Chapman and Andrew Miller last season.
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| Chicago Sun Times |
So where's the problem in this deal? First, Todd Frazier is not a true first baseman. He has made 94 appearances at first base over his seven year career. That's an average of 13 appearances per season. And over the past three years he has only played 11 games total there. Frazier won't add much defensively with a .2 dWAR(the wins above a replacement level player solely based off of fielding, though for Frazier it is drawn from his time at third base) but that is an improvement over Chris Carter who was giving the Yankees a -.5 dWAR. The comparisons don't end there between Carter and Frazier. Carter who was widely looked at as a huge hole in the lineup hit to a tune of .201 this season with 8 home runs. Frazier is only hitting .207, but the increase in home runs will come as a welcome addition with his 16 at this point in the season.
In a perfect world for the Yanks, Yonder Alonso would have been the ideal move at first base for them. Coming off his first All Star game, Alonso is batting .267 with a .365 on base and 21 home runs. That type of offensive production would have had the ability to be a real game changer in the Yankee lineup.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55671987/usa_today_10155205.0.jpg) |
| Athleticsnation.com |
The other part where this deal just doesn't all add up is the Yankees spent one of their top prospect trade chips in this deal in Blake Rutherford. Rutherford is a 20 year old lefty swinging outfielder that New York drafted 16th overall in last summer's MLB draft. While it does make sense to move Rutherford who would be stuck in a glut of Yankees outfielders with; Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, the albatross of Jacoby Ellsbury's contract and others, this doesn't seem like the deal it should have been in. The Yankees desperately need a top of the line starting pitcher to lead their rotation. A hot and cold Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Cessa is just not enough to make a run deep into October.
On the White Sox side of the deal, it's a no brainer. They sent off a pending free agent in Frazier, shed the final year and a half of David Robertson's huge contract and in doing so acquired even more solid prospects and paved the way for the top prospect in all of the MLB to be called up in Yoan Moncada. The White Sox now have 5 of the top 50 prospects in baseball and 8 in the top 100 according to Baseball America's rankings(@ChrisCotillo). Another great move for the south siders as they continue their full on rebuild.
This deal may turn out to be what the Yankees needed. Todd Frazier may catch fire in the sweltering heat of the Bronx summer and bash his way to 40 homers and hold down the fort at first base. The Yankees bullpen may channel the first half of last season and shorten games to where the lack of quality or depth in the starting rotation doesn't matter as much. The Yankees needed to make a deal to help turn things around before a promising season blows to the wayside like their counterparts in Queens, this one just wasn't the right one to make.
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