About the Off-Season: Too Smart for Their Own Good?

About the Off-Season: Too Smart for Their Own Good?

By Tim Kabel

November 12, 2025

***

When I was a kid, my parents were not wealthy. That is not meant in any way, shape, or form as a complaint, lament, or criticism. It's just a statement of fact. I was extremely happy as a kid and while there were certain things that I never had the chance to do, I don't consider that to be a tragedy and I don't really have any regrets except that I wish my parents could have lived longer. I lost my dad when I was 19 and my mom when I was 38. Again, I know there are people who had much worse situations. The point is that we didn't have lots of money lying around to spend on leisure activities and such. But my mother and father always found a way.

For example, there was a movie theater that ran matinees on Wednesdays that were very inexpensive. So, during the summer I went to the movies a lot on Wednesdays. It was great.

One of the things I wanted to do when I was a kid was to go fishing. Our neighbors had a pond. They said that I was more than welcome to go fishing there. The pond was full of bass, sunfish, and catfish. Now, as I stated above, we didn't have a lot of extra money. My father couldn't run right out and buy me a whole set of fishing gear, a fancy fishing pole, and everything else. However, my father was the most innovative and clever man I have ever known. He went into the woods and came back with a long, straight sapling. He took his Jackknife and trimmed off all the branches. He notched the top, drilled a little hole, and attached a length of twine. Then he went out and bought some fishhooks that were on a length of fishing line that had a loop on the end. He bought a bobber or two, dug up some worms and put them in a can with some dirt, handed me the pole and a bucket, and wished me luck.

When I went fishing that day, there were some other people fishing there as well. They had fancy fishing rods and reels and tackle boxes. They had glittering and shiny lures that sparkled and twirled and did just about everything except ring a dinner bell for the fish. Naturally, I felt a little inadequate with my handmade fishing rod. Of course, I was ridiculed. I was called “Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer”. The fact that I had taken off my shoes and was barefoot did not help my case. Well, I caught a fish. The other people did not. Then, I caught a second fish. Finally, I caught at least three fish as compared to the zero fish that the other people caught.

I was happy because I caught fish. I was not happy because they didn't catch fish. I was proud of my dad, and I kept that fishing pole for a long time. I wish I still had it, but I don't. I do have pictures of me holding it up along with the fish I caught. The point is that the other people who were fishing thought that they would have much more success than I would because they had all the latest and greatest equipment. I had a stick and some string.

Because they had carefully selected the newest and best equipment, they felt that they were smarter and had more expertise than the chubby kid fishing with the sapling and butcher's twine. It didn't work out that way.

When I read or hear about some of the moves that Brian Cashman and his team are pondering, I scratched my head. That isn't just the current moves. For example, a lot was made about the Yankees acquisition of Austin Slater from the White Sox at the trade deadline. Slater, who was 32 years old, was reportedly someone who could “mash” left-handed pitching. Well maybe “mash” means something different in Chicago than it does in the rest of the country. I was expecting someone who might hit like Manny Ramirez, Paul Goldschmidt, or Aaron Judge. I know those are very high standards but when you say mash, I think mash.

Overall, for the season, Slater batted .216. He had five home runs and thirteen RBI. It gets worse. As a Yankee, he was injured in his first game and played a grand total of 14 games. He had 25 at bats. He batted.120. His OPS was .240. He had zero home runs and two RBI. Austin Slater was not on the postseason roster for the New York Yankees. By the way, Austin Slater was not claimed off waivers by the Yankees. They traded for him. The Yankees gave up their number 18 prospect Gage Ziehl in the deal. Maybe those people  meant M*A*S*H*.

That trade was one example of Brian Cashman and his team of analytics experts seeing something that no one else saw. Worse, they saw something that didn't exist. For all the complaining that people did about Jasson Dominguez as a right-handed hitter, it was noted that he was improving in that regard as he gained more experience. Still and all, he was a better right-handed hitter for the Yankees than Slater was. Bringing Slater in to neutralize left-handed pitching was like bringing a kitten in to solve a mouse problem. It didn't work.

Over the years, Brian Cashman has gained a reputation for finding players that were overlooked or ignored by other organizations and then seeing them flourish when they came to the Yankees. Remember Matt Carpenter? Well, sometimes it seems that Cashman and company believe their own reputation too much. They try to force the issue. Seemingly, Cashman and his minions believe that if they acquire a player, because they know what they're doing, the player will automatically be successful. Even if the player hasn't been successful, the Yankees know what they're doing, and they see something there that will translate to huge success. Yes, that has been true sometimes. However, I think Cashman is looking at it backwards. It's the player who has the potential and the ability to be successful. It doesn't magically happen because Cashman and his staff pick the player out of the dustbin.

I read yesterday that the Yankees are considering acquiring Luis Robert, junior, another White Sox outfielder. He will be 29 years old and was once a highly touted prospect. He had a good year in 2023. Unfortunately, that year is over. The last two years were not good and there is little reason to suspect that 2026 will be any different. Cashman seems to think that the Yankees can acquire someone and work their magic with him by making changes or tweaking his stance or doing something to unlock the potential. Here's a thought, why don't they just get someone whose potential is already unlocked. This isn't This Old House with Bob Vela. We don't need to see Cashman as Bob Vila and Boone being Norm the Carpenter.

The Yankees don’t need to try to out-think every other team this offseason and show just how smart they are and then bring in somebody hitting .212. Sometimes you don't need a room full of analysts poring over their computers to know that Austin Slater isn't very good. Between 2024 and 2025, Slater played for five teams. That should tell you something. The Yankees need make good moves, not wildly creative moves that are unlikely to work. When you go fishing, the goal is to catch fish. It doesn't matter how fancy your pole is, if you don't catch any fish, the trip wasn't successful.