What We Know, What We Don’t Know, And What We Want to Know

The Rumor Mill is really kicking into high gear now that the GM meetings are in session and it is sometimes very hard to know what is true, half true, or just a pipe dream. Well, this is the way I see it.

First of all, I don’t believe there are high level anonymous sources in the Yankees front office that are leaking information. Brian Cashman is a smart man and I fully believe that any leaked information was intended to be leaked in order to better the Yankees position bargaining with free agents and the trade market. For example, multiple sources are saying that the Yankees are out on Bryce Harper. History tells us that anytime the Yankees are involved in negotiations with free agents the price goes up due to their deep pockets. Doesn’t it make sense to leak something like this out to keep the price low and then after all the other offers are on the table for the Yankees to come in and make their offer possibly saving millions of dollars? Brian Cashman is usually very evasive when it comes to answering questions directly so as not to worsen the Yankees bargaining position or break any of the many complicated tampering rules. The media has a way of twisting comments he has made to fit their story.

For example, I read a story titled “Yankees interested in bring back Happ and Sabathia.” This may be true, but the actual comment that Cashman made about Happ was “I would think that there’ll be a lot of interest in him, He has a great reputation throughout the game as a pro, and the performance level was exactly what we needed. So he put himself in a good position as a free agent.” This doesn’t mean that the Yankees are interested in bringing him back. It might, but the comment is too vague to draw that type of conclusion from.

Here are the facts as we know them from direct impossible to interpret any other way quotes coming directly from Brian Cashman.:

The Yankees are interested in trading Sonny Gray. (This is out of Cashman’s character to make such a direct statement, but he did)

The Yankees are making pitching a priority and will look under every stone in an effort to improve the rotation.

The Yankees are not, at this point, planning on moving on from Gary Sanchez.

The Yankees have brought back Brett Gardner and C.C. Sabathia each with a pay cut. (I have to admit I have my reservations about both these moves)

I personally hope that the Yankees are willing to put up some money to make the team better. Whether its Corey Kluber, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, JA Happ, Nathan Eovaldi or another, it is time to spend.

All this being stated, in Cash I Trust, and I think with his track record of success, so should you.