Cashman’s Offseason Additions Paying Early Dividends

By Moshe Mandel On April 21, 2011 · 5 Comments · In Roster Decisions

Brian Cashman’s offseason was widely viewed as disappointing by Yankees fans and baseball pundits alike. The club missed out on , was moved to Milwaukee, and Cashman was left to pick up scraps. Even among the leftovers, some expressed discontent with Cashman’s choices, preferring players such as to the minor league contract crew of Freddy Garcia, , and . Cashman’s big move, the signing of catcher , came at a position of perceived strength and represented an addition of a player who had declined for 3 consecutive seasons. Taken together, these signings made for what appeared to be an underwhelming offseason.

However, 3 weeks into the 2011 season, all of Cashman’s bargain signings have performed well and contributed to a solid start for the team. Obviously, small sample size caveats apply, but thus far, there has been little to complain about when it comes to roster depth. has shown enough pop to suggest that he can replace at the plate, and he can actually play left field well enough to be put out there regularly. Russell Martin has been fantastic offensively, and is a clear improvement over the Posada-Cervelli tandem behind the plate. He’s done well enough to inspire musings about the possibility that he could be the Yankee catcher in the long term. has also looked excellent on both sides of the ball, giving the Yankees a legitimate option to protect ‘ health by giving him frequent days off.

On the pitching side of things, Bartolo Colon has looked nothing short of fantastic out of the bullpen, and was strong in his first start for the Yankees. Freddy Garcia also looked good in his lone start, giving the Yankees at least a glimmer of hope that they could get adequate performance from the back of their rotation.

One thing to remember is that one reason these players became available at such a cheap price is that a number of them have injury histories that could rapidly come into play and put a damper on their hot start. Chavez and Colon in particular have not been healthy for years, and 2010 was Garcia’s first full season since 2006. Martin has also dealt with a number of nagging injuries that sapped him of effectiveness at the plate. While it is exciting to see all of these players playing well, it is important to remember that this level of success may not be sustainable. Until the other shoe drops, however, Brian Cashman’s offseason bargain purchases are looking quite worthwhile.

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5 Responses to Cashman’s Offseason Additions Paying Early Dividends

  1. oldpep says:
    April 21, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    Not to be nit-picky, but the RP he signed isn’t performing at all, while the RP signing he criticized has been rather valuable.

    [Reply]

    Moshe Mandel Reply:
    April 21st, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    I don’t think Soriano has been all that valuable. In fact, Id say thus far, Cashman is winning that argument. As for Feliciano, agree totally. I didn’t include him because I don’t see him in the bargain category, but as I’ve said in the past, that deal is on Cashman.

    [Reply]

    Tom Swift Reply:
    April 21st, 2011 at 6:51 pm

    While Soriano has had a slow start, think how much worse the bullpen would be w/o him. Over a full season, Soriano will be valuable, even if his numbers slip from last season.

    [Reply]

    T.O. Chris Reply:
    April 21st, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    While I agree with you that over the course of a full year I think Soriano will more than show his value, as of right now Joba and Robertson are pitching well enough to be the 7th and 8th inning guys. Rafael makes the pen deeper, but for right now he hasn’t made it much better. I do like having Soriano for a night like last night though, trusting Robertson or Joba to close hasn’t always gone well so it was nice to have another closer to shutdown the game.

    It looks like Soriano is throwing harder though, I don’t re-call a single 88 last night and he got as high as 94 so hopefully the velocity he said was coming is.

    [Reply]

  2. Cashman's Offseason Additions Paying Early Dividends | New York … | Yankees News Source says:
    April 21, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    [...] post: Cashman's Offseason Additions Paying Early Dividends | New York … AKPC_IDS += "14454,"; AKPC_IDS += [...]

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