Is Trading Robinson Cano the Yankees’ Best Way to Retool for the Future?
May 25, 2012 · Zachary D. Rymer · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
When MLB‘s July 31 trade deadline rolls around, the New York Yankees will be looking to buy. ‘Tis a yearly custom of theirs.
This, however, is no ordinary year. It’s not unheard of for the Yankees to get off to a slow start, but this is the first season in a long time in which things are actually looking a little hopeless. The Yankees’ starting rotation is not as strong as it was supposed to be, their bullpen has lost Mariano Rivera and their lineup features a few too many aging stars.
So instead of buying, perhaps the Yankees will do something drastic.
Like, you know, selling.
Jason A. Churchill of ESPN.com (Insider access required) conjured an interesting notion on Thursday. He wondered aloud if the Yankees might decide to do the “seemingly unthinkable” by trading Curtis Granderson or Robinson Cano.
Woah, woah, woah. Really? Is this guy serious?
Kinda. Sorta. Not really.
Churchill admits that his idea is “just a thought” and “certainly not a likely scenario.” We are, after all, talking about the Yankees. This is a team that brings in star players. It doesn’t send them out.
There’s a reason Churchill came up with the idea, though (beyond it being his job). If any other team was having the kind of year the Yankees are having, talk of rebuilding would be prevalent. And indeed, the Yankees have the look of a team that should be blown up and rebuilt from scratch in the very near future.
Since they don’t have a strong farm system, dealing Granderson and/or Cano for prospects would make sense only in a parallel universe in which the Yankees are not the Yankees.
Cano especially. If he’s not the best second baseman in baseball, he definitely ranks among the top three. He’s an excellent left-handed hitter capable of hitting for both average and power, and he’s come a long way defensively after going through some growing pains earlier in his career.
It’s hard to find a second baseman who’s the complete package, but that’s exactly what Cano is. To boot, he’s in his prime and doesn’t have an untradeable contract.
The truth: Cano is a perfect piece of trade bait.
So let’s consider a scenario. What if things go from bad to worse in The Bronx? Let’s say the Yankees are well under .500 and in the basement of the AL East when the trade deadline rolls around. They’ll be in a position like that if their rotation and bullpen are still shaky and if their aging stars completely fall apart, which is this team’s worst nightmare.
If a scenario like this comes to fruition, Brian Cashman will indeed be tempted to blow up this team for the sake of building a better team virtually from scratch a few years down the road, and he’ll know that he could get a very good collection of prospects back in a Cano trade.
If you’re Cashman, do you do it?
If you want my answer, here you go:
Crappy movie, for the record, but this clip gets the point across pretty well.
No, you don’t trade Cano. That would be foolish for several reasons.
You don’t trade Cano because—as I said before—he’s in the prime of his career. He’s one of the best players in the game, and he still has plenty of good years left in him. He’s one of the cornerstones of the franchise, and he should continue to be just that.
Second, you don’t trade Cano because rebuilding in The Bronx is different from rebuilding everywhere else. Cashman should have it in mind to restock the organization’s farm system, but the big league roster can be salvaged by spending money. The Yankees want to cut back on their payroll, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be averse to using the team’s limitless resources to make necessary improvements.
The trick for the Yankees going forward is to simply be smarter with their money. For example, no more 10-year contracts for players like Alex Rodriguez and no more $35 million contracts for setup men like Rafael Soriano. The Yankees have made a lot of dumb investments over the past decade, and that needs to stop. They need to start making smart investments.
Keeping Cano and signing him to a long-term deal would be a smart investment. That’s a point that doesn’t need to be argued.
This doesn’t mean Cashman shouldn’t be willing to sell if the Yankees are out of it in July. He could check around to see if anybody is interested in renting Nick Swisher, and he should definitely field offers for Granderson. He’s overrated, but he’s a big-name player who could fetch a nice package of prospects.
But under no circumstances should Cano be traded. It’s an interesting idea in theory, but it’s an idea that shouldn’t become a reality.
There are times when teams have to trade their best all-around players, but the Yankees are the Yankees. Thanks to the resources they have at their disposal, they can always afford to hang on to their best players.
This will always be the case. Even if the Yankees sell.
If you want to talk baseball and/or blernsball, hit me up on Twitter.
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