This is a continued version of the Haves and Have Not’s. A non- waiver trade deadline concluded Tuesday afternoon so the Yankees improved their starting rotation and their bullpen also gained an addition. GM Brian Cashman said he was extremely busy and it went to the deadline.
The Mets? Nothing gained at the deadline. They stayed with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz. No movement with Jose Bautista, Wilmer Flores, Devin Mesoraco. And you look at the 25-4 loss, embarrassing and humiliating to the Nationals that leaves more questions.
Except there are no answers for the Mets and none at the trade deadline. There is August and a waiver period, or the offseason when someone with baseball knowledge from outside the organization has full autonomy to get this right.
The brief answer is strategy heard before. Stay with the pitching core, make a few additions. The Mets hierarchy, as of Wednesday morning, truly believes this team will be in position to contend next year. Has that not been heard more than once?
That’s not the right answer in the Haves and Haves Not’s of the New York Mets. And after Tuesday night who is to believe anything will change? Unless of course there is a change in ownership and that is a not.
And who is to understand the strategy of a front office for the Mets? This is a trio of GM’s that is leaving the dirty work to a newcomer and one that hopefully changes the complexion of losing into winning baseball games. However, all that has to be answered is that result of Tuesday night and mockery of witnessing Jose Reyes throw batting practice to the opposing hitters at Nationals Park.
So the Haves and Have Not’s does continue. The Haves, and always for the most part are the Yankees, they got help with the starting rotation, They did not get Jacob deGrom or Chris Archer, or a rental to replace the absence of power that has been lost with the injuries to Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.
“Checked every color of the rainbow,” GM Brian Cashman said Tuesday afternoon in the Bronx “We did a lot of different things for a lot of different reasons. Ultimately all we want to do is win, and win as many games as we possibly can.”
\And with the additions of Jach Britton from the Orioles, J.A. Happ from the Blue Jay and Lance Lynn from the Twins, the Yankees filled some needs in their quest to catch the first place Red Sox. Though Happ, who got the win Sunday in his Yankees debut, may miss his next start. He is the latest New York pitcher to go down with a hand, foot, and mouth virus.
Regardless this was a successful few days for Cashman and the Yankees. The additions of Happ and Lynn boost the starting rotation and after a Wednesday matinee with the Orioles its a four-game series up in Boston. Needless to say, the Yankees look to split or take three of four.
A sweep may be asking too much. Boston does not lose much and hardly do that at Fenway Park with the best home record in baseball.
“You wonder what their record would be if they weren’t playing us,” Cashman said. “Because when we go head to head, we do some damage against them and it doesn’t seem like anybody else is capable.”
And because of the additions, the Yankees have that chance to overtake the Red Sox. There is plenty of time and more games between the two before this division is conceded to the Red Sox. So for the moment, unless Cashman finds more pieces through a waiver deal, the Yankees go with they have or with solid additions from their young and athletic core that comprise the best minor league system in baseball.
But the Yankees started to take care of their own business Tuesday night. They have to beat teams that are playing for pride and rebuilding for next year and that applies to the Orioles who pulled off five trades in the past few days.
After the Red Sox series, the next 24 games for the Yankees are against the White Sox, Texas, Tampa Bay, Toronto, a makeup with the Mets, Miami, three more with the Orioles, the worst team in baseball, three more with the White Sox, two with Detroit to end the month of August.
These are of course all teams that the Yankees can defeat. The Red Sox face some of the elite in the American League that include interleague games at first place Philadelphia and home games against the central leading Cleveland Indians. Boston has the rougher schedule down the stretch in September.
So Brian Cashman went to work and in the process also obtained over $3 million in international pool money, revenue that is important in signing international players that include those from Cuba, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
“Moves we are comfortable with,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be splashy. It just has to work. And his manager, Aaron Boone also understands what his GM did. The Yankees won’t be satisfied with finishing second to the Red Sox and accepting that one-game wild card game in October.
Said Boone, “I feel that Cash and the front office went out and got us some significant pieces to kind of finish off our club and put us in a position to finish off what has been the start of a really good season for us.”
And you can’t disagree with the moves. Cashman did not give up big time prospects and got the help that was needed.
Happ with a good history pitching against the Red Sox, will get another turn, assuming he does not miss the scheduled start up at Fenway Park, due to the unexpected virus. Lynn, scheduled to arrive in the Bronx Wednesday afternoon, will be placed in their strong bullpen or become a sixth starter. And with Luis Severino, struggling, Lynn can fill that slot and give the Yankees ace some needed arm rest.
“They’re the team we’re chasing, they’re the team we want to chase,” Cashman said about the Red Sox. The chances are better for the Yankees after the moves that were done before the non waiver trade deadline.
The chances for the Mets? They need to rebuild but the results of a non-waiver trade deadline have indicated they are intent on being a contending team in 2019. Leave that to a new GM because the Mets were again the Have Not’s during this deadline.
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