Much blame was heaped on Joe Girardi for some of the decisions he made before and during the ALCS: Pitching Phil Hughes in Games 2 and 6; constantly walking Josh Hamilton and rolling the dice versus Vladimir Guerrero; not moving Cano into the 3-hole sooner; etc. Media and fans were right to do so, especially when you consider the final disappointing outcome.
But there through every ALCS game, sitting in the stands safely away from any criticism and blame was Brian Cashman.
Whatever little value Brian Cashman's presence at ballparks brought to the Yankees in triumph over the Twins and elimination versus the Rangers, it was a whole lot more than what Javier Vasquez, his prized pitching acquisition of 2010, brought...which was zero.
In Javy's defense, what more can you bring when you're left off the playoff roster?
Sure, fifth starters aren't supposed to make the playoff roster anyway, but shouldn't they be at least considered in the equation? Vasquez was an instant postseason outcast as soon as he suffered from a "tired arm" in August. He went from fifth starter to bullpen, then from bullpen into oblivion. Next move...anywhere but the Bronx.
But all obtaining Vasquez from the Braves, along with lefty Boone Logan, cost Cashman and the Yanks was fan favorite Melky Cabrera and unknown pitching prospects Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino.
Although Cabrera played seemingly over his head throughout his career as a Yankee (.274, 13, 68 in 2009), he came back down to earth as a Brave (.255, 4, 42).
No harm, no foul.
But numbers put up by Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino this past season were enough to make Cashman say "ouch".
In 25 appearances for Bobby Cox's team, Dunn pitched 19 innings, fanned 27 batters, serving up only one homer and surrendering just 4 earned runs. His ERA was 1.89, his opponent BAA was. 211, and his won-loss was 2-0. According to scouting reports, Dunn's fastball routinely hits the mid-90s and can get up to the upper 90s on occasion. He has the ability to both cut and sink his fastball. His slider generally sits in the 80-82 mph range and is "death to left-handed hitters".
Wasn't Josh Hamilton a left-handed hitter?
As for Arodys Vizcaino, he was outstanding too, but unfortunately he tore an elbow ligament in July. This was what was written about him back in June by Anthony Trippichio of BleacherReport.com:
"Arodys Vizcaino, the 19-year-old former Yankees pitching prospect given away in the trade for the embattled Vazquez, is annihilating his competition at Rome, Atlanta’s Single-A affiliate.
Vizcaino is 9-3 with a 2.34 ERA, and those numbers don’t begin to tell the story of how dominant he’s been.
Striking out 66 in 69.1 innings, Vizcaino has walked only nine. Tantamount to his freakish strikeout-to-walk ratio is Vizcaino’s 0.99 WHIP. He hasn’t issued a walk since May 6, and he’s thrown 33.2 scoreless innings over his last five starts."
He is about three years away from the bigs. It would have been comforting to know that three years from now, we've got a young arm to call up or trade for a big-time player...not a Javier Vasquez, who failed in two go-rounds with the Yankees.
Yes, Cashman receives pats on the back for Curtis Granderson (although it cost him exciting young player Austin Jackson and effective lefty Phil Coke while ridding himself of the question mark that was Ian Kennedy in the process) and for obtaining Kerry Wood in July.
But for every good move, there was bad.
Nick Johnson stands front and center as one of Cashman's worst 2010 moves, signing the oft-injured first baseman/DH to a one-year $5.5 million contract only to have Johnson play in 24 games before succumbing to...go ahead and guess...yet another injury.
Boone Logan, part of the Vasquez deal, got blasted in the playoffs. Had he been the least bit effective during the ALCS before Game 6, Girardi may have called on Boone to face Josh Hamilton instead of walking him to face Guerrero in that fateful inning.
Despite coming to the Bronx for seemingly little (mid-90s righty hurler Mark Melancon and athletic infielder Johnny Paredes as well as $3.5 million), Lance Berkman never really excited the Yankee fan base, unless you count his overturned blast to right field and falling on his butt in the ALCS exciting.
Finally, I want to bring up outfielder Austin Kearns. When it was announced on the news that Cashman had traded for Kearns for a player to be named later, most Yankee fans scratched their head. Those who were familiar with Kearns knew him as a marginal player whose only 20+ homer season came in 2006 (he's averaged 9 home runs every year since then) and he was not a big RBI guy (86 - a career high, also in 2006). Kearns ran hot and cold with the Yanks but in the end, he was riding the bench during the playoffs.
On August 20th, the player to be named later for Kearns was finally named...top Yankee pitching prospect Zach Mcallister. Although projected to be no more than a back of the rotation starter, McAllister was many times (because of his size and build) developmentally compared to Phil Hughes and is still considered a good, major league-caliber arm. Good enough to be a key piece, along with Jesus Montero, in the July deal for Cliff Lee which fell through. Instead he wound up as an afterthought piece to obtaining Kearns, who did essentially nothing for the Bombers.
Cashman got little blame for the demise of the 2010 Yankees. But after mortgaging young talent like Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy, Mike Dunn, Arodys Vizcaino, and Zach McAllister for what ultimately produced a failed season, we can look no further than our current GM to blame if the Yankees fail in future seasons.
