At this moment, even Brian Cashman considers his acquisition of Michael Pineda a disaster.
Cashman and the Yankees will hope this is only a snapshot and that the picture improves long term. In the present, however, Pineda (shoulder) is out for the season and Jose Campos (elbow) is on the disabled list. Jesus Montero (.252, six home runs) and Hector Noesi (2-5, 5.26 ERA) might not be excelling for the Mariners, but at least they are playing and potentially getting growing pains out of the way.
In the present, it also sparked another round of criticism of Cashman’s trading acumen. So I figured I would try to separate fact from fiction by actually looking at his deals.
Cashman has been the general manager since 1998, but it was not until the end of April 2005, with the team in crisis, that George Steinbrenner empowered Cashman to act like a traditional head of baseball operations. It is not that he didn’t make trades before both good (think David Justice) and bad (think Javier Vazquez). It was that prior to April 2005 he ebbed in and out of favor with the Boss, meaning there were times he made deals and times he had nothing whatsoever to do with what occurred with the Yankees.
As an example, prior to April 2005, Cashman had nothing to do with the acquisitions in free agency or trade of Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, Tony Womack and Jaret Wright. But after that date, it fell upon Cashman to deal each of their bad contracts.
April 2005 serves as a demarcation in which all Yankee trades, at the least, went through an evaluation process established by Cashman — whether he ultimately was overruled by his bosses or not. So it is fairer in judging his skills to look at the trades that have occurred since. It is not like there is a paucity from which to select. The Yankees have made 53 trades in that time, and here are some items that stand out:
1. Cashman is a much better at the art of the trade than free agency.
2. His most consistently successful work has been finding in-season pieces to elevate contenders.
3. He has been very willing to use the farm system to add pieces.
What follows is not a breakdown of each of those trades. You would be surprised how many insignificant deals are completed (Eric Fryer for Chase Wright, anyone). Instead, here are the more consequential swaps. Keep in mind, we do not know every reason that went into a trade, most important we don’t know what the Yankees might have been able to turn, say, Montero into elsewhere had they resisted Pineda.
So with the best 20/20 hindsight at our disposal, we bring you:
THE SUCCESSES
1. THE IN-SEASON MARKET: This is where Cashman has done his most consistently high-end dealing. In July 2005, the Yankees obtained Shawn Chacon from the Rockies for Eduardo Sierra and Ramon Ramirez. Ramirez has had some success for several organizations and is now a Met. A year later Cashman would deal Chacon to Pittsburgh for Craig Wilson, who was supposed to help vs. lefties, but didn’t. However, the Yankees do not make the playoffs in 2005 without Chacon’s 7-3, 2.85 ERA run.
The following July, Cashman knew Philadelphia was desperate to remove Bobby Abreu’s dubious motor and big salary. He told the Phillies he would absorb the contract but only for essentially non-prospects. He did that and got Cory Lidle, as well. Now, the Phillies actually became a better team without Abreu, but the lefty swinger produced an .843 OPS for the Yankees and helped for 2 1⁄2 years.
In July 2007, the Yankees made a small deal by sending Jeff Kennard to the Angels for Jose Molina. Molina became a valuable defensive component as a backup catcher, helping, in particular, shepherd A.J. Burnett through the 2009 championship season.
From June 30-Aug. 6, 2009, Cashman completed three deals in which he gave up almost nothing to obtain Eric Hinske, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Chad Gaudin, a trio that helped add depth to a championship club.
The following July, Cashman gave up two non-prospects to Cleveland for Kerry Wood, whose 0.69 ERA in 24 appearances helped get the Yankees to the playoffs.
2. THE OUTFIELD: The acquisitions of Nick Swisher after the 2008 season and Curtis Granderson following the 2009 campaign have helped keep the Yankees offense among the elite. Where would the lineup be without them?
Swisher came from the White Sox with relief prospect Kanekoa Texeira for Wilson Betemit, Jhonny Nunez and Jeff Marquez. This arguably is Cashman’s best deal.
Almost immediately upon having his powers broadened in 2005, Cashman created a statistical analytics department and gave it great influence. Swisher had tanked in his one year in Chicago, clashing with manager Ozzie Guillen and hitting just .219. But the Yankees’ statistical honchos informed Cashman that Swisher’s line-drive percentage and hitting eye had remained consistent with his successful seasons. His batting average for balls in play, however, had fallen way below the league average, which suggested he just had been unlucky and was, thus, a strong candidate to rebound, especially since he still was in his prime.
Swisher has his foibles, notably his postseason struggles. But his .847 OPS since 2009 was 34th in the majors (minimum 1,500 plate appearances), making him a great buy considering the low cost.
Conversely, the cost for Granderson was steep: Ian Kennedy to Arizona and Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to Detroit in one of the most successful-for-all-parties three-way trades in history. Granderson has honored the Yankees’ vision that his lefty stroke was made for their stadium: His 79 homers since the trade lead the team.
THE FAILURES
THE WORST: Until the results are fully in on the Pineda deal, Cashman’s biggest mistake may have come in a small maneuver: On Dec. 4, 2007, the Yankees shipped Tyler Clippard to Washington for Jonathan Albaladejo. Since becoming a full-time reliever in 2009, Clippard has emerged as one of the most durable/excellent set-up men in the majors (he is closing now because of injuries in the Nationals’ bullpen). Since 2009, he has a 2.56 ERA, has averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and has a .185 batting average against, fourth best among pitchers with 150 appearances (Mariano Rivera’s is .198).
Now, pitching for the Yankees and in the AL East is different. Mark Melancon, traded to Houston for Lance Berkman in July 2010, had 20 saves for the Astros last year but blew up for the Red Sox this season and was demoted to Triple-A. Still, Clippard’s success compared to Albaladejo’s brief (49 games) and unmemorable stint makes this a regrettable deal by Cashman.
THE JAVY VAZQUEZ INFATUATION: Although Vazquez’s initial acquisition by the Yankees pre-dates April 2005, Cashman certainly was a key figure in the December 2003 deal with Montreal for Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera and Randy Choate.
Vazquez’s initial pinstripe calamity (specifically as one of the villains of the 2004 ALCS collapse against Boston) compounds Cashman’s mistake in obtaining the righty yet again in December 2009. Cashman was convinced Vazquez could mentally handle New York in his second tour and provide desperately needed quality innings. But Vazquez’s return was worse than his debut, and his combined 5.09 ERA in 58 starts is the fifth worst in team history (minimum 50 starts).
Now the mitigating factors: The Yankees did get Boone Logan, as well, and Logan has turned into the team’s most dependable lefty reliever since Mike Stanton’s heyday.
Also, the one player Atlanta had to get in return to make the deal, pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino, needed Tommy John surgery and is missing this year. But Vizcaino was the kind of touted prospect for which the Yankees almost certainly could have done far better than Vazquez. In addition, looking to fill center field and leadoff, the Braves would have accepted either Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner in return.
Now, who knows how history plays out? Cabrera infuriated the Braves by being out of shape and playing poorly in 2010. They non-tendered him after the season, and Cabrera responded by getting into elite shape and, over the past two years for Kansas City and now San Francisco, he has a .318 average and has become an above-average player. Would he have gotten into that shape immediately for the Yankees and been more valuable overall than Gardner?
STAR DISPOSAL: Again, Cashman had nothing to do with the acquisitions of Johnson (Vazquez was part of the deal to Arizona) or Sheffield. But he believed he was obtaining useful pieces for the future in dealing both, and that did not really work out.
In November 2006, desperate to remove Sheffield’s salary and temperament, the Yankees believed they might be getting from Detroit a closer of the future in Humberto Sanchez and two other useful bullpen pieces in Anthony Claggett and Kevin Whelan.
It marked the second time Cashman had done high-level business with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski for three prospects and the second time Cashman struck out. In February 1999 — in a trade Cashman very much favored — Mike Lowell was dealt to Florida (Dombrowski was then the Marlins GM) for Ed Yarnall, Todd Noel and Mark Johnson. Yarnall and Noel, in particular, were craved by the Yankees. Neither panned out, though there was a potentially destructive moment in 1999 when some in the organization thought Yarnall would outperform Andy Pettitte and that Pettitte should be traded.
Cashman also was a motivating factor in a three-way trade that included Dombrowski’s Tigers in July 2002 in which he surrendered Ted Lilly and two prospects for Jeff Weaver, who failed as a Yankee.
In January 2007, for Randy Johnson, the Yankees obtained Luis Vizcaino, Steven Jackson, Ross Ohlendorf and Alberto Gonzalez. Vizcaino represents the last overtaxed Yankees set-up man under Joe Torre, appearing in 77 games in 2007 and just 58 thereafter with a 4.99 ERA.
Ohlendorf ultimately was part of a four-prospect package sent to Pittsburgh in July 2008 for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. If you want to stretch for good news, the Yankees ultimately re-signed Marte, who turned into a key figure in the 2009 championship while being an expensive disappointment at all other times. Gonzalez became Jhonny Nunez, who was a piece in the Swisher acquisition.
joel.sherman@nypost.com