I'm not exactly sure why Hank Steinbrenner imposed this deadline on the Santana deal. Was it to pressure the Twins into trading him on Monday? Was it to...nope, that's all I got. I have no idea. It looks like Hank was just tired of being strung along but with Theo Epstein waiting patiently up in Boston, isn't it Hank's job to play that game? I admire his stoicism but if you have a chance to get the best pitcher in baseball and your arch rival is trying desperately to best your offer, should you really be banging your fist and leaving the table? I'm not sure I get this one.
Now the Yankees are beyond their "deadline" and the Red Sox reportedly just offered a fifth player for Johan Santana. The Yanks' rotation is about as thin and beaten up as Brian Cashman, with an aging Andy Pettitte, an aging Mike Mussina, and three young pitchers who have never played a full season in the majors. If the Red Sox get Santana, their rotation will be Santana, Beckett, Schiling, Dice-K, and Lester/Wakefield/Buckholtz. We have Chien-Ming Wang, sure, but he'd be the third guy at best in that Red Sox rotation.
We are now at Deadline + 17 hours and Hank has to be locked in his hotel room, surrounded by hundreds of cigarette butts, and pulling fists of hair out every minute. The pressure is mounting. At Deadline + 18, he's prepared to give up A-Rod, Jeter, and the ghost of Mickey Mantle. I can't imagine that Hank Steinbrenner is anything but a nervous wreck right now. If the Red Sox land the best pitcher in the game, the successes of Hank's first off season will be forgotten. I'm ok with the Yankees not getting Santana - if the Red Sox don't get him either. If we don't make the trade, we keep the big three in tact and keep Melky in centerfield. Great! But if Santana and Beckett anchor the Sox rotation for the next decade, does it really matter? I don't understand why Hank instituted this deadline and allowed the Sox this advantage. Maybe he's too new. Maybe he's too inexperienced. Maybe he's too stupid. Most likely, he's just a Steinbrenner: stubborn and irrational. But one thing is certain: if Santana ends up in Boston, Yankee fans might set a deadline on when they might run this guy out of town.
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2 comments:
One thing I've seen mentioned on a few blogs and articles is how Brian Cashman is completely absent from any account of this whole story. I mean he's the GM of the team, the guy who built up the Yankees, and he seems to be absent while Hank tries to go it alone from the get-go. Makes no sense.
I agree.
Apparently there was a meeting last week involving Hank Steinbrenner, Gene Michael and Brian Cashman. Cashman argued for keeping Hughes and Kennedy. Michael argued trading for Santana. I think a) Cashman is being kept out of public view on this trade because we know how he really feels about it, b) Cashman is doing his job but Steinbrenner is the public face, or c) Cashman has to get used to Hank doing his job for him. I can see Cashman leaving after 2008 because of the futility of his job.
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