00:00Yankees GM Brian Cashman spoke to the media on Wednesday about the club's decision to DFA DJ LeMahieu
00:06and he gave a rough outline on what his plans are going to be going into the trade deadline.
00:12So let's get into all things news coming out of the Bronx with our Yankees beat writer for the Post, Greg Joyce.
00:18Greg, thanks for hopping on with this. I guess we can start by talking about DJ LeMahieu getting DFA'd.
00:23You had tweeted that Brian Cashman said that LeMahieu had communicated as far as back as this winter
00:30that playing third base would be an issue for him physically.
00:34So why didn't they sign or even trade for someone who naturally plays the position in the offseason?
00:42Yeah, they tried. I mean, they were looking for a third baseman as far.
00:46They've been have been as far back as this offseason.
00:48But Cashman, when asked about that yesterday, basically said it came down to, you know, the price was too much.
00:55Either, you know, some of the options they've had, whether it was a free agent acquisition said, you know, the money isn't endless.
01:02Or if it was a trade acquisition, he said it was, you know, robbing Peter to pay Paul.
01:08And whatever they would have had to give up in those talks wasn't something they were willing to do.
01:13So, obviously, you know, the Yankees have the third highest payroll in baseball as is.
01:21And Cashman talked about how the Steinbrenners, you know, have given them a lot of leeway there to spend as they want.
01:28But, obviously, he said, you know, there isn't endless money to do everything to address every need.
01:33And I think the other part of it is that, you know, going into the season, they did have Oswaldo Cabrera healthy and playing.
01:40And you knew that, you know, if all else, you could have him kind of have that job at third base.
01:46So, obviously, that came to a head in May when he broke his ankle in that gruesome play in Seattle.
01:52So, that took away a key player for them, somebody who was super valuable as the utility guy moving around.
01:57But, you know, he got a lot of those starts at third base early on when LeMahieu was on the injured list.
02:03You know, Cash also said that they kind of still held out some hope that maybe they could get LeMahieu to a point physically where he was able to play over at third base.
02:11Obviously, it never really came to that.
02:13He played third base in the first spring training game and strangest calf that game.
02:18And then, obviously, he only played second base since he came back.
02:22They said, Cashman and Boombo said yesterday that when informed a decision this week to move him to the bench and off second base,
02:30that LeMahieu was willing to try to, you know, work out at third base and see if it could become an option.
02:35But, you know, the situation just seemed like it was inevitable that it was going to end in a DFA at some point.
02:41And just in terms of having the best roster and most roster flexibility with how they could kind of align themselves defensively,
02:50the Yankees just decided that yesterday was the best day to finally kind of bite the bullet on that and move on without DJ.
02:57All right.
02:57So to have that best roster that they're talking about, it looks like they're going to go and be active at the deadline.
03:02And when you guys, the media, were talking to Cashman yesterday, when he spoke about the deadline,
03:08he said he'd love to import a starter, some relievers, and an infielder as well, if possible.
03:14We need to break down this if possible because I'm going to ask you,
03:18do the Yankees have enough assets for Cashman to address every need at the deadline?
03:23Are they going to have to, I guess, empty their farm system?
03:27Yeah, it's going to be a tough ask because that list is kind of growing longer by the day.
03:30Obviously, with Clark Schmidt's injury, season-ender last week, you know, with him likely headed for Tommy John surgery,
03:37that added to the need for a starter, which they may have done, you know, even without that.
03:41But now, especially, you know, if they're going to be without Schmidt and Cole for all the season,
03:46he'll probably not come back until late July or early August at this point.
03:50So, yeah, like you said, he's looking for a starter at this point with how the bullpen's been taxed and overworked
03:56and some of the injuries they had.
03:57Like, you could see them try to acquire two relievers, maybe, and then that infielder who can play third base.
04:03So, it is a long list.
04:05You know, the Yankee system has, you know, they've done a decent job over the years of producing enough players
04:10to kind of go in those big trades that the Yankees make usually at the deadline
04:15and not actually come back to haunt the Yankees in most cases, at least over the last couple of years.
04:21You know, we'll see what they're willing to do this year.
04:24Obviously, you know, their top prospect, George Lombard Jr., I would think would be close to untouchable.
04:31You know, Cashman didn't want to say yesterday which guys were and weren't off-limits.
04:35But I would think that in most cases, he'd be off the table.
04:39But, you know, we'll see.
04:42You know, is a guy like Spencer Jones available?
04:45They have a lot of, you know, intriguing arms at the lower levels, you know, at high A.
04:50Some of those guys that, you know, were just drafted in the last couple of years,
04:53some of those guys could be on the move.
04:56We'll see.
04:57The real issue is that there just may not be a ton of players to be had
05:02just because so many teams are still kind of in it on the fringe, you know,
05:07trying to figure out if they can be, you know, hang around and catch a wild card spot.
05:10So there's not going to be a ton of defined, like, clear-cut defined sellers.
05:15And just among third basemen, too, like, there's not a ton of assets there, you know, available.
05:20So, and like, same goes for starting pitching.
05:23It kind of seems like it's going to be a, you know, somewhat of a weak deadline
05:27in terms of, like, who's available.
05:28So Cashman kind of alluded to that yesterday.
05:30You know, you said we're going to try to go to town and fill all these needs,
05:34but there's no guarantee that it happens because you don't know what's available.
05:38And even, you know, when there are guys available,
05:40there's going to be a lot of teams going for the same guy.
05:43And whether the Yankees can line up with teams on all those guys, you know,
05:47given the amount of needs that they have, it's going to be a tough ask.
05:50So we'll see what they end up with.
05:52But there's going to be a lot of competition for the top guys,
05:55and I would expect the Yankees to be in on those conversations.
05:58But, yeah, we'll see.
06:01It's going to be a tough kind of needle to the thread there.
06:05All right.
06:05Well, we got exactly three weeks to the trade deadline,
06:08so I'm sure we'll be talking to you again very soon.
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