By WFAN.com
The MLB trade deadline is only one week away, and the New York Yankees are expected to make some key additions to bolster their roster down the stretch.
The longtime general manager of the Yankees, Brian Cashman, joined Boomer and Gio at WFAN Jeep Yankees Radio Network FanFest on Sunday to discuss the current trade market and the Yankees' farm system.
The Yankees have yet pull the trigger on a midseason trade, and Cashman touched upon what has been holding the Bombers back from striking a deal.
"We certainly have been engaged for a long time, but we still are where we are because we just have not found the match that we're comfortable with," Cashman said. "Not that we don't like players that we want to import to take us to another level, but so far we haven't matched up because the demands just exceed what our comfort level is, and we're still trying to find the right circumstance."
Cashman, ironically, attributed the Yankees' inability to strike a deal so far to the wealth of talent within the farm system. He explained that other teams might believe the Yankees are being too stingy in talks, even though Cashman believes he's making competitive offers.
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"There is a little bit of a penalty," Cashman said. "We're a little bit deeper than most. So if we're talking about players in our top 10, they might be players in somebody's top five at the back of our top 10. But sometimes teams might get wrapped up with 'you're taking too many guys out,' but we have a much deeper crew. So I wonder sometimes if it's clubs looking at, 'That's your 12th best.' But our 12th best might be third best in somebody else's franchise, but they're saying, 'You're not stepping up, and you're unwilling to put this in.'"
It has been widely speculated that the Yankees will look to acquire a pitcher at the trade deadline, and Cashman shared his two cents on the current pitching market.
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"It's not the best starting pitching market currently that exists," the general manager said. "This particular trade cycle isn't robust. A lot of the trade starting pitching pieces, the closer you get to the deadline, the worse they've been pitching. Those innings are vitally important. ... So, if you can get starting pitching that's obviously high end, that's a plus, but there's not a lot of that walking around. The alternative is to get starting pitching that can give you a chance to win and get you deep enough into a ballgame."
Cashman noted that while the pitching market may be stagnant at the moment, things can change rapidly as the deadline approaches.
"There's always players that were available that are no longer available or that aren't available that might become available," he said. "Clearly there are some teams treading water, hoping that their second half goes better than their first half did. If they don't do well, they might fall onto the other side of the mountain, and (in) the last 72 hours (before the deadline), pivot and decide to sell off some stuff. So, we have to be prepared for that."
