The Yankees continued their busy offseason by trading for Cody Bellinger on Tuesday, as the team continues to execute its backup plan after losing Juan Soto to the Mets.
While the Yanks made a strong push for Soto, Keith McPherson believes that the team’s Plan B is really what Brian Cashman would have preferred all along, rather than breaking the bank for Soto and filling in the rest with marginal additions at best.
“If there’s anybody going to sleep peacefully and going to work Monday morning, it’s Brian Cashman,” Keith said. “He didn’t want to spend $51 million on one player this off-season. He didn’t want to have $765 hanging over his head for the next 15 years. It stops him from doing what he likes to do. He likes to have Cashman considerations. He likes to trade and wheel and deal and fleece guys.”
As for the Bellinger trade, Keith believes it was another fleece job by Cashman, who gave up only depth pitcher Cody Poteet who threw just 22.2 innings for the Yanks in 2024, and the Bombers got some cash back in the deal as well.
“I think [the Cubs] got fleeced,” Keith said. “Cody Bellinger, you can undersell him…but you add another former MVP to the team, you add a lefty bat to the team…this is a World Series caliber team.
“Cody Bellinger can still run. Obviously, it adds versatility. I love it.”