Friday night, the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners swung a pretty big trade that you might have heard about. The Yankees received Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campos, while the Mariners received Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi, whose name isn't pronounced "nosy" or "noisy", reducing his overall stock. Shortly after the trade was made, or at least shortly in a cosmological sense, Jim Bowden sent out an interesting tweet:
Brian Cashman On Michael Pineda And Jesus Montero
Brian Cashman told me last night that Michael Pineda better improve the change-up & develop into a #1 starter or he will have made a mistake
Let’s assume that this wasn’t intended to be off-the-record. I don’t know Jim Bowden, and I’ve never met him, but I’m guessing that Jim Bowden is a pretty terrible keeper of secrets.
So, is Cashman telling the truth? Elsewhere, Cashman compared Montero to Mike Piazza or Miguel Cabrera, which would seem to fit in. Cashman, clearly, was pretty high on Jesus Montero.
But remember: Brian Cashman just traded Jesus Montero. He traded six years of Jesus Montero, along with another guy. He got back a hell of a pitcher, but he allowed Montero to leave.
Something tells me Brian Cashman wouldn’t have made a trade that he thinks would only be fair if the pitcher he’s getting develops even further. That would make this an uneven trade, with the potential to become an even trade. That isn’t how general managers move. I suspect that, in private, Cashman is rather pleased with this trade, with the potential to become even more pleased. He knows that Pineda’s already real good. He knows that Montero is facing a number of questions. He loved Jesus Montero, but again, he traded Jesus Montero.
Brian Cashman is an honest guy. He’s established a track record as such. I do not think he’s being completely honest here. Which is just fine. I’m not accustomed to my baseball executives being honest anyway. Lie to me! Tell me more lies!
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