Yankees' Cashman On WFAN: 6-Man Rotation Unlikely
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Now that the Yankees have added two starting pitchers, manager Joe Girardi has a big decision to make about his rotation.
Will rookie Jordan Montgomery be the odd man out? Will they go with a six-man rotation?
General manager Brian Cashman, who acquired Jaime Garcia from the Twins and Sonny Gray from the A's this week, wasn't sure what the answer was Tuesday, but he made it clear he's not comfortable with a six-man rotation.
Talking to WFAN's Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, Cashman said they might use six pitchers for the next round through the rotation, but probably not beyond that.
"I'd say it would be difficult to do that, especially with the one-inning relievers that we've got," Cashman said. " ... I'd rather it not go that route. But again, I'll rely more on (pitching coach) Larry (Rothschild) and Joe to map out what the best strategy is, and they'll sell me on it."
The Yankees' GM did say he brought Gray and Garcia in to be starters.
Cashman said he had a good feeling around 1 a.m. Monday that he would be able to reach a deal with Oakland for Gray before the 4 p.m. trade deadline. He said it was "excruciating" to part ways with highly regarded prospects Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian, but "at some point, you just have to make a call and live with the decision."
As for Garcia, Cashman said he was "left at the altar twice" in trade talks with the Braves for the left-hander before he was dealt to the Twins last week. But Cashman said he "circled around with Minnesota" after the Twins lost several games and their playoff outlook started to change for the worse.
MORE: Sweeny: Officials From Rival Teams Praising Yankees' Deadline Trades
After Monday's trade for Gray, Red Sox president Dave Dombrowksi compared the Yankees to the NBA powerhouse Golden State Warriors. When asked about those comments Tuesday, Cashman said: "I hope he's right. He's been around the game a long time.
"We would like to be what the Warriors are, but ultimately we're the Yankees, and we want to act like we're the Yankees," Cashman added. "And so hopefully we're getting back to where people were calling us the evil empire, looking at us a certain way with fear and respect."
To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.
