While it seemed safe not to blame Brian Cashman after the hated Houston Astros selected the Chicago Cubs over the New York Yankees for Kyle Tucker, one Yankees insider believes that assumption was overly charitable.
Luis Gil’s shoulder injury, which resulted in a six-week absence and extensive rehab, altered the Yankees’ rotation picture on Monday afternoon. It also prompted a more in-depth examination of the offseason, during which Gil participated (to an unknown extent) in sell-high trade conversations across the league.
To the uneducated eye, he appeared to be part in the Yankees’ pursuit of Tucker; their package reportedly included Gil and slugging top prospect George Lombard Jr. While we never learned anything concrete about the process after Tucker was traded to Chicago, Gil’s grateful Instagram story definitely suggested that he had hoped to be moved.
Given the Yankees’ enmity with Houston, it appeared like Jim Crane and the Astros had no intention of handing up a potential MVP rental to their bitter rivals. Reasonable supporters expected Crane to chose the Yankees as a last choice, attempting to drain them dry in any negotiations. However, Bob Klapisch believes this may not have been the case. The trustworthy Yankees insider stated on Tuesday morning that Cashman “passed” on the opportunity to trade Gil for Tucker. If it’s true that the Yankees walked away just to be blasted with expected injury shrapnel before the season even started, the term “mistake” doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Yankees’ Kyle Tucker trade fell apart because Brian Cashman pulled Luis Gil, per Bob Klapisch
Hindsight is 20/20, but anticipating that Gil (who missed 2023 due to Tommy John surgery and was worn down during 2024’s stretch run) would be hampered by injuries can be considered foresight. In fact, selling high on Gil was so evident that, for comfort, we incorrectly assumed that the Astros were to blame.
If Cashman prioritized Gil’s control over importing Tucker, extension or not, rather than seeing that April/May 2024 would most likely be the best months of Gil’s (or any pitcher’s) career, that is another serious case of negligence. Cashman has long had a problem with picking the wrong favorites. Now all we can do is hope that this guy can sustain a level of worth over the next five years rather than disappearing from the map.
Tucker is a Cub. Because of this, Cody Bellinger is a Yankee. If you weren’t comparing the two before Tuesday’s revelation, you should be now.
