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A lot of people have been hating on Brian Cashman, and there isn't enough being dished to Red Sox General Manager, Chaim Bloom.
Days after losing star short-stop Xander Bogaerts to the Padres, the Red Sox just DFA'd Jeter Downs. He was their 24th ranked prospect, but he was their top trade chip from the Mookie Betts deal.
At the time, Downs was the Dodgers 8th best prospect, alongside the other players in the deal Alex Verdugo (No. 1-OF) and Connor Wong (No. 14 -C). Here is the full trade.
Dodgers get: Betts, Price, cash (all from Red Sox) and Brusdar Graterol, outfielder Luke Raley, 2020 Competitive Round B draft pick, (from Twins)
Red Sox get: Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, Connor Wong (from Dodgers)
Twins get: Kenta Maeda, catcher Jair Camargo, cash (from Dodgers)
Mookie Betts went on to help lead the Dodgers to a World Series, while also claiming 2 All MLB First Team Awards as well as two silver sluggers and two gold gloves. David Price and Brusdar Graterol have been excellent pitching depth to LA as well.
Meanwhile, Verdugo has been a solid hitter but average defender. Connor Wong is a minor league catcher, and Downs is now off the team. Red Sox fans are in their woes now after seeing two of the beloved stars depart the team for nothing in return. Is Devers the next on that list?
Now this isn't the first move that had baseball fans questioning Blooms ability. This graphic that NBC Sports published is alarming, and I would be up in arms if that was my GM.
If Cash let Judge walk without a return, he would have been crucified at the cross. If he traded Judge for slap-dick prospects and an average outfielder, he would have been shamed for eternity. If he didn't re-sign Rizzo or DJ LeMahieu, it would have been laughed at.
But nope, he got those things done. I am not saying that Brian Cashman is perfect, but he's made plenty of incredible moves as a GM. He flipped Gallo for a top-ten farm hand, he's found diamonds in the roughs in Voit and Ursehla for pennies on the dollar, he's built great bullpens, and made eye popping trades like Stanton.
And may I remind you, that Cash has 5 World Series (4 as GM, 1 as Assistant GM) and boasts a record of (2,322-1,622-2). Over 25 seasons with a lifetime winning percentage of .589 is the highest of any General Manager with at least 10 seasons of experience whose career began in 1950-or-later.
Take this information as you will, and lighten up a bit Yankee fans, it could be worse.