Brian Cashman tests faith of Yankees fans again with Jordan Montgomery comments

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says that he has zero regrets trading Jordan Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals for injured outfielder Harrison Bader.

The New York Yankees were among the most active teams at the trade deadline, but were they a bit too active? They brought in outfielder Andrew Benintendi, starting pitcher Frankie Montas, and relief pitcher Scott Effross to bolster their respective positions. But, the team decided to move on from pitcher Jordan Montgomery, trading him to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Harrison Bader, who is still recovering from a foot injury.

Ever since Montgomery joined the Cardinals, he has dominated against the opposition, with his latest outing on Aug. 22 being a complete game where he surrendered just one hit against the Chicago Cubs in a 1-0 win.

During an appearance on “The Show” podcast with the New York Post’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that he has no regrets dealing Montgomery in exchange for Bader.

Brian Cashman has no regrets about trading Jordan Montgomery

“We were plus defense at every position except center field, so now we are in position if we can unpack that present, which we expect we can, we just have to wait on it for a period of time,” Cashman said, h/t the New York Post. “When we do Aaron Boone will have a legitimate choice in center field that will hopefully serve us well. Those are hard to get and that’s why the cost was so extreme. So, stay tuned and we’ll see how it plays out. No regrets, because this is the space we knew we’d be in… You gotta rob Peter to pay Paul sometimes.”

This may not be the thing that Yankees fans want to hear, especially since the team has finally started to exit their epic slump, where putting a run on the board felt like a chore for the team to achieve (and the fanbase to watch).

New York’s centerfield position is without a doubt the weakest on the team. Aaron Hicks is a liability in the batter’s box, and he has struggled on defense, which used to be his area of strength. One horrendous game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Aug sent Hicks to the bench.

Bader is one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game, as evidenced by the Gold Glove award he won last year. The issue is, Bader is recovering from plantar fasciitis, and is wearing a walking boot. He may not be ready to return until the tail end of the season. That was not a piece of news the Yankees faithful enjoyed hearing, and made even worse when the team went down their horrendous slump.

The very slump where Cashman (at the mention of his name) and team owner Hal Steinbrenner were booed during Paul O’Neill’s number retirement ceremony. That same slump where manager Aaron Boone showed anger in a press conference for seemingly the first time in his five years as manager by slamming his hand on a table.

To make matters worse for the fanbase, Montgomery has been lights out with his new team. In his four starts with the Cardinals, Montgomery recorded a 0.35 ERA, a 0.623 WHIP, a 4-0 record, 24 strikeouts and three walks in 25.2 innings.

Things can obviously change once Bader is finally healthy enough to start for the Yankees. But let’s be real here, Cashman is not going to say that he regretted trading Montgomery weeks after making the move.