Before the MLB trade deadline earlier this month, Brian Cashman, the general manager of the New York Yankees, was one of the most busy executives in the major leagues. Among the things Cashman did, he added Scott Effross and Lou Trivino to the bullpen to make it stronger.
Cashman reportedly tried to get Raisel Iglesias, who is no longer with the Los Angeles Angels. Jon Heyman of the New York Post says that he also tried to bring in David Robertson, who is no longer with the Chicago Cubs, but only to a “degree.”
Heyman also said that Robertson, who played for the Yankees for a total of nine seasons, was “loved” when he played for the AL East’s best team. He did say, though, that “Yankees people” wouldn’t say if “an uncomfortable ending” played a big part in the Yankees’ decision to go after the veteran reliever.
Heyman didn’t say anything else about the “uncomfortable ending” thing, but Robertson’s two exits from the Yankees were both full of drama behind the scenes. For one, he chose to leave the Yankees and go to the Chicago White Sox after the 2014 season. He signed a four-year, $46 million deal with the White Sox. He reportedly told the Yankees that he wanted “Papelbon money.” This happened three years after Jonathan Papelbon signed a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for $50 million over four years.
On the other hand, Robertson led a meeting of just the players in Florida during the last week of the 2018 season to decide who would play in the postseason. All of the team’s support staff, including trainers, clubhouse workers, and batting practice pitchers, were reportedly “stiffed” that they didn’t get any shares. People from outside the organization said that Robertson could have done more to share the money with people who weren’t players.
After the 2018 season, Robertson signed a two-year deal with the Phillies and left the Yankees for the second time.
Before the trade deadline for this year, the Cubs traded Robertson to the Phillies for pitcher Ben Brown.. Since then, Robertson has pitched 6.0 innings for the NL East club with an ERA of 0.00.
On the Yankees’ side, it will be interesting to see if they will be sorry they didn’t try harder to get Robertson.
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