Steve – Buster Olney wrote about it in his book.

I don’t think anyone foresaw the problems Mussina, Vazquez, Contreras, Hernandez & Brown would have.

He let Andy walk in favor of bringing in Kevin Brown. One of the dumbest moves made he ever made.
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Kevin Brown was bought in to replace Jeff Weaver.

The 2003 rotation consisted of
Mussina
Pettitte
Clemens
Wells
Weaver

Clemens, Wells & Pettitte left via free agency.

Jon Lieber was signed a year prior, rehabbing from TJS, IIRC. Duque was signed after missing all of 2003, Weaver was traded for Brown, Contreras was given a spot in the rotation, and the Yanks traded for Vazquez.

So going into 2004, the Yanks had a rotation of
Mussina
Vazquez
Brown
Lieber
Contreras

With Duque waiting in the wings.

I don’t think anyone foresaw the problems Mussina, Vazquez, Contreras, Hernandez & Brown would have.

And, (Pettitte’s departure) sunk the pitching staff from 2004 through 2006.
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I think there were some organizational concerns about Pettitte’s elbow when he walked. Of course, he blew out his elbow in 2004.

OTOH, if there was such a concern about his arm, that doesn’t explain signing Duque, Lieber, Dotel, Wright & Pavano, among others.

Raf – what are you trying to link to?
———
One of your entries on Vazquez, linking to an article implying a bum shoulder the reason for his poor season…

I don’t have the date offhand, but it’s somewhere in the 2005 archives (May?)

Raf – what are you trying to link to?

~~~Letting Pettite walk netted them Phil Hughes as compensation.~~~

And, sunk the pitching staff from 2004 through 2006.

Posted by: Steve Lombardi
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For reasons I’ll never understand George never liked Andy. He let Andy walk in favor of bringing in Kevin Brown. One of the dumbest moves made he ever made.

He should have seen the things that everyone else was missing, on Javy.
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http://tinyurl.com/2v6v76

~~~”December 16, 2003 – Traded Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos. Received Javier Vazquez. December 17, 2003 – Signed Paul Quantrill as a free agent.”

I don’t understand why these are bad moves. I still contend that the Vazquez move was one of Cashman’s best, results unimportant.~~~

Nick Johnson was a hot commodity at that time. Very hot. When you trade something that hot, that young, you better get the *real deal* in return. Sure, “it seemed like the right move at that time.” But, Cashman is supposed to be smart. He should have seen the things that everyone else was missing, on Javy. Granted, Johnson tanked, but, at the time of the trade, he was as sweet a chip as one could have – and Cash blew him on a pitcher that turned out to be a phony, in terms of being the next great ace.

Quantrill? You tell me. How many baserunners did he allow during his IP with the Yankees? Better yet, let me do a study on that now.

I think this is a fruitless exercise, for the reasons already stated — specifically the idea of judging these in a vacuum.

But I disagree with the following two:

“December 16, 2003 – Traded Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos. Received Javier Vazquez.
December 17, 2003 – Signed Paul Quantrill as a free agent.”

I don’t understand why these are bad moves. I still contend that the Vazquez move was one of Cashman’s best, results unimportant. It was a smart idea and the right way to go. You trade a spare part and an injury risk for a good young pitcher. That it blew up in Cashman’s face wasn’t his fault or really foreseeable. Acquiring young pitching — especially someone of Vazquez’s caliber (at the time, anyway) — is always a good bet.

And Quantrill? Quantrill was a perennial workhorse who was coming off a good year. Had A-Rod not dislocated Q’s knee during spring training, and had Torre not insisted on sending him out there injured, maybe things would have been different. Signing Q was as obvious as signing Gordon.

All moves aren’t bad moves just because they turn out to be failures. A smart move can turn sour for unexpected and out-of-your-control reasons. That doesn’t make them bad.