Brian Cashman wanted to trade Robinson Cano in his 2013 walk year. The same with David Robertson the following season.
Not until 2016 did his bosses fully buy what the Yankees GM was selling — that modern rosters must be young, deep, versatile and financially flexible, and that maintaining George Steinbrenner’s model of never taking a step backward would guarantee not one step back, but a free fall.
That revelation arrived at a most fortuitous time. The Yankees had Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller to trade when every contender wanted bullpen pieces that looked just like Chapman and Miller.