Jim Bowden and Dan O’Dowd agree the Yankees have a good a chance as any team to win the American League pennant. What GM Brian Cashman does with that information with the trade deadline a week away is where the two differ.
The Yankees have put themselves at the top of the AL East thanks to huge bounce-back seasons from Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, a dominant back end of the bullpen and relatively healthy, productive seasons from Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda at the top of the rotation.
Bowden pointed to Reds ace Johnny Cueto as perhaps the Yankees’ best chance to make the jump from AL East favorite to American League favorite.