Yankees’ Potential Gio Urshela Reunion: A Troubling Echo of the Josh Donaldson Trade Debacle and Steinbrenner’s Trust in Brian Cashman

If a New York Yankees fan is asked to point out the biggest trade blunder the Pinstripes have made to date, several may surface in their mind. One that is all set to shine through, though, is their Josh Donaldson-Gio Urshela debacle, in which Brian Cashman was subjected to Hal Steinbrenner’s blind trust.

Rhythmic interpretations apart, the Yankees’ rumored plans of locking down Urshela for the next season definitely smell of a similar instance in the likes of the Donaldson bust. If the deal does go through, it will all depend on what the Bronx Bombers decide to do with the slugger, considering the options they have at hand at present.

Are the New York Yankees on the verge of repeating a blunder?

While playing under the New York Yankees banner from 2019 to 2021, Gio Urshela racked up 41 homers, hitting .292 on average in the 291 games he played. Naturally, trading an above-average player in lieu of a set of promising prospects like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Josh Donaldson, and Ben Rortvedt looked like an obvious choice for them—one that guaranteed success. Until it didn’t.

Donaldson and IKF left the team in 2023 after a season full of heavy disappointments that saw the players spend most of their time on the bench. While Donaldson was held back by injuries, IKF had no choice but to sit it out as Anthony Volpe took control of the shortstop post. Intriguingly, all of this happened because owner Hal Steinbrenner put the utmost trust in GM Brian Cashman, and the rest is history.

Although Kiner-Falefa did get the option to serve once the team was held back by a heavy set of injured players, it would make sense why neither of them stayed back with the Pinstripes. Players want to be on the diamond, and they like to play for winsome teams. Considering Urshela is going through a similar set of circumstances, where do the New York Yankees see themselves going with him?

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Urshela’s prospective future

Gio Urshela has had an injurious year with the Los Angeles Angels this season. With only a few games played, the slugger does not have any record to support his future as a permanent third baseman for any team at this moment. Given the fact that he didn’t actually go through surgery to fix the fracture on his pelvis, a good form looks anything but certain.

Now, if the Bombers go about locking him in yet another bewildering Cashman decision, how likely is the past to repeat itself? The team can use either Urshela or Oscar Peraza (who has a similar injury record and way worse stats to show for it in the AL) to make a trade for the starting pitching rotation that still needs to be filled.

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Having players like Luis Castillo, Corbin Burnes, and Dylan Cease on their prospective target list means that the team can still go after them regardless of their active contracts. Because all three teams harboring the said pitchers need to clinch a third baseman. Whether history will repeat itself or not will be revealed in time.