The Yankees didn't have much else on their minds besides champagne, beer and spraying both on each other's heads after Monday night's Game 3 clincher at Target Field. But a few feet away from the bubbly celebration, shielded by a clubhouse partition, Brian Cashman pondered what was next.
The pitching strategy devised by Cashman's collaboration with Aaron Boone worked to near-perfection in stifling the Twins. The AL Central champs hit a record 307 homers and ranked second in runs with 939 during the regular season, yet went deep only four times in the ALDS and were outscored by the Yankees, 23-7.
All this without a Madison Bumgarner or Trevor Bauer or Zack Wheeler or Marcus Stroman _ the names Cashman passed on in July when the rotation was identified as the Yankees' greatest need. Some suggested the GM may have cost his team a title shot by not securing another ace-caliber pitcher by the deadline, but Cashman didn't see it that way.
