Andrew Cashner: A Trip In The Way-Back Machine

You need to feel better and I am here to help the cause. I'm fine. But it's you that requires comfort.

You are uneasy. Your dis-ease stems from the Padres decision to trade Anthony Rizzo, one of the system's top prospects for what amounts to a late inning reliever with shoulder issues and a light hitting elf from South Korea.

You are hurting and in need of reassurance. Fortunately for you, I can help. Climb aboard and take a little ride in my Baseball America 2009 Prospect Handbook . . .



It's February 24th, 2009. President Obama, focusing on the economy,  has just addressed a joint session of Congress and Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail is number 1 at the box-office. This day in history could have killed lesser people but not us --  Baseball America has just released their 2009 Prospect Handbook. It was costly, no doubt. But three years later it's still here providing us with much needed reassurance.

I direct you to page 83 where you find a former Tight End from the University of Notre Dame named Jeff Samardzia. He is the number 2 prospect in the Chicago Cubs system. You are mesmerized by his mullet and horribly distracted by the spelling of his surname but you are not deterred. Your eyes drift one slot south where you find a write-up by BA's Jim Callis. The player -- number 3 prospect Andrew Cashner.

Callis describes to you everything you wish to hear. How Cashner regularly hit 96-98 mph at Texas Christian University, pairing it with an electric curveball. And he has a change-up. His North Side employers believe in this third pitch, so much so, that their heights are set on a spot in the rotation for young Andrew Cashner.

Then Callis gives you your Holy Grail:

Cashner has the raw ability to pitch in the front half of a big league rotation . . .

You quickly do the computation in your head, knowing that this is not Japan but instead Major League Baseball where a 5 man rotation is in use. Your math tells you that the front half equals -- a #1 or a #2!

You are ecstatic.

Suddenly the Anthony Rizzo/Zach Cates for Andrew Cashner/ Light Hitting Elf from South Korea doesn't sound bad at all.

You forget about the slight strain Cashner suffered in his shoulder last year and February 24th, 2009 becomes your accepted reality. You decide to stay*.

Doesn't it all feel better now?

* As you wait in line at the cinema you find that "Madea Goes to Jail" has sold out. Disappointed, you think about returning home but it is President Obama's economic address that begins to resonate with your inner-American. You purchase tickets to "He's Just Not That Into You". It was a good day.