Listen: Brian Cashman will outlive us all as Yankee GM. And you know what? It could be worse.
Ten reasons - I'm not kidding! to be positive about Cashman.
1. He has never traded a Jay Buhner. The pain of the 1980s still lingers due to all the Yankee prospects who excelled in other cities. Think: Drabek, McGee, McGriff, Buhner, Rios, Gura, Tewksbury... (Gahhhhhh, no more, kill me, please!) Stick Michael's greatest gift was to simply turn off the talent fire hose. Cashman, for all his dealings, has yet to pull an absolute boner. (Yes, Mike Lowell stank, but he received several young pitchers. It wasn't trading youth for age. And yes, Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson went out the door, but Curtis Granderson became the CF of a world champion team.) I hated seeing us trade Peter O'Brien and Rafael De Paula this summer - but they were not the house jewels. He has yet to make that one terrible deal that seals his legacy.
2. He is relentless on the waiver wire. Jeez Louise, the guy must never sleep. With three weeks left, he snags Chris Young. With days left, he grabs Eury Perez. Maybe, he churns too much. But nobody can accuse him of calling in sick.
3. He gets along with the NY media. Never underestimate this.
4, He's still young for the job. He's 47. He's got at least 15 years of cogency left, and if he can learn from past mistakes, they could be his best seasons. The Stick was in his 60s when he turned around the Yankees with fellow graybeard Bob Watson. If Cashman can grow, his best successes could be ahead of him.
5. He plays well with Hal. Don't know the dynamics here. If the Yankees were my team, I'd hire a Tony LaRussa type - someone with a track record - and give him complete control of baseball operations. The reality is this: Hal will never do that. No LaRussa or Whitey Herzog will ever take a job that requires them to be a Steinbrenner's kewpie doll. Cashman can handle the meddlesome ownership. Again, don't underestimate that.
6. He gets along with the other GMs. He's hired a few of them. He's probably an officer in their secret Loyal Order of Raccoons. A few must owe him favors. No, they won't give us Bryce Harper. But you never know...
7. He takes the beatings. Good grief, the man has been ridiculed, condemned, mocked, photoshopped, memed, pied, ice-bucket-challenged - you name it - but he's still standing. He might be one of those immortals from the Scottish highlands, which means he could show up at my doorstep and chop me into Cornflakes with his sword.
8. If he fails, we will get a shot at him in the next life. Down in Hell, he'll be called before a Yankee fan tribunal. Alphonso will personally prosecute him.Things will get hot.
9. Hm-mm. I'm tapped. Is there a reason why lists have to be ten?
10. Yep, I'm shutting this down. Alphonso is going to kill me for this.
for the record, Granderson was acquired in winter of 09, after they had already won the WS a month or so earlier...
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