Thursday, October 26, 2017

It needs to be said: Brian Cashman - gulp - deserves an extension

Since February, I assumed this was Brian Cashman's last hurrah as Pooh Bah. You can only wear so many AL East bronze medals before their collective weight takes you under. The Great Sell-Off of 2016 could be seen as either Cashman's zenith achievement or the sum of his failures, depending on what happened this year - and I figured we'd once again finish one lager short of a six-pack. 

It wouldn't be a slam dunk, firing Cash. Along with his keen Machiavellian instincts, I suspected Cashman possessed coffee-spitting Steinbrennerian photographs, along the lines of the Steele Dossier. There were reasons to keep him: Once out of the Yankee organization, he would be free to write a tell-all book that would make the Harvey Weinstein revelations look like Jennifer's ice-bucket challenge. Nevertheless, another year of finishing third would be his last. 

Well, to the victor goes the spoils! Let us render unto Cashman what is Cashman's: Credit for the state of the Yankees as headed into 2018. We almost stole the AL pennant from three clubs who built themselves by turning last place finishes into an art form. Heading into next year, we have a dynamic young lineup that looks positioned to win divisions rather than wild cards. And it all comes back to the Great Sell-Off. 

Think about it: In mid-2016, Cashman somehow convinced Prince Hal not to pursue that final wild card slot like a doberman chasing a garbage truck. The Yankees easily could have traded Aaron Judge and/or Gary Sanchez for a proven starting pitcher, and gone down the same disastrous road they had done in the past. Instead, they reversed the process. That was Cashman's greatest moment, the fulcrum point on which his career seems to have turned.

Not every deal has worked. It will take years to assess the trade for Sonny Gray, who - let's be honest here - at first gush has been a Kenny Rogers-level disappointment. But Cashman's three-way deal for Didi Gregorius is already looking like a career-steal. It's hard to imagine Didi playing improving in 2018 without being the AL MVP. He's that close to greatness, and Cashman delivered him.

I believe Cashman's survival stems from his ability to involve Prince Hal in each decision. As a result, the owner cannot rightfully take out failures on the front office. This strategy has one potential long term problem: The owner may come to think he's behind the Yankee success - playing to the family's greatest evolutionary weakness: Runaway hubris. Old George ran the team through 15 horrible years before he finally loosened the reins and let Gene Michael and Bob Watson build a team. I've always felt Hal would be an abbreviated version of his dad: Instead of 15 bad years, we would see five. And that's what we've endured. Now, his golden era might be starting. Let's hope...

There is another reason to keep Cashman: Gary Denbo, our director of minor leagues somethingorother, whom Derek Jeter recently poached to Miami. With his knowledge of our system, Denbo will turn the December Rule 5 draft into an all-you-can-eat Yankee buffet. The front office cannot afford to lose both Cashman and Denbo this year, watching all our secrets flying out the door. 

One last notion: At 50, Cashman should be reaching peak foliage for a GM. The next few years should be his wheelhouse. And at this point, nothing should faze him. He's been through everything. Remember Louise Meanwell, his stalker-mistress? Remember the year of Pronk and Vernon Wells? Remember "beggars cannot be choosers?" Remember watching Robbie Cano jog out the door? Another injury to Greg Bird will be peanuts. (Besides, we have Garrett Cooper!) 

I'm not saying the guy belongs in Cooperstown. That's crazy. But it's in the Yankees best interests to keep this guy in the fold, pissing outwards. Like him or not, tired of him or not, we need Brian Cashman to run the Yankees for the next few years. He built this roller coaster. Now, he should get to ride it. 

(Something tells me a few of you are gonna disagree...)

14 comments:

  1. 1. "pissing outwards" - check

    2. the Denbo thing - check

    we can always roast him on a spit in 2020

    reporting from London until next week, Edward R. Bitski

    ReplyDelete
  2. THE DIDI DEAL HAS ALL BUT SECURED THE "COOPERSTOWN" TALK, NONSENSE.

    ......BUT YOU ARE RIGHT, MR. DUQUE, HE WILL BE EXTENDED.

    ALTHOUGH, I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK.....

    NO CLIFF LEE BECAUSE OF DAVID ADAMS....

    ......AND SONNY GRAY OVER JUSTIN VERLANDER....

    MAY HAVE COST US A COUPLE WORLD SERIES RINGS RIGHT THERE. (NOT PULLING THE TRIGGER ON LEE DEFINITELY DID IN MY OPINION).

    .....AND THEN THERE WAS, JAVIER VASQUEZ (TWICE!)....

    .....AND STEPHEN DREW.

    .....AND CHASE HEADLEY.

    .....AND JONATHAN ABALADE.......

    AWW, FUCK IT, HE'S GOING TO BE HERE FOREVER.



    ReplyDelete
  3. ALERT GUYS!

    ESPN REPORT SAYS JOE GIRARDI WILL NOT RETURN IN 2018!

    YES!!!

    I FOR ONE THINK IT WAS NECESSARY.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dancing in the streets! Hosannas in the Bronx! Wild parties in Mudville!!!

    Of course, we may never know how much was Girardi's decision and how much the Yankees'. But who cares.

    Now...who's going to take over?

    ReplyDelete
  5. JOHN M.... ALPHONSO....

    WE GOT AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT!

    HOPEFULLY, THE NEXT MANAGER WON'T....

    -TAKE PITCHERS OUT ONE OR TWO BATTERS TOO LATE.

    -REST PLAYERS AFTER THEY GET 2 OR 3 HITS THE DAY BEFORE.

    -DRIVE THE SLUMPING PLAYERS INTO THE GROUND BY NOT RESTING THEM.

    -USE THE BULLPEN SO RIGIDLY - (NOT EVERY PITCHER HAS TO HAVE A CEMENTED "ROLE" THAT CAN NEVER BE WAVERED FROM).

    -MAKE OUR BATTERS KEEP SWINGING AT 2-0, AND 3-0 PITCHES.

    -TAKE SHIT FROM BATTERS WHO REFUSE TO MAKE CONTACT WHEN IT IS NEEDED, AND NOT KEEP SWINGING FOR THE FENCES.

    ....AND ON AND ON.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hire Jason Giambi now before his buddy Jeter does!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You're right, ALL-CAPS, Cashman has cost us several world championships with his mistakes, going back all the way to at least 2003, when he turned away Old George's suggestion that he sign Big Papi, after the Twins released him.

    There was also his refusal to sign Manny because he feared he would fall in with bad company, back in the hood; his turning a deaf ear to Giambi's suggestion that he sign Johnny Damon back in 2003; his trade of Theodore Roosevelt Lilly for Jeff Weaver; his constant neglect of the bench and bullpen for years; his later, bizarre draft picks of and trades for guys who he knew had arm problems because that way, 'you can get them really cheap.'

    BUT...Duque has a point. This year, he turned it all around.

    I didn't like most of the trades of big prospects, either. And while the only disappointment of Kenny Rogers proportions could be...Kenny Rogers...Gray has been a disappointment.

    But basically, he's got the team on a terrific trajectory. I think those of us who have long hated him with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns, must now tip our caps and call him our daddy, to quote a great dwarf owner.

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  8. As for Girardi, he was far from our worst manager...but he is no big loss.

    Even worse than his refusal to challenge the infamous foul ball in Cleveland was his reaction to the reaction. He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

    The guy has become way too high-strung, a common malady for longtime New York managers and coaches. I think we are better off changing horses, now.

    But who succeeds him?

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  9. The Ghost of Yankees PastOctober 26, 2017 at 11:53 AM

    For one, I agree with el duque that the Yankees should retain Cashman. Simply look at the way the Yankees rebuilt after the Core Four and great run they had. We have a young talented team ,with a solid group of prospects knocking on the door of the major league. While he has made his share of mistakes, he has also made a bunch of good decisions. He has steadfastly refused to trade ,over the past several years, the young players we are now counting on. Also he has accomplished this with the dictate from ownership to reduce payroll below the luxury tax level . Throw in the way he has replenished the international signing pool.

    I am not saying Cashman is perfect. However looking at the job he has done from a macro level it is hard to see why the Yankees would not keep him.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I SAY WATCH FOR AL PEDRIQUE FOR OUR MANAGER.

    HE'S BEEN MANAGING AT SCRANTON, AND KNOWS ALL THE KIDS.

    ROB THOMSON POSSIBLY.

    TONY PENA TOO...

    I THINK IT'S EITHER ONE.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Would people please stop using the term "Core Four"? That leaves out Bernie Williams, who was probably the best overall player of the Yankees championship teams of the late nineties and early oughts. The term ought to be banished, along with anyone who uses it--sent into the baseball gulag, never to be heard from again.

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  12. The mere fact that Brian has convinced Hal that building a team from FA is no longer the way to win a championship should be the reason that Cashman stays.

    ReplyDelete
  13. “ Deserves an extension “ is the operative phrase.

    And one can endlessly argue the pros and cons of Girardi’s fate and of Cashman’s fate. But the circumstance in which the Yankees now find themselves makes the issue academic.

    Little Hal ( I am not cheap ) Steinbrenner obviously colluded with Cashman on the Girardi firing, because Brian is still sitting in his office taking and making calls, and eating bonbons Inscribed on the top with the interlocking NY.

    I believe the argument, as well, that Hal would not dare go naked, and fire them both on successive days. Plus, I think we all know that Cashman has photos, or something incriminating that keep him employed.

    So it is what it is. At least, this time, the change had more impact than when they fired the strength and conditioning coach.

    We should start a ‘pool’ on when the announcement will come.

    ReplyDelete

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