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January 05, 2008

Cashman Holds Court At Theo's Party

From the Yankees site -

"Mostly, especially in our big markets, you get challenged on the short-term stuff so much you can make a mistake if you get caught up in the winds of the pressure of making a [trade]," Cashman told the audience.

"Like right now, the Red Sox and Yankees, at least, are in the middle of this Johan Santana stuff. What's the right thing for the now? What's the right thing for the future? These are the wrestling matches that go on in the organizations and you have very spirited conversations about what's right and what's wrong."

Cashman said he still believes in a strong and productive farm system.

"At the end of the day, if you have an opportunity to build something and be a leader in that situation, you stick to it. It's your way and you find a way to stick to it, despite the media pressures, the ownership pressures, the fans' pressures and realize, 'You know what? I believe in what I'm doing and I'll stick to it as long as you give me the opportunity and then get judged on the results at the end of the day.'"

Following the panel discussion, Cashman fielded questions on everything from dealing with the Steinbrenner brothers to Roger Clemens and the Mitchell Report.

"Everybody has their own style," Cashman said of the Steinbrenners. "And Hank has obviously taken charge on behalf of his father, along with his brother, Hal. They have different styles. Hal is more quiet and Hank is very available, but my job is to continue to line up the structure of the organization that can find the amateur talent."

On the eve of Clemens' interview on "60 Minutes," Cashman offered his perspective on what to expect from baseball going forward from the Mitchell Report.

"All of it's difficult," he said. "There's no doubt about that. It is what it is. The Mitchell Report came out and there was some shocking information that was in there, and now we're seeing it play out after the fact and what you have to do, unfortunately, is sit back and watch it unfold."

I'm going to pick out the quotes here that interest me the most:

These are the wrestling matches that go on in the organizations and you have very spirited conversations about what's right and what's wrong...

...Hank has obviously taken charge on behalf of his father, along with his brother...

...my job is to continue to line up the structure of the organization that can find the amateur talent...

Since when does the job description summary for a G.M. of a big league team read: "line up the structure of the organization that can find the amateur talent"?

Sure, that's part of a G.M.'s job - but, it's something that rolls up into the major overall charge of putting together the major league roster.

The mentions of "wrestling matches that go on in the organizations" and "Hank has obviously taken charge" along with this "my job" declaration suggest that Cashman is out of the loop in terms of building the Yankees - and that Hank is now pulling the strings. After all, it was Hank who signed A-Rod. It was Hank that gave out the contracts to Posada and Rivera. And, it's Hank that's going after Santana.

Further, here's some more from Cashman, via The Canadian Press:

With one year left on his contract and senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner leaning toward pursuing a trade for Minnesota ace Johan Santana, Cashman said Saturday he's not thinking about what he'll do when his deal runs out.

"Because of all the work that gets involved with doing the job, it kind of prevents me from really looking ahead past this year," he said. "I'm just doing everything I possibly can to assist the transition with the new manager, the new owners, with the involvement now with the Steinbrenner sons. And then the rest will take care of itself at another time."

The Yankees won four World Series from 1996-2000, then lost in 2001 to Arizona. After that, their emphasis shifted to obtaining proven veterans, Cashman said. Some, like pitcher Kevin Brown, were past their prime.

"We got away from some of the core principles of our business operation, which is we just started going all veteran-oriented," Cashman said. "We had a chance to really go into an abyss" early in the 2005 season.

Cashman almost left the Yankees when his contract expired after that year. But when he was given full control over baseball operations, allowing him to emphasize his preference for developing young players, he signed a three-year contract.

That gave him one more year than manager Joe Torre. After last season, when Torre left for the Los Angeles Dodgers and was replaced by Joe Girardi, and owner George Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, became more involved, Cashman is headed into a season of transition.

"Things have changed here in the third year," Cashman said. "I'm learning as I go along, too. But it is different. But one thing is that I've been with this family, the Steinbrenner family, for well over 20 years. So I'm focused fully on doing everything I possibly can to assist them in their emergence now as decision makers."

Note the following:

...Things have changed here in the third year...

...I'm focused fully on doing everything I possibly can to assist [Hank and Hal] in their emergence now as decision makers...

When I read those last two quotes from Cashman, about things changing and him assisting the new decision makers, all I can think of is all those times, in business, through the years, where I've seen situations of people who have led a department, or a division, or even a company, and it was clear that a new person was taking over. Being professionals, and wanting to ensure that they keep their big paycheck going until the very last day, and not ruin their resume and/or standing in an industry, they would say "all the right things" and do whatever was asked of them "during the transition phase," etc.

If there was any doubt that Brian Cashman was on his way out in terms of having "full control over baseball operations" for the Yankees, I think Brian, himself, has cleared this up now (with these comments).

Posted by Steve Lombardi at January 5, 2008 11:48 PM

Comments

You'll miss Cashman when he's gone, Steve, as will Hank, Hal, and most Yankees fans, but perhaps not as much as we're going to miss Phil Hughes, unless Hank suddenly has an epiphany and comes to understand that the key to being a successful baseball owner is to let the baseball people make the baseball decisions.

Posted by: Rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 6, 2008 03:08 AM

You'll miss Cashman when he's gone, Steve, as will Hank, Hal, and most Yankees fans
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I don't know about that; Cashman's another name in the long line of Yankee GM's. He moves on, the Yanks will get another one.

I'd like the Yanks to stay the course, but it's not my call. We'll see what the future holds.

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 6, 2008 10:16 AM