Cashman officially on my shit list

Anyone who has had the chance to look through this blog over the last several months can see a certain trend: My less than enthusiastic view of the job Brian Cashman has done over the last two years.

But that hesitation has always been tempered by the fact that, in large part, Cashman has been the single biggest driving force behind rebuilding the Yankees farm system. When I get giddy at the concept of watching Joba The Hut blossom into a dominant, shut down starter, when I start to feel a little electricity flowing through my body at the thought of Austin Jackson continuing on his meteoric rise in the system, and when I have a moment to sit back and imagine Jose Tabata becoming the next Manny, without all the "Manny being Manny" bullshit thrown in, I have to thank Cashman for that. It was he that changed the course direction on the Yankee's GPS system.

But Cashman seems to have become a victim of his own success. His obsession with the farm system he has helped build seems to be bordering on the unhealthy if any of the newspaper reports have been right. Not only has Cashman been reluctant to trade prized pitching prospect Phil Hughes, he has also sent up red flares when names like Alan Horne and Mike Melchanon have been mentioned, guys who seem to project to miminal impact rolls on a MLB team.

Some have lauded Cashman for his continued reluctance to acquire Santana. I have not. Santana would fill a huge hole within the Yankee team, the most important hole right now, which is the ace caliber starter they have been lacking for the last several years. While Andy Pettite is a great, proven big game pitcher and Chien Mien Wang has the "stuff" to be dominant on any given day, could either one of them match up with Beckett in the playoffs or a must win regular season game and come out on top? Possibly, but the pitching matchup would most certainly favor Boston.

But the whole "will they, won't they" game with Santana has gotten tired, even for me. Where Cashman has me throwing in the towel now is after his most recent comments regarding Bernie Williams, which was first reported by Peter Abraham a few days ago. According to Abraham, Cashman basically said that Williams put his music career above his baseball career towards the end, called his 2005 season a "horrible" season and criticized Joe Torre for playing Bernie as much as he did in 2006 when there were "better options available."

I am officially done with Cashman. As far as I am concerned, the little pocket protecting, Bill James worshipping nerd can high tail it out of town any time he feels like it. Have fun in Pittsburgh or some other third baseball world city you nerdly little egotist. You are dead to me.

Bernie Williams has done nothing but represent himself and his organization - The New York Yankees - with class and distinction for nearly 15 years of service. He was paid hansomely for his play, but he ALWAYS performed when the team, and the organization needed him. Derek Jeter will go down as one of the best clutch performers in baseball history, but Bernie Williams aint too far behind. There were series ( 1996 Divisional Series VS. Texas) where the man was unstoppable. He helped the organization win 4 championships, was perhaps the only middle of the order threat the team had during that time, and he was one of the players that set the class first tone of those championship teams where even the opponent had to respect the Yankees.

Bernie Williams has meant for to the New York Yankees than Brian Cashman and his little pocket protector ever will. He was here before Cashman came and he'll be remembered well after Cashman has moved on to some other organization in the future.

The problem with Cashman, in my opinion, is simple: ego. Cashman was given free reign to run the Yanks and much was made of the successes he had while little was made of the amazing mistakes he was able to make during that time. Cashman heard the cheers for rebuilding the farm system, watched as Robinson Cano and Chien Mien Wang came up and became stars, saw the fan fare over his three prized starting pitchers, read the columns and comments that lauded his steadfast determination to continue with his youth movement, and began to believe his own headlines.

Cashman no longer likes to be challenged. In his own mind, he has done the right things at the right time. So the Bernie questions have most certainly been annoying him. Instead of taking the high road, he decided to attack Bernie. He decided to attack his character and his abilities, not because Bernie had done or said anything directly, but because the rightness of Cashman's decision to reject Bernie before last year has been continuously challenged by fans and in the media.

To quote one of my favorite movies, Cashman's ego is writing checks his body can't cash. His tenure with the Yanks has been a mixed bag, certainly not so stellar as to feel comfortable throwing a Yankee icon under the bus simply to look tough and in contril during a roundtable discussion with Boy Wonder Theo Epstein. Cashman's contract is up after this year, and considering how committed financially this team is to winning each year, the little bespectaled ego maniac should be easily replaced.

Cash has a chance to redeem himself this year. He has laid a lot on the line, has fought and won some big battles that are gonna have to break his way, and if they do he deserves the type of adulation he has misguidedly gotten from a gushing media over the last several years. But the collateral is all used up. The good feelings and good intentions are all gone. There is no pass for this year, nor is there any second chance, or A for effort. Cashman has one chance, this year, to prove his stubborn philosophy is founded on something other than his own arrogance and unwillingness to part with the bounty he has amassed.

But all I know is this: Cashman's ego and his posturing almost cost the Yankees Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and has now seemingly strained beyond repair Bernie William's relationship with the team. Couple that with the franchises dismal handling of the Joe Torre situation and Cashman's backing of Joe Girardi over Don Mattingly for the manager position, and the Yanks are running out of fan favorites to help close down Yankee Stadium this year.

All I know is, the future better be bright for Cashman, interms of players, because he has already burned enough bridges in the past.

First of 1 million 2008 previews

A month before pitchers and catchers seems to be about as good a time as any to offer up the first of what will surely be about a trillion 2008 previews from now until the season actually begins. But, with more hot air (Hammerin Hank) than substance coming out of Yankee camp lately, and with little hope for a big trade waiting on the horizon, it seems like as good a time as any to look at the position players on the Yanks, the position battles that might take place, and what the future may hold for the Bronx Bombers as they say goodbye to the House That Ruth Built and say hello to The House That The Yesnetwork and Luxury Box Seats Built.

So let's look at who's on the team, who should be on the team and when we should see them in the game.

Everyday guys (by position).

C, Jorge Posada: He had a career year last year at the age of 36. That showed two things: one, Jorge isn't exactly showing his age and the years of bumps and bruises he has sustained behind the plate, and two, that there is a good chance that will be the last time we see Jorge approaching the .330 mark over the course of an entire year. Jorge is still one of the best offensive catchers in the game, but how much longer he has at the top of that list is anyone's guess.

Prediction: Jorge will put up normal numbers for himself, meaning that, if Joe Girardi is smart he won't be relying on him in the middle of the lineup next year the way that Torre relied on him last year.

3B, Alex Rodriguez: Forget all of the drama. Forget all of the Scott Boras, A-Rod, Hank Steinbrenner soap opera. A-Rod's numbers are undisputed. His mere presence in the lineup gives the Yanks one of the best lineups in baseball. The man can do it all. Far from being a one tool player, A-Rod can hit for average, for power, can get on base, and when he is going right be rarely strikes out. There is almost nothing he can't do on the baseball field. He also regained his defensive prowess last year after a very shaky 2006 effort at the hot corner.

Now, if only the same player showed up in the playoffs.........................but that isn't a concern until October.

Prediction: Expect A-Rod's numbers to drop off a bit from last year's historic performance but he should be within the top three or four players for the MVP once again.

SS, Derek Jeter: The Captain's consistency has been nothing short of astounding. Three straight years of 200 hits or more, an average that ranges between .320 and .340, an OBP over or near .400 each year, and anywhere from 40 to 50 doubles each year. Not to mention 100 runs scored each year and anywhere from 75 to 90 RBI. You can virtually set your watch to him.

Now, Jeter isn't getting any younger, and his power and his base stealing numbers have been down for a while. Last year, a leg injury seemed to limit his power and speed towards the end of the year, and Jeter carried that limited ability into the playoffs where, for the first time the Captain did nothing to help his team.

Prediction: Unless the leg injury Jeter suffered last year was something more than his usual bumps and bruises, you would have to expect another consistent year from him, making him one of the most dynamic players on the team.

2B, Robinson Cano: This, to me, is a huge year for Robby. As of right now, Robby is a REALLY good player, but his talent dictates that he could, and should be elite. He has all the tools to be one of the best hitters in the game. His swing is beautiful. It is truly one of those picture perfect left handed swings. It is fluid and graceful, generating power. But, up until now, Cano has not lived up to the expectations.

This is the year Cano NEEDS to become a major factor in the lineup. That means Cano, by the end of the year, needs to have pushed someone out of the top four or five spots in the lineup. In my mind, Cano needs to step up and be a legitimate #5 hitter in this lineup this year. Someone who can be a run producer out of that position. His youth and his ability to do some things when he gets on base would make him vital in that role. He needs to make sure that the Yanks no longer think of him as a luxury down at the bottom of the lineup and begin to depend on him in the middle of the lineup. He is too good to be in the 7 hole right now, and HE needs to take control of his own future and live up to expectations.

Prediction: Cano seems like he found a grove at the end of last year and, now in his fourth year in the bigs (his third full season with the team) I believe he will step into a bigger, more important role. I look for Cano's power and run producing numbers to go up this year and for him to slide neatly into that #5 spot permanently.

1B, Shelley Duncan, Jason Giambi, Wilson Betemit: I don't think the Yanks can afford to have Giambi at first base on a consistent basis. He is too old, too brittle, and his defense leaves way too much to be desired. At this point in his career, after so many injuries, the man is simply not good enough offensively to justify him being in the field. That leaves Shelley Duncan and Wilson Betemit. Duncan came up last year and showed that he has a clue at the plate. He is a far cry from a burly power hitter who swings at everything. He has a good eye and a good idea of what to do at the plate. And his power is certainly there. The problem with Duncan is twofold: 1.) Duncan has never had two substantial years, back-to-back, in what has been a minor league career. He had a heck of a season at Scranton last year, prompting his promotion to the bigs, but there is no way to know whether that was a fluke year for the big man or simply a sign that he had finally "figured things out."Duncan could return to the player he was before last year, a player that wasn't even on the Yanks radar screen. 2.) Duncan didn't really get enough time at first last year to show off his defensive skills. Now, if Duncan can be a 25+ homer threat - something his power and maturity at the plate seem to indicate is a possibility - than you don't really worry all that much about his D. However, with his offense AND defense in question, Duncan has a lot of questions to answer in the spring.

Betemit is a little bit more of a sure thing. Defensively he showed himself to be above average to down right talented at all of the infield positions, and even though he hadn't spent much time at all at first he showed off some nice leather there as well. Betemit also showed a tremendous amount of power, a knack for getting a big hit, and some real bat speed from the left side. Remmeber, Betemit was thought to be a starter by the Dodgers before the season started, but a slow start and a crop of young players pushed him out of the position. There is no denying his talent.

There are two problems Betemit has: 1.) he showed an amazing lack of ability from the right side of the plate (he is a swicth hitter) making is difficult to see him as the everyday 1B unless he really improved from that side or developed into a good left hand hitting left hander. 2.) Betemit is a perfect super sub, who can play every single position on the infield, and play it well, and provide a good bat in the lineup. The Yanks might be reluctant to take him out of that role, where he is very valuable to the team, and make him a starter.

Prediction: Maybe this is just my heart talking but I think Duncan is gonna get the majority of the playing time at first this year. He has power and he is a hard nosed player who gives the team an emotional lift. He is far more mature at the plate than anyone anticipated and I have to believe he'll be palatable at first defensively. Betemit could come to camp with a new idea of how to swing from the right side, and if he does it could make for an interesting battle, but something tells me the Yanks view Betemit as more valuable on the bench, where they can give Jeter, A-Rod and whoever is playing first a rest now and again and feel confident in his ability to perform. I think Duncan can put up nice power numbers and be a threat towards the bottom of the lineup.

LF, Johnny Damon: There's no question how important Damon is at the top of the lineup. When he is healthy and playing well, he and Jeter provide argueably the best one-two punch in the game. Damon still has his legs and has surprising power, especially in Yankee Stadium where he does a terrific job of utilizing the short porch. He gets on base, bunts, steals, and is a clutch performer.

The problem with Johnny is how much game is left in his seemingly old bones? Johnny has aged in dog years it seems, and while the birth certificate only says 35, Damon looks like Julio Franco running around on some days. Can he have a healthy, productive year three for the Yanks?

Prediction: Moving to left field almost exclusively will allow Damon to stay healthy, for the most part, this year and he will resemble the player he was in 2006. He will also establish himself as one of the better defensive LF in the game.

CF, Melky Cabrera: (Obviously, this assumes that the long-rumored Johan Santana deal doesn't materialize.) I'm a big Melky fan. There's something about the kid that just seems to be interesting. His defense in center field has been very good. Yes, he will take an occassional bad route to a ball or get a bad break, but most of the time the little guy is able to run things down in the gaps and, just as important, he's able to keep baserunners honest with a terrific and accurate arm.

I don't know what Melky's ceiling is. Can he be a .300 hitter in the majors? I think he can be. Can he be a top of the lineup type of guy? Possibly, down the road. Can he end up being the player he was at the end of the season, when everything was a ground out to second and he made every pitcher look like Pedro Martinez on steroids? Absolutely. The question is, where will Melky even out?

Prediction: Melky goes nowhere and settles in as a decent 9 hole hitter that does better than he did at the end of last season but no where near the type of player that he seemed on his way to becoming two years ago when a .320 average seemed possible. Melky will remain a fan favorite, but he is going to have to be consistent. He doesn't need to be great, only consistent. For him, I think that translates into solid numbers for the entire year, yet nothing that jumps off the back of a baseball card at you.

RF, Bobby Abreu: I have to admit, I have never been a HUGE Abreu fan. He plays the game with that Bernie Williams disinterest, yet without the explosive talent Bernie had throughout most of his career. At times, his "patient" approach to his at bats can seem almost forced, as if he is more concerned with the amount of pitches he takes, or staying "true" to what he is most well know for than actually expanding his zone and getting the job done. Abreu has tendencies that drive you absolutely crazy. He is the type of player who you can imagine falling for the hidden ball trick. You could see Abreu forgetting how many outs there are, or missing a hit and run sign and hanging his teammate out to dry at second.

Yet, there is little question that Abreu fits in perfectly in what the Yanks are trying to do. He is an OBP machine, and he is perhaps the perfect bridge between Jeter and A-Rod. Abreu is a great fastball pitcher, and with the talent of A-Rod sitting behind him each at bat, there is little question that he will see his fair share of the hard stuff. He also has speed, and he gives the Yanks perhaps the most dynamic top four of any team in the league (Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A-Rod can all steal more than 20 bases and are all capable of hitting more than 20 homers). And while his defense in RF is suspect (he treats the wall in the outfield as if it were a nuclear warhead about to go off), his arm is above average and usually keeps runners from advancing. He might not make the spectacular plays, but he usually makes all the fundamental plays without a problem.

Prediction: As I said, I am not a huge fan of Abreu, but I think he is actually due for a big year. Remember, the Yanks picked up his option for this year, so this is Abreu's walk year. You rarely see talented players not come up with HUGE years on their walk year. I look for a .315 average with resurgent power numbers and a possible All Star appreance. He is going to earn himself a big Yankee pay day, the question will be whether Abreu can honor whatever long term contract he gets from the Yanks and live up to the expectations. For this year, however, look for Bobby A to be a BIG player.

DH, Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi: These two guys are tailor made for this position. Neither one can play defense effectively anymore, and the field seems to beat up on their now fragile bodies. I think the Giambino will still get some time at first and Matsui will split a lot of time with Damon (to give Johnny's body a chance to rest) but most of their at bats will come from the DH spot. So who has anything left in the tank?

Last year, Matsui hit 25 homers and drove in 101 runs. Overall his numbers were actually better than Abreu's numbers, yet it seemed that there was still something off about Godzilla. His recovery from the broken wrist he suffered in 2006 still seems to be in effect, and you wonder if the worm has turned on Matsui or not. In the case of Giambi, one has to wonder how much the 37-year old has left in the tank. The bulky Giambi will probably be able to hit balls out of the park until he is old and grey, but can he keep his body healthy enough to stay in the lineup for any length of time during the season? He hasn't been able to over the course of the last few years.

Prediction: This is a tough one to really get a handle on. Matsui had the better year last year, is younger, and is more of a complete hitter than Giambi, yet, as was said before, there was something a little off center about his year. I can't help shaking the feeling that Godzilla is on the other side of being a big time player. Will moving to a DH role be a problem for him? On the other side, Giambi is 37 and injury prone, but he is still a big bat, still wants to prove that he is the MVP caliber player he was, not the bench player he is, and doesn't have a contract for next year (and I haven't heard him waxing poetic about retirement so you would assume he wants to play past this year). One wonders if the Yanks wouldn't be smart and move one of these guys (preferably Giambi) and try and get anything for him. Would an offensively challenged AL team trade for him? I could have seen the Angels doing it, but with the moves they made in the offseason are they really looking to add more before spring training starts?

In the end, I think you'll see Matsui getting the most time in the lineup at this spot and putting up numbers that are comparable to last year, even if the RBI numbers go down as I can see a Cano supplanting him as a middle of the order player.

Lineup Prediction: The Yanks have had one of the best offenses in baseball over the years and nothing should change this year. There are certain guys in the lineup (Jorge, Matsui, Giambi) who scare you a little, and there is a huge question at first base, but with the mainstays of Damon, Jeter and A-Rod in there, coupled with two guys (Cano and Abreu) I see having a big, other-level year, the offense should be able to do it all. The question for the Yanks won't be how effective they will be over the course of a season, the question will be who joins Jeter and Posada in that lineup as the clutch performers you can count on in the big spot.

The starters.

Andy Pettite: Pettite proved himself the be the ace of the staff last year, even though his win total and ERA wouldn't necessarily suggest that. Pettite is the Yanks best big game pitcher, and if he stays healthy he is as consistent as they come. Sure, he'll have that game or two where he gets knocked out in the 3rd inning and his ERA shoots up into the Jeff Weaver area, but most of the time you know you are going to be in the game, late in the game, when Pettite takes the mound.

However, this year is going to be unlike any of the previous for Pettite. He was on the fence about coming back and spent almost the entire holiday season contimplating retiring before finally deciding to come back. With Pettite, his devotion to family, and his internal battle over whether he wants to play or not, anything is possible. Pettite could retire after this year and return to the relative obscurity of his normal, everyday life, or, as he suggested in one interview this offseason, he could pitch for another 4 years. The real X factor, now, is not so much the Mitchell Report disclosure that he had used HGH twice in his career (people seem to have accepted his apology and, since he only used the drug twice while injured, his legacy seems to have remained intact) but the ongoing Clemens soap opera that will no doubt involve Pettite along the way. Pettite has already received a request by Congress to appear, the Clemens defamation suit is bound to include Pettite in some way, and since Clemens has all but called out the federal government (implying they "forced" McNamee to name him in the deposition) you can pretty much bet Fed. prosecutors are going to go after Clemens full force, which would also most likely require Pettite to testify in some capacity. How distracting will that be? How much will that get the private and reserved Pettite thinking about the tranquility of life outside of baseball? There is no telling.

Predicition: I hope I am wrong, but there is something that tells me Pettite is in for a long year. Pettite has always been such a private person, and has always taken things to heart, that a year long legal battle that doesn't even necessarily involve him, the constant questions about his own use and Clemens use, may end up being a bigger distraction than people think. I still think Pettite will have a productive year, but at times last year Andy looked like the guy who won 20 games for the Yanks in 2003. I don't think he gets close to those numbers this year.

Chien Mien Wang: You couldn't do worse than the Wanger did last year in the playoffs. The Yanks winningest pitcher, the ONE guy in the rotation that had shown himself capable to throwing a gem against the other team's best pitcher, stunk up the joint and almost single handedly ended the Yanks season. It got everyone thinking about Wang in a different light.

Here is the truth: Wang is no fluke. The silent assasin has won 19 games two years in a row and has been in the discussion for CY Young in both of those years. His sinker is perhaps the best in the league (Vernon Wells described it as "trying to hit a bowling ball") and, at the end of the season, Wang began to throw a few more pitches and rack up a few more strike outs. Is Wang an ace, capable of going up against the Beckett's and Sabathia's of the world and go toe to toe? Well, at the end of the regular season you would have said yes, at the end of the playoffs you would have said no.

Wang is one of the better pitchers in the league, but it remains to be seen if he can effectively begin to throw an assortment of pitches and get more strike outs. If he does, there is no reason why Wang can't continue to be one of the best in the league.

Prediction: I think Wang bounces back from his terrible post season and puts up a big year. I think the Sultan of Sink wins another 19 or 20 and establishes himself as one of the best in the league, without equivocation. Will Wang, by the end of the year, be an ace? My prediction is that he will.

Phil Hughes: (Again, this is assuming Santana is not traded for) This is where the Yanks rotation gets interesting because, in order for them to be successful this year one of their three big, young guns is going to have to step up and become that MLB quality pitcher. We'll start with a look at Hughes.

Obviously, the talent is there. He has the big, sweeping curve that buckles the knees. He has a nice, easy flowing fastball that can get up to 95 every once in a while, but usually lives at 92 or 93. He has guts and he can dominate, proved by his almost no-no against the Rangers early in the season and his terrific pitching against the Indians in the postseason.

Now, here is the rub as they say. It became quite obviously last year that while Hughes has the tools to be very good, in order for him to be consistent two things need to happen this year. He needs to truly develop a third pitch (he was working on a changeup) that he can throw at any time in the count, and he needs to be accurate when he pitches. The hype was that Hughes could knock a knat off a chipmunk's back if you put it around the plate, but whether it was nerves or his time away from the game dealing with his injury, Hughes wasn't sharp in the second half of the year. He walked too many people. He got behind in too many counts. And most importantly, he let too many guys get hits after getting ahead two strikes (showing his desperate need for another pitch). If Hughes isn't traded for Santana this offseason, there will be enormous pressure on the young man to succeed (he can blame that on Brian Cashman who seems to think that anyone he drafted is the next Sandy Koufax) both because of Santana and because of the Yanks DESPERATE need for a third started.

Prediction: I think this will be a tough year for Hughes. His changeup looked terrible last year and while his curve is outstanding, the reports of his fastball were greatly exaggerated. The one thing you liked about Hughes was his clutch performance in the playoffs, where he was, besides Pettite, the Yanks best pitcher. What you didn't like was the fact that Hughes admitted he didn't have time to think about anything when he went out there, which was perhaps why he ended up being so effective. Hughes has already had a lot of time to digest how important his performance will be to the team overall this year. He is going to be hearing the rumblings. If he doesn't perform, the rose will be off the bloom and he'll begin to hear the whispers that Cashman, once again, spit the bit when evaluating pitching talent. My hope is that Hughes is the guy who becomes the Jake Peavy or Justin Verlander of this year, but my head tells me Hughes could be in for a lot of growing pains, ones he may not recover easily from.

Joba Chamberlain: First things first; the controversy over whether Joba should be in the bullpen or not seems utterly and completely absurd to me. Please name me the team that has put their most talented young pitching prospect, who has proven himself at every level as a starter, in the bullpen AS A SET UP MAN? No one besides the Red Sox put that kind of talent in the closer role, never mind a set up role. Does anyone HONESTLY believe that Chamberlain is somehow more valuable in a back up role to a closer than as a starter where he has the opportunity to dominate an entire game? It is patently absurd. If the Yanks listen to the idiotic ramblings of columnists who insist he should be the setup man, Cashman should be fired on the spot (there's already enough there to justify a pink slip). With only two reliable starters on the staff right now, Joba is essential, not a luxury.

Having said that, Chamberlain is still a pup and his innings are going to be limited. There is no telling how a full year as a starter is going to agree with him. How many innings will he get? Is an injury a possibility with a new role and new responsibilities? Even if he doesn't injure himself, will he be so dead tired at the end of the year that he will be ineffective? How will the Yanks be able to limit his innings without hurting the team?

Predicition: I think Chamberlain will show himself, once again, to be a dominant force but I don't think the Yanks can rely on him to be the guy who steps up and takes control of that #3 spot in the lineup. He just hasn't pitched enough innings to believe he will step up and throw 175-185 innings this year, which would really be the minimum the Yanks would need in order to consider a pitcher a big time contributor this season. If Chamberlain doesn't sustain an injury, I have no doubt he will be a phenom, posting big numbers and further endearing himself to the Yankee faithful, but how long he will be able to sustain a dominant effort is anyone's guess.

Mike Mussina: This is no doubt Mussina's last year with the Yanks and, depending on his performance, it could be the last year of his borderline Hall Of Fame career. What to expect from Moose?

Well, Mussina was on his way to pitching a somewhat normal, if not a little down Moose type of year when he hit rock bottom towards the end of the season. It got so bad that then Yankee manager Joe Torre pulled the veteran Mussina from the rotation and stuck him in the bullpen, handing the job over to the third pitcher in the Yankee trifecta of talented young hurlers, Ian Kennedy. Mussina pitched a couple of times after that demotion, and looked okay, but there is no question he is on the other side of his career and that the gas tank is pretty empty right now.

Prediction: Mussina, as I said, is a borderline HOFamer, meaning that he deserves the opportunity to start the season in the rotation. Can he be effective? At this point Mussina is nothing more than your fifth starter and it seems that, with guts, guile, and a superior understanding of pitching, he should be able to give the Yanks more than enough from that spot. However, it wasn't coincidence, or bad managing, that lost Mussina his role in the rotation last year. He was putrid towards the end, and if Moose can't figure out how to do more with significantly less, the man is going to be on the outside of the rotation looking in. In the end, my prediction is that Moose musters up enough pride and moxy to hang on to the starting spot (with at least one trip to the DL mixed in along the way) and he gives the Yanks a solid year out of that five hole.

Ian Kennedy: The third young-gunner, Kennedy is viewed by many as the least impressive of the three. Yet, in watching Kennedy last year, his mechanics and his poise are the best of the three. Of them all, Kennedy actually seems the most ready to step in and become a MLB pitcher (in terms of innings, control, understanding of the game) yet, there is no doubt that, unless Mussina is injured or blows up in spring training, Kennedy will most likely start the season out in the bullpen as the Yanks sixth starter. Where does that leave the youngster? Well, it should leave him with plenty of starts.

Prediction: Something tells me that, if both Hughes and Joba are unable to make a leap this year, Kennedy will be on a train out of the Bronx for a good starter to fill in that gap. I like what I saw from Kennedy, and I think the young man will be a heck of a pitcher (putting together a Mussina-esque resume over the years) but I just have a feeling he'll be doing it somewhere else. If the Twins had asked for Kennedy instead of Hughes this offseason there is no question Johan would be wearing pinstripes by now, but Hughes is looked at as a possible ace and Kennedy as a two or a three. I see him endearing himself to a fanbase by the end of this year, just not the fanbase in the Bronx.

Rotation prediction: I think the Yanks are setting themselves up for a tough year with this rotation. If this were 2009 or 2010, I would be lauding it as one of the best in the game, a blend of different and unique styles with three guys (Wang, Hughes and Joba) who could all dominate. But this is 2008. This is a team that could possibly be asking three rookies, who have never pitched a full season in the majors, to make up the bulk of the rotation and go from young rooks to established performers in a blink of an eye. Even if one or two of them show the type of talent we know they have, and live up to the expectations in terms of their stuff, I don't see them having enough longevity throughout the season to really step up and take control of the rotation. This rotation needs ONE MORE established veteran, and right now they don't have that.

The grinders (bullpen).

Mariano Rivera: We know Mariano. We know his accomplishments. We know his performance in the big spot. We know that, as long as their is bone in the shoulder, he'll be able to throw that cutter and get guys out. What we don't know is for how long Mo will continue to be the best in the biz.

Rivera is already outreaching most everyone's expectations. Remember, he is 37 and has been dominating for 12 years. Most relievers, even the great ones, have a shelf life of about 7 or 8 years. This is borderline super human, especially considering how many innings he has thrown each year and how many times he has been in the playoffs with his team's success riding on his shoulders. An inning in that scenario must be equivalent to four regular innings. Eventually, Rivera is gonna fall off the horse and no longer be the go-to guy. When does that happen? Your guess is as good as mine.

Predicition: I have no predicition for Mo. Relievers are usually like running backs in the NFL. You wake up one day and a guy who was gaining 1,200 yards a season and scoring double digit touchdowns suddenly can't get out of the backfield and is in the hospital more than Britney Spears. My mind tells me that Rivera's time is about at the end and that the odds are against him continuing his success for much longer. However, what has Rivera done in the last two or three years so suggest the magic is completely used up? Nothing. After a shaky beginning last year, he went right back to looking like Mo by the end of the season, getting big outs and dominating in big games. Until we see something different, we have to assume that Mo is like death and taxes, a constant.

Kyle Farnsworth: This is your 2008 setup man coming into the season folks. Kyle Farnsworth, who never saw a big game he couldn't blow or a lead he couldn't wipe out. The only thing good about Kyle Farnsworth is that the man can throw the ball harder than 99% of the people in the world. That's it. Now, if that fast fastball had any movement on it, if it didn't sail into the hitting zone like it was tied to a string, that might be enough, especially for one inning, but Farnsworth doesn't fool anyone, and if you can generate enough bat speed, and you swing right over the middle of the plate, you can pretty much let that 98MPH fastball work for you.

Predicition: The Yanks are telling everyone they have confidence in this guy and, for the life of me, I can't figure out why. He has NEVER proven himself to be a reliable set up man or closer. The bigger the stage, the smaller the performance for him. He is a disaster waiting to happen. Torre went with Fansworth for as long as he could in big spots until it becamse obvious that he just wasn't capable of handling the situation. Why should this year be any different?The answer is, it won't.

Latroy Hawkins: This is Kyle Farnsworth light. This is a guy who has proven himself to be as inept in the big moment as Kyle has been. Cashman seemed to be slapping himself on the back for only signing Hawkins to a one year contract. Why was that some great coup? Isn't the job of the GM to make the team BETTER, not simply limit his bad signings to one year? You get the sense that Hawkins will be subtraction by addition, and teams and opposing players will be salivating when they see that tandem coming into the game. I don't blame Cashman for being hesitant about signing relievers to long term contracts, but if you're not going to give quality relievers decent contracts to entice them, I don't see the point of signing gasoline throwers for one year. Note to Cashman: Hawkins might not hurt you after 2008, but he WILL hurt you this year.

Predicition: I think I pretty much said it all. The other two relievers Cashman as surrounded Mariano with as so sub-par it is the only thing that gives credence to the idea of leaving Joba in the bullpen (even though that would be a bad idea). Hawkins will be booed regularly at Yankee Stadium and Cashman will once again have to explain his thought process in singing him, the way that he has had to explain Farnsworth for the last three.

Jose Veras, Russ Olendorff, Edwar Ramirez, Humberto Sanchez, Jeff Karstens, Jonathan Albaladejo, Chris Britton, anyone else with a pulse: This is the bulk of the bullpen Brian Cashman has built. This, in my opinion, will determine two things: whether or not Brian Cashman should be brought back as Yankee GM and whether or not the Yanks can actually do something this year. If you assume, as I do, that neither Farnsworth or Hawkins will be the setup man for Rivera and that Joba will make himself invaluable to the rotation this year, then your 2008 set up man, 7th inning man, and middle reliever are coming from this group. There's some talent, no doubt, but there is also not one proven commodity amongst the group. Will one of them step up? Heck, three or four could step up and prove themselves to be big time relievers. Or, none of them could. It is a crap shoot, one that Cashman never should have involved himself in.

Bullpen Predicition: I think Cashman's job should be on the line simply because of the names I just listed above. How the GM of a team with unlimited resources and a $200 million payroll could allow his team to come into the season with a bullpen like that is utterly beyond me. Is that the bullpen of a dynasty? As with the rotation, hoping for a few of your more talented youngsters to step up and establish themselves is very different than banking on them to do it. If these young guys fail to live up to expectations, the Yankees have no other alternatives, except to have to pay high on someone at the trade deadline. If two or three of these young kids step up it will take a lot of the spotlight off of the signing of Hawkins and the continued presence and reliance on Farnsworth. If they don't someone will again have to explain to me why Cashman deserves to be in the GM chair at the beginning of 2009.

Note to all Cashman supporters. There is a huge difference between looking smart and being smart. Just because Cashman looks like the kid you would copy your homework off of in school doesn't mean he is actually the guy you SHOULD have copied from.

Overall 2008 prediction: I think the decision (as it seems to be) not to trade for Santana will end up costing this team this year. Granted, if Johan ends up on the Mets the blow is pretty well cushioned. If he ends up on the Red Sox, it is a devastating blow I don't see the team overcoming. While there is no arguing with the Yanks offense, championships are won on arms, not bats. Right now, there are only three guys you feel confident in when they take the mound this year - Pettite, Wang and Mo. Everyone else is like a Forrest Gump box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

Could this pitching be good? The talent is there, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. The Yanks have a plethora of young, hard throwing arms that could end up all breaking in the right direction at the same time. But, as with all young players, there is the equally possible chance that they never reach their potential, get injured along the way, or simple find that they are incapable of handling the bright lights of the biggest city in the world.

There seems to be this growing concern that Cashman is contemplating whether or not to return to the Yanks after this year, considering the new Yankee world order with the Brother's Stein taking a leadership role. But I believe the Yanks need to look long and hard at this year as a barometer as to whether Cashman should be asked back or not.

Think of it this way: Cashman has (if you believe the reports) been the leading voice against making the deal for Santana this year. If the Yanks DON'T trade for Santana, that will leave the Yanks with only two proven starters, one of whom bombed in the post season last year and the other will be in the middle of legal battles all this coming year. He will have put a tremendous amount of pressure on one of those starters (Hughes) to justify being retained OVER the best pitcher in baseball and he will ask at least one of the other starters (Joba or Kennedy) to become proven MLB ready pitchers in the middle of their first full season. On top of that, instead of offering Girardi a proven bullpen to offset what promises to be an unproven rotation that will give their manager limited innings, he has given Girardi and even more unproven pen to work with. The pen will rely even more on unproven players, especially since none of them have shown the type of talent the guys in the rotation have.

Cashman has done some nice things in his tenure as Yankee GM, but he has also put this team in a very difficuly, uncertain spot; one that is all the more amazing considering the payroll this team provides each year.

The final prediction for the Yanks this year? A second place finish to the Red Sox again and a tooth and nail fight to the finish to get into the playoffs.

The Brian Cashman myth

There seems to be some sort of myth circulating out in Yankee land that Brian Cashman is some sort of baseball guru who has saved the franchise and put the team on his shoulders to years of greatness.

HUH???????

Last year, I was a HUGE Cashman fan. The man rebuilt a starving farm system in what seemed like 60 seconds, replenishing it with some of the best young arms in the game of baseball. He traded dead weight players, like Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, and Jaret Wright for what seemed to be quality arms and, in that move, seemed to improve the chemistry of the clubhouse.

But, as the year started a couple of things became evident. Cashman had almost completely ignored the bullpen, leaving Mariano Rivera on an island with only Jose Vizcaino and Kyle Farnsworth backing him up. He ignored the team's bench, leaving no quality backups in reserve in case someone went down. He miscalculated the starting rotation, putting way too much stock in an ever ageing Mike Mussina, a complete bust in Carl Pavano, and a woefully untalented Kei Igawa, who turned out to barely be able to get out of the first inning in almost ever single one of his starts.

Cashman, to me, has been a mixed bag at best. On the one hand, you have the farm system. On the other hand, you have the MLB team that, with a $200 million payroll, needed significant help in the middle of the year just to make the playoffs.

What do I think of Cashman right now? I think Cash is playing a very dangerous game. The Johan Santana possible deal, to me, is indicative of where I think Cashman falls short as a GM. He is too beholden to the guys he has signed or brought up through the system. In order to get the best pitcher in baseball, you're going to have to give up quality. The idea that Cashman is unwilling to give up Phil Hughes for Santana is absurd, which I have discussed on this blog many times. In order for Hughes to equal Santana in performance he would have to live up to, and beyond all of the expectations people have for him. Even if he becomes a very, very good pitcher, he will probably never approach the levels Santana has made his home. It isn't a baseball move on Cashman's part, it is a pride move. Hughes is his guy, and he wants Hughes to win 20 games in a Yankee uniform so Cashman can sit back and go "see, I told you not to trade him."

Cashman has insinutaed through the press that the cost of trading for Santana, in money, might be too high. Wait a minute, is Brian Cashman really concerned about money? Really?

Okay, let's look at this from a Cashman/cost standpoint. Cashman is the one who signed Kyle Farnsworth, Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, and Mike Mussina. Three players, who Cashman traded for then traded away, are still on the payroll in Jaret Wright, Randy Johnson, and Javier Vazquez (yep, the Yanks are still paying him money after they extended him before ever watching him throw a pitch in New York). Then, if you add in the fact that Cashman's refusal to negotiate with Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera certainly cost the Yankees more money and more years than if he had taken care of both players before the season began. So, by my uneducated estimations, Cashman has personally been involved in $95 million in questionable, to downright horrible contracts on the Yankee books, and that doesn't even take into account the millions of extra dollars he cost the Yanks with Posada and Mo.

So, when I hear that Cashman doesn't want to commit dollars to the best pitcher in baseball, excuse me if I don't vomit a little bit in my mouth.

The assumption for a long time has been that, a move made by a man with the last name Steinbrenner is almost always going to be wrong. We blame Big George for the Jason Giambi signing, which has probably been more negative than positive overall. We blame George for Sheffield when he seemingly overrided Cashman and others who wanted Vlady Guerrero instead of him. We blame him for moves like Raul Mondesi and letting Andy Pettite go. All of that might be true, but, as I have pointed out, Cashman's track record is equally dicey at this point.

And, it continues to be a mixed bag.

There is word that Cashman didn't want to resign A-Rod, another indication of Cashman's ego and stubborness getting in the way of sound baseball decisions. When A-Rod came back to the Yankees, and was willing to accept a below market contract while jumping through hoops to try and make nice with everyone in Yankee land, it would have been foolish for the Yanks to back away. If Cashman was truly willing to turn A-Rod away and look to the Joe Crede's of the world, his employment should be on think ice already. That is just an astoundingly bad move on his part, and one that screams of pride and ego.

He signed Latroy Hawkins for $4 million. Okay, it is only for one year, but what, exactly is anyone expecting from Latroy Hawkins? Would it not have been better to commit one more year to Jose Vizcaino, who proved valuable and reliable last year, when rested and healthy, than simply throw human gasoline on the fire for this year? The Hawkins signing doesn't help this team this year at all.

So now, Cashman is standing in the way of the Santana trade, or at least trying to talk everyone out of it. Okay, if Santana goes to the Mets or some other NL team, no harm no foul. But if Cashman is yet again outmanuvered by that whiny little pre-pubescent Theo Epstein once again, and the Sox come into the next year with Beckett, Santana, and Dice K, Cashman's job better be on life support.

Just because his name is George Steinbrenner doesn't mean Cashman hasn't been wrong about a lot of things, and this year, Cashmand has been wrong a lot more than he has been right.

Clemens the mercenary

I was reading a recent column by Gene Wojciechowski on ESPN.com today and I had to just write a quick something about this notion that Clemens and the Yankees are joined at the hip.

In the column Wojciechowski comments that he hopes Mike Wallace, the venerable reporter for 60 Minutes on CBS who will be conducting an interview with Clemens on Sunday, will ask the pitcher tough, provacative questions. His premise is that Wallace is a self-proclaimed Yankee fan and someone who has praised Roger Clemens in the past, so he might be inclined to go light on Rocket when given the opportunity.

At one point in the column Wojciechowski exclaims "60 Minutes" wanted Clemens, and Clemens apparently wanted Wallace. Now that they have each other, let's hope we get something more than a Yankees group hug."

Here is my question: Why is it that Clemens apparent steroid use only sullies the Yankees? Why is Clemens looked at by the media simply as a Yankee? Why is there a constant insinuation that the Yankees have as much at stake in regaining Clemens reputation as he does?

The truth is that while Clemens has latched himself on to the Yankee train, he was never fully embraced by the Yankee fan. Of course he was cheered for, and he was respected and admired when his accomplishments seemed to come from hard work and natural, God given ability rather than performance enhancing drugs, but by my count Roger Clemens has pitched for four different teams during his career, three of them while supposedly using steroids.

Why is this simply looked at as a Yankee/Clemens situation? Why do people continue to assume that Clemens' indiscretions somehow only tranish the Yankees? No one in Toronto has been asked how they feel, having cheered him on to two straight Cy Youngs. How about Houston, who made the World Series for the first time mainly on the shoulders of Clemens. How do they feel today? Is their historic (for their franchise) accomplishment tarnished because of this?

The truth is that Clemens, ever since he was jettisoned by Boston in the mid 90's, has been a mercenary. He goes where the money and the chance to win has been. While he makes a big deal about having been a Yankee, Clemens has never cared about anything but himself.

So, as The Rocket prepares his defense of the realm this coming week, he should be looked upon as his own team. A team of one. The Yankees have no vested interest in seeing Clemens name tarnished or vindicated. Their wagons are not tied to him. He is all alone on this one, and only the most ardent Yankee haters are trying to somehow tarnish the franchise because of one mans mistake.