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.