Brian Cashman is staying with the Yankees, citing his somewhat questioned legacy and his family as his reasons for doing so. The latter point probably has something to do with compensation; no other team would have likely paid him as much as the Yankees could. But it is the former that is far more interesting.
Cashman started with the Yankees as an intern in 1986. He was there through the worst of times, and, later on, the best of times. The Yankees won the World Series in his first three years as GM, mostly on the backs of homegrown players that he inherited from his predecessors.
But despite having the best record in the sport numerous times in the last eight years, the Yankees have failed to win another championship. All sorts of intangibles and other mystical qualities are blamed, but it’s mostly just luck; the Yankees weren’t the best team in baseball when they won it all in 2000, and they probably were in 2002 when they got bumped in the first round.
But regardless of the reasons, the pressure was constantly put on Cashman to win and win now. The team signed countless free agents, some that worked out (Mike Mussina) and others that bombed (Carl Pavano). The payroll exploded, going from $93 million in 2000 to $208 million in 2005. And it was after the latter season that Cashman decided he would need total control over baseball operations in order to stay on board.
George Steinbrenner relented, and the roster quickly became leaner and younger. For the first time in a very long time, the Yankees started integrating younger, homegrown players (Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes) into their lineup. They seemed to become more interested in the draft and player development, and less in throwing money at whatever today’s biggest problem is.
But as this was happening, Steinbrenner was falling out of the picture. In 2007, he was forced to turn over the reins to his sons, Hank (who would oversee the baseball side) and Hal (who would run the business end).
Perhaps trying to proving that the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree, Hank quickly became a media monster. After years of fighting off one Steinbrenner, Cashman all of a sudden had to deal with another. Hank never found a writer he couldn’t spout off to, doing whatever it took to draw attention to himself. Several times, he openly questioned Cashman’s judgment, in particular the team’s handling of Chamberlain.
By last winter, Cashman seemed to have officially lost the control he had worked so hard to get. The Yankees broke the bank to re-sign Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera, severely limiting Cashman’s hand. The A-Rod deal may have been particularly galling, as Hank reportedly negotiated it on his own, even after Cashman had repeatedly said the team wouldn’t re-sign Rodriguez if he opted out of his contract.
Possibly due to this fractured leadership structure, the Yankees now seem to be in a bit of a malaise. One year into a four year deal, Posada may already be finished as an everyday catcher. Hughes and Ian Kennedy had lost seasons, as did Cabrera and Cano to a certain extent. To a large extent, they were outwitted by the respective front offices of the Red Sox and Rays this year, both of which were able to fill in holes around strong homegrown cores.
But Cashman now seems set on fixing it. The question is whether he is really the man at the wheel, which, aside from a brief interlude, is the same question we’ve been asking since 1998. It would have been very interesting to see what he could do with a fresh start, and unchallenged control of baseball operations. I’ve been not-so-subtly rooting for him to leave, but he’s made his decision.
Now we’ll see if he can have his cake and eat it too.
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