When people play the “OMG $200M!!!11!!1!” card, they seem to forget that the reason why the payroll is so high is because of the aforementioned players.

Of the players mentioned in the post I referenced, only Cabrera was projected to be a starter.

So?

When you have a $200m plus payroll, how can your opening day roster have Betemit, Ensberg, Cabrera and Duncan on it.
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Because the reason you have a $200m payroll is because you have Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Bobby Abreu, etc on it…

BTW, great post lodjur.

All, here’s the thing. Do I hold Cashman to a high standard? Sure, yes, I do.

When someone is getting paid $2 million a year and has $200 million to spend on getting his job done, I want him to be nearly flawless. But, hey, that’s me. Your mileage may vary.

FWIW, when someone is getting paid $5/hour and has nothing to work with, I’m much more understanding if their performance is not great.

You get what you pay for – or you should.

And, when my team is paying you $2 million a year and giving you $200 million to spend, then that sets the bar on where your performance should be…

~~~Why don’t you become the GM, since you know the best moves all the time.~~~

This is the thing I love the most about this debate. I say that Cashman is a bad GM and many want to make this out to be a “Me vs. Him as GM” thing.

Did I ever, anywhere, write that I could be a better GM than Cashman?

No.

Never.

Not once.

Actually, I would be a terrible GM. I don’t know enough. I’m just a blogger who knows some stuff. And, there are many like me.

In fact, the job would eat me alive. And, I would be a fool to assume that I could be a big league GM.

But, that doesn’t mean I can’t spot moves that have not worked, money that’s been wasted, etc., when someone else is doing it. And, that’s what I see when I see Cashman doing his thing.

And, now, on top of that, I see him trying to lay the blame somewhere else with this line of “all you can do is light a candle” crap.

~~baseball is more predictable than most sports. but still, there a TON of luck factor in it, do you NOT acknowledge that? ~~

Sure I do. Here: Cashman got really lucky on Chacon and Small in 2005. How’s that?

~~That is your single-biggest flaw in arguing against Cashman. If something, on its facts and merits at the time seems like the slam-dunk right thing to do, then what else is there to say? You choose a course of action based on the best information available and that’s it. If it doesn’t work out, what are you supposed to say?~~

Hey, I was born and raised in New York. That means I accept nothing for what it appears to be at face value – and I question, to some extent, everything.

When someone says “2+2=4″ – - my first reaction is “Sure, it sounds air-tight. But, how do you *really* know that ’2′ is really ’2′?”

And, that’s what I want my GM to do – when something seems right, and ‘the thing to do,’ ask yourself “What am I missing here?” And, then pound on it until you find it or realize that there’s nothing wrong.

If Cashman had pounded long enough on Pavano, Weaver, Igawa, etc. – all the ‘right things to do at the time’ – I’m sure, after a while, he would have found their flaws…at least, he should have…

Cashman’s record on trades and free agent signings speaks for itself. It is horrendous!

Igawa Hideous Replacement for Matsuzaka!
Pavano BUST & he’s considering bringing him back?
Giambi Obvious Roid abuser. Terrible defense too.
Randy Johnson Putrid & Surly
Ponson White Trash!
Arod2 (bidding against himself, he gave 300+mil!)
Posada2 (4 years???)
Kevin Brown Washed Up Red Neck!
Farnsworth Pitiful
Ivanka Rodriguez Terrible!
Letroy Hawkins Ugggh!
Betemit Our utility guy? Doesn’t do anything good
Sexson Done~!
Hang em’ Javy Vasquez …
Traber doesn’t belong in the majors
Olendorf Cashman totally overvalued
Britton mediocre
Hungry Hungry Humberto Sanchez ~right onto the DL
Marte Underperforming NL Trash
Rasner AAAA
Victor Zambrano Washed Up
Contreras couldn’t handle NY
Dotel ,,,,
and undoubtedly more I can’t think of off the top of my head.

That’s a LOT of garbage!

Nady, Abreu, Damon and Matsui have been adequate and Mussina and Molina have been good signings; that’s it!

Disgraceful considering he had Mega Bucks to work with.

Every ballclub makes good and bad signing decisions. My impression is that on average the Yanks have been worse than some other teams in this respect.

Some mistakes are signing the wrong guy, paying too much or too long a contract. But, errors of omission can be just as costly. E.g., I recall LA signing Nomar for $5 million a few years ago. Nomar preferred to play in California, but if the Yanks had offered, say, $8 million they might have gotten him. He would have been a bargain at that price.

Anyone with two eyes and a triple digit IQ knew Pavano was a disaster in waiting. Unfortunately, popular opinion inside and outside baseball ran contrary to this belief. As a result I assume (hope?), Cashman took the safe route and courted/signed Pavano. Randy Johnson was surely a Steinbrenner decision. Whether Cashman simply failed to stand up to Steinbrenner or rather had no shot at vetoing the move, I doubt we will ever know. Forget about the Karsays, Weavers and Dotels (though it irks me), where Cashman has truly failed is with our bench and other role players and overplaying his hand with the youngsters. When you have a $200m plus payroll, how can your opening day roster have Betemit, Ensberg, Cabrera and Duncan on it. For that matter, how can you realistically expect two very young rookie pitchers to excel in starting roles out of the box in NYC? Cashman has done a nice job rebuilding our minor league pitching (position players not so much). I suspect that this can be done with the appropriate philosophy (which he seems to have), dollars and reasonable scouting. Where he fails is as a true talent evaluator. All of his major league level moves smack of someone who is not able to evaluate talent on the field (see above). I suspect his ability to outspend has allowed him to generally pave over his mistakes (until this year?). What he does this offseason should settle the issue of his efficacy.