Bill Madden of the Daily News rings in on the Yankees picking up Sabathia and Burnett:
Besides, as we said, Cashman was desperate. The Yankees’ starting rotation has been their Achilles heel ever since Clemens and Pettitte went off to Houston after the ‘03 season and Cashman vainly tried to fill the void with costly disasters Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa. Making matters worse, Cashman and the Yankee player development department still haven’t been able to produce a quality frontline starting pitcher out of the draft since Pettitte in 1995. There remains hope for Phil Hughes, although if Cashman had relinquished him for Johan Santana a year ago, the $161 million for Sabathia might not have been necessary. But until proven otherwise, Hughes, Ian Kennedy and even Joba Chamberlain (who couldn’t have been more screwed up by the Yankees last year), remain No. 1 picks who haven’t been able to stay in the rotation.
Cashman hasn’t done too well with the bullpen either as evidenced by the combined $38 million he doled out for mostly failed set-up relievers Steve Karsay and Kyle Farnsworth. But now he goes back to the well again and, on paper anyway, the Yankee rotation headed up by Sabathia, Burnett and Chien-Ming Wang looks formidable. Formidable enough to put Chamberlain back in the bullpen, where he belongs as closer-in-waiting for Mariano Rivera. It had better be formidable because you would think Cashman can’t afford any more multi-million dollar pitching failures.
…it had better be formidable because you would think Cashman can’t afford any more multi-million dollar pitching failures…
Back in October of 2007, I heard Mad Dog Russo (on WFAN Radio, 660 AM, in NYC) make this statement on Brian Cashman: “He’s wasted more money on pitching than any other G.M. in the history of the game.”
You know, whether you think Russo is an idiot, or not…and whether you take umbrage with Madden’s suggestion here, or not…you have to admit that Cashman has spent more money on pitching than any other G.M. in the history of the game. And, it has not always worked out for him. At some point, you have to wonder if that will be his legacy when it’s all said and done.
18 Responses to “Madden: Cashman Can’t Afford Pitching Failures”
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December 13th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Yeah, he’s wasted more money on pitching than any other GM in the history of the game, but he’s also spent more money on pitching than any other GM in the history of the game, because he can. Had he not signed Pavano for 40 million, some other team probably would have signed him for 32 million. Had he not bid 26 million for Igawa, someone else probably would have gotten him with a 20 million bid. You can’t blame Cashman for spending money, you can only blame him for making bad decisions given the information available to him at the time. Saying CC had better work out because “Cashman can’t afford any more multi-million dollar failures” is retarded. Everybody knows that getting CC was the right move. Yes, Cashman may have overspent, but if CC unfortunately flames out and is a disaster in New York, how the hell could anybody blame Cashman for getting him? Hindsight is 20/20.
December 13th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
you have to admit that Cashman has spent more money on pitching than any other G.M. in the history of the game. And, it has not always worked out for him.
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We’ll have to reserve judgement on the CC & AJ contracts, but I would not be surprised that Cashman has spent more $$ on pitching than any other GM given the hyperinflation of salaries along with the fact that Cashman has been at the helm since 1998.
December 13th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Actually, scratch that first sentence, as contract details have already been reported.
December 14th, 2008 at 12:17 am
“There remains hope for Phil Hughes, although if Cashman had relinquished him for Johan Santana a year ago, the $161 million for Sabathia might not have been necessary. ”
Because everyone knows that Santana would pitch for free.
December 14th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Besides, as we said, Cashman was desperate. The Yankees’ starting rotation has been their Achilles heel ever since Clemens and Pettitte went off to Houston after the ‘03 season
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Meanwhile, the 04 Yanks won 101 games, and the Yanks would make the playoffs every year with the exception of 98. And they kept up their string of division titles until 07.
There’s more than one way to build a team, which Madden seems to forget, along with Kevin Brown’s 110 ERA+ in 2004.
December 14th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Obviously Bill *still* hasn’t gotten the memo about Joba.
While I do agree the salaries doled out this past week are a bit insane, the Yanks needed some arms in the worst way.
We can’t afford to go another season of scrap heap poster boys like Chacon or Ponson, or hope that we get another Aaron Small out of nowhere. Hughes, Kennedy et al proved that they may have been rushed, and Joba may not pitch a conventional season in the rotation.
December 14th, 2008 at 1:05 am
>> Meanwhile, the 04 Yanks won 101 games, and the Yanks would make the playoffs every year with the exception of 98. And they kept up their string of division titles until 07. >>
Wow, and here I thought we won the WS in 1998!
December 14th, 2008 at 1:07 am
doh!
*08*
December 14th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Formidable enough to put Chamberlain back in the bullpen, where he belongs as closer-in-waiting for Mariano Rivera.
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Just one example of Bill Madden being an idiot. You can’t really take anything he says seriously.
you have to admit that Cashman has spent more money on pitching than any other G.M. in the history of the game.
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As GM of baseballs richest team for a long tenure, of course Cashman has spent the most money in the history of baseball. (Doesn’t Cy Young have the most losses ever too? )
December 14th, 2008 at 7:33 am
If the new guys get a ring, it will be part of some shrewd plan. If they flop, the owners prevented poor Brian from doing all the smart stuff he really wanted to do. We’ve been here many times.
December 14th, 2008 at 11:31 am
No, Mark, these signings are Cashman all the way, and he sinks or swims with the outcome. We all know that — the Cashman lovers, the Cashman haters, and the agnostics (like me). If the Yankees win a World series in the next two or three years, I am prepared ot say Cashman got it right this time and that he deserves credit for using his abundant resources wisely. After all, he ahd other choices for how to allocate those resources (e.g., Tex, Dunn, Lowe, Sheets, etc.). If the Yankees falter, then no more excuses.
December 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The fact of the matter is that the Yanks have failed in the playoffs for any number of reasons. To assign credit/blame to Cashman misses the point.
Rivera failed the Yanks in 2001 & 2004. Is Cashman a moron for keeping him? Wang failed the Yanks in 2007, should Cashman be fired for not trading him?
December 14th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Rivera failed the Yanks in 2001 & 2004. Is Cashman a moron for keeping him? Wang failed the Yanks in 2007, should Cashman be fired for not trading him?
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Absolutely.
He should just have Joba close for Mariano right now.
December 14th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
“sinks or swims with the outcome…then no more excuses.”
Promise? I thought he was sinking or swiming with the youth movement or the long, long list of busto pitchers that have the Yanks in desperate over-pay mode.
Question, if Yanks get ring next year but CC and A.J. go belly-up for years after, were these moves credit-worthy?
December 15th, 2008 at 2:29 am
I think it’s safe to conclude that if the Yanks win it all, people will sing Cashman’s praises.
I mean, people have been saying: biggest payroll in baseball, no credit for division titles, no credit for playoff series wins, no credit for Wild Card. Credit for rings. If they take a ring, Cashman gets his share of the credit, regardless of what happens after. Big if.
And then, if the pitchers go belly-up, it’ll be the price of signing veteran power pitchers with a lot of mileage on their arms and other body parts.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:06 am
If they take a ring, Cashman gets his share of the credit, regardless of what happens after.
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Since he’s not getting credit for the rings he has now, I figure they will find some other way to deny credit.
Some of the logic I’ve seen slamming the man’s moves, would make quite a few contortionists proud, to say nothing about revisionist history…
December 16th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Wow, there’s some good company to keep!
Supporting your “Cashman sux as GM” rant with evidence from Maddog Russo. Yikes!
December 17th, 2008 at 12:01 am
CC Sabathia puts the Yankees in “desperate overpay” mode. Really. I’m pretty sure I saw analysis that adjusting for cost of living, the contract Milwaukee offered Sabathia was only marginally less than what the Yankees were offering.
But because this is the official “Cashman Sux” blog, giving Sabathia the same money as Santana is desperately overpaying.
Gotcha.