So, Cashman’s record is not perfect. Nonetheless, excluding Gene Michael, he might be the best Yankees GM since Gabe Paul. Does anyone care to remember GMs such as Lee McPhail(ure), Syd (Spend)Thrift, and Murray Cook. Just look at the rest of the Steinbrenner GMs at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tenworstjobs-7-yankeesgm.htm.

One thing you can say in Cashman’s defense – there has been little of the give away the farm for nothing (or less than nothing) such as with the Fred McGriff and Willie McGee trades.

i hate his political throw ins. totally discredits him. the whole article was a bunch of regurgitated crap.

There is plenty to get at Cashman for, and generally its the same things over and over again (Brown, Igawa, Pavano, Brown, etc.) And thats FINE.
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Brown wasn’t that bad a pickup, despite being listed twice

I’ll let my past comments on him stand for the record
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Yeah, same here… No sense beating the same drum over and over

The point is there has been too much going on and it lacked a committed full time owner. It still does.
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Full time owner was there from 82-90 as well

In my experience, the man at the top sets the tone for everything. That was George Steinbrenner for some years. Then ownership began a period of flux, ie Mr. Steinbrenner’s commitment–at one point the Dolans came very close to buying the team. Then came George’s desire to allow Steve Swindal to run it (during which time Joe Torre got a 3 year contract), Swindal’s departure, then Mr. Steinbrenner’s failing health, then the accidental, reluctant owners Hank and Hal. Throw in around 2001-2002 the launch of the YES Network and the whole focus changed. The YES Network became a competitor of the Yankee team–it needed different kinds of players than might make a good team. I don’t like anything about the YES Network, watch it as little as possible, and was happier when games were on MSG. The founding CEO of YES was Leo Hindery, basically an itinerant yapper and deal maker. Certain executives he hired are still in place. Based on what I’ve read about Hindery’s varied career, he’s not someone I’d trust to set up a network or any other business. The point is there has been too much going on and it lacked a committed full time owner. It still does. Randy Levine’s main point in life was to get rid of Torre and Cashman stood back and let him do it. The result is both Cashman and Levine have jobs today. Ownership is still in flux with a panoply of relatives which allows all kinds of things to go on that shouldn’t. Some of which may involve Cashman.

makes me think*

Butchie… Let me tell you what really bothers me.

There is plenty to get at Cashman for, and generally its the same things over and over again (Brown, Igawa, Pavano, Brown, etc.) And thats FINE. My problem is that this guy doesn’t really offer anything new, therefore I don’t really see the contribution to the argument.

And I feel this guy (or anyone else) loses credibility when they say “Look at what Theo did with homegrown talent!” But they don’t understand that Manny, Ortiz, Lowell, Pedro, Dice-K, Becket, etc. weren’t homegrown talent. Sure, Theo has done a far better job of winning championships in the past few years than has Cashman. But he has a huge budget to work with as well, bigger than basically every team in baseball. So pointing to Theo and saying “this is how someone wins a championship with homegrown talent” tells me that this guy is a moron.

And then when he says:
“He found that if you pack your roster from top to bottom with pathologically needy, egomaniacal, paranoid megamillionaires aged 30 and up, you can more or less permanently block the development of the choice, hungry, 25- to 30-year-old talent group that serves as the core of virtually all winning baseball teams.”

That is just plain stupid and makes this think this guy has no idea what he is talking about. It’s basically a shot at A-Rod, and if you still think A-Rod is the reason the Yankees haven’t won a WS in nearly a decade, then you are delusional.

Basically, some of his basic arguments are OK (but heavily recycled) and he makes statements that make him sound like he is a moron.

Tiabbi calling Igawa a special needs student was classic. And Kei cost 50 million plus all told, when Cash Man could have signed Lilly for less money. And speaking of Lilly, Cash Man traded him for that goat Weaver! It’s funny how one Cash Man travesty is separated by one degree of separation from another!