Here we stand on August 31st with the trade
deadline now past and the rumor mill has already begun for the 2018 offseason.
That’s typical in baseball but this story kind of hits close to home as some
publications are already speculating that the Yankees GM Brian Cashman may be
done in pinstripes after the season. Cashman, who is set to be a free agent at
the end of the year, is speculated to be joining the Miami Marlins who were
recently bought by a group headed by former Yankees legend Derek Jeter in case
you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months or so but this begs the
question, Cashman wouldn’t really leave New York for Miami…. Would he?
Honestly I can’t see Cashman bolting from the Yankees to go
anywhere, let alone the Miami Marlins. Why? Giancarlo Stanton. That contract is
moveable, sure, but that contract is going to hinder the Marlins ability to
spend for a long, long time. Cashman, in his own defense, has been great lately
with his handling of prospects and in trading for young, cheap and controllable
players but at the end of the day Cashman has always and will always look to
bail himself out with the big money grab of a veteran player or a key piece.
That just simply, and I am obviously speculating here, won’t be the case down
in Miami. The Miami Marlins will never have the payroll that the Los Angeles
Dodgers or the New York Yankees have. The market would never support it, the
attendance would never support it and I doubt the group headed by Jeter could
support it.
Cashman finally has the power and the ability to basically
make trades at will here in the Bronx. Sure, he has a spending limit but his
spending limit here is much higher than it would be anywhere else in the league
with the obvious exception of the Los Angeles Dodgers so why would he want to
go anywhere else? Cashman has a young team brewing here with plenty of star power
and has a Top 5 – Top 10 farm system to boot because of recent developmental
changes and philosophies in the system which begin and end with the man handing
out the checks and trading, or in this case not trading, the Yankees prospects.
Cashman has fought for a long time for this kind of team, this kind of farm
system and this kind of control over it and I simply can’t see Cashman moving
on from it now.
The only way I can see Cashman leaving is if he gets a huge
pay raise and promotion much like the Tampa Bay Rays executive Andrew Friedman
a few years back. If Jeter were to offer President of Baseball Operations to
Cashman and full control over the team… then maybe… but if it were just to be a
GM I think Cashman will be back in the Bronx for the 2018 season, and I’m okay
with that.
I feel strongly the Yankees should make Cashman the President of Baseball Operations and give a certain team executive the boot where the sun does not shine. If Cashman were to leave, I'd really try to pry Alex Anthopoulos away from Friedman and the Dodgers.
ReplyDeleteThe Steinbrenner family will not part with Randy Levine. They should and I'd throw a party if they did but they won't. History suggests that.
DeleteLevine is a kindred spirit with Hal, both are bookkeepers! Besides, he was the right arm of "King" George and knows where all the "Bodies" are dumped.
ReplyDeleteLevine was one of the guys that helped with the start-up of "Yes" and many other things that have put money in their pockets.
Wish he would stay out of the trades and personnel moves of the team...not gonna happen!
Levine is also the reason we are likely to lose Dellin Betances and God knows who else. The Dellin story became public, most stories don't with the Yankees. There's no telling how many people Levine rubbed the wrong way including Alex Rodriguez.
DeleteMaking money is one thing but when you run off young stars and recognizable faces you're being counter-productive in the money department.
I agree the guy thinks he has more baseball skills than the people that do the job.
DeleteJust a frustrated bookkeeper with a lot of baseball power, of which he has no in depth knowledge of.
I've never been a fan of Levine's. Ever. And he has done nothing to change my stance or mind on him either. He may be good at what he does behind the scenes but he should never be caught with a camera or a microphone in his face. Ever.
DeleteAmen!
Delete