Who Takes The Fall If Yankees Continue To Flounder?

There are a few things certain, namely life, death and Yankees fans calling for the jobs of the Manager and General Manager when the team falls short of expectations. The calendar has barely turned to May and fans and the media have invoked the all too familiar phrase "If George were still alive..."

The Yankees have struggled tremendously out of the gate stumbling to an 8-15 record at the time this was writing. There is still some hope for the Yankees as no team in the AL East has run away with the division however if the ship doesn't right itself, and the Yankees finish with a sub .500 record / last place it is hard to see Joe Girardi, his staff, and Brian Cashman retain their jobs.

Joe Girardi's Staff - Girardi's staff has born the brunt of punishment for failing to make the playoffs in the past, Kevin Long after 2014 and Mick Kelleher, Jeff Pentland did not return after their Wild Card Game loss in 2015. Girardi's staff is not looked on as fondly as Torre's staff to fans. With the Yankees already replacing staff the past few years doing so again may be seen as a half-measure.

Joe Girardi - Manager's are fired because teams can't fire the players. Joe Girardi has never had a losing record in his 8+ years at the helm of the Yankees though he has failed to make the playoffs in 3 of those years, 4 depending on your feelings on the Wild Card Game. It can be argued that in 2013 and 2014 Girardi did a tremendous job of getting those teams to a winning record. Fans despise Joe for his strict adherence to his binder. I like Girardi though I do find myself frustrated with his defined roles for relief pitchers. I believe he is one of the better Managers in the game but with his contract only running through 2017, he could be shown the door.

Brian Cashman - Cashman has been GM since the 1998 season and has seen tremendous success. He has also proven himself to be an evolving GM embracing analytics, an increased focus on drafting and development and more. In recent years, he has consistently made excellent trades acquiring the likes of Didi Gregorius, Nathan Eovaldi, and Justin Wilson. Hal Steinbrenner appears to have full faith in Cashman from top to bottom within the organization. If changes are made I could see Cashman surviving them.

When it comes down to it I think the Yankees will end up recovering from this abysmal start to be competitive. Whether they are competitive enough to ensure no one loses their jobs is still to be seen.

Yankees May Lose Assistant GM Billy Eppler to LA

Source: #Angels have spoken to #Yankees about interviewing Billy Eppler for GM job. No surprise here. Eppler was finalist for job in 2011.

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) September 4, 2015

The New York Yankees have one of the hottest commodities in all of Major League Baseball when it comes to potential and future general managers around the league. Last season we heard the name of Billy Eppler, the assistant GM to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, come up in almost every GM job opening discussion and that has carried over to the 2015 season as well. The New York Yankees were fortunate enough to hold onto Eppler last season but they may not be as lucky this time around, especially with GM vacancies in Milwaukee with the Brewers, Detroit with the Tigers and especially with the vacancy left behind with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim when the organization decided to relieve Jerry DiPoto of his duties.

The Angels have already asked for permission to talk to Eppler although it is unclear whether the Yankees granted them that permission. Eppler is a great and progressive mind so it would be tough to lose him but the Yankees seem content with Cashman so it's hard to blame a guy for wanting to further his career.

#Yankees executive Billy Eppler is emerging as a strong candidate for #Angels GM job. http://t.co/Alx5l8j51d

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) September 4, 2015

What Will I Write About Once Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi Are Gone?

Brian Cashman is a mysterious man that makes a lot of big and mysteries decisions sometimes. Isn’t there at least one or two guys on the roster every single year that you kind of shake your head about and wonder why they are even in the major leagues, especially on a high profile team like the New York Yankees? You have Stephen Drew and Chris Capuano this year and for half of 2014, you had Alfonso Soriano for the first half of 2014, you had Vernon Wells in 2013 and you had Raul Ibanez for every month not named October in 2012. You also have the trades that make you scratch your head, Tyler Clippard for Jonathan Albaladejo anyone? Anyone? Cashman is a mysterious and a very, very frustrating individual at times.

Joe Girardi, Joe Girardi and that stupid binder of his. Girardi and his obsession with stacking left handed hitters in a lineup against a right handed pitcher. Girardi and his sometimes short hook for his starting pitchers that are doing well and Girardi with his line that has just a little too much slack at other times for those same starting pitchers who obviously don’t have it anymore that night. Girardi and his Circle of Trust and his dependence on veterans like Stephen Drew and Capuano when he has more than serviceable and comparable options already on the bench rotting away six days a week. The way Girardi likes to “ride the hot hand” of players like Garrett Jones and the way he continues to stick up for and make excuses for others, if Lou Gehrig was the luckiest man in the world Stephen Drew is the unluckiest man on the face of the Earth.

There is an old saying, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. We all complain about Hal Steinbrenner as the Yankees owner but it could be worse, we could have Jeffrey Loria. Fans out there complain about Cashman but what if the Yankees had a GM like the Mets have in Sandy Alderson that just can’t seem to find a way to plug the holes on the team and can’t find that player to get the team over the hump. Yankees fans want Girardi’s head and iPad (binder) on a torch in front of Yankee Stadium but what if the team had Bobby Valentine or (fill in the blank here because I’m sure you get the message by now) wearing fake mustaches and thinking he’s Buck Showalter when he’s more like Bobby Show-killer.

Steinbrenner, Cashman and Girardi are good for business. They are frustrating, they go against logical thinking and they just plain ole don’t make sense sometimes. It’s frustrating as a fan but it makes it so much easier to be the arm chair quarterback as a blogger. Keep being you guys, “Daddy’s gotta eat.” I don’t actually get paid to blog but it sounded good… stay with me. 

Remembering the Yankees Side of Al Rosen

Al Rosen possibly had the best season ever by a third basemen in his career while playing with the Cleveland Indians, that side of him you know, but this blog post is more about his Yankees tenure. It has been well documented, especially since his passing late in the week at age 91, how he got the nicknames “Flip” and “The Hebrew Hammer” and less of the two years he was the Yankees President and CEO.

When Rosen retired from baseball in 1956 he spent two decades as a stockbroker, 22 years to be exact, before making his triumphant return to Major League Baseball. Rosen quickly became regarded as a GM who still thought like a player of the game and became the only former MVP to also earn baseball’s Executive of the Year award. The Yankees gave him his return back to baseball in 1978 when the team and owner George Steinbrenner named him as their President and CEO.

After spending two seasons with the Yankees the Houston Astros came calling giving him the same job from the 1980-1985 season. In 1985 the San Francisco Giants named Rosen their president and general manager which would be a position he would have held until the 1992 season. Rosen made an immediate impact with the Yankees obviously as the team won the World Series in his first season but possibly his finest moment was bringing the last place Giants in 1985 all the way to an NL West title in 1987 and the NL pennant in 1989.

Rosen worked in the game like he played in the game and showed a true love for the sport and the game. Rosen will truly be missed as Major League Baseball lost a great man on March 15, 2015. May Al Rosen rest in peace and our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to his friends, family and anyone who was affected by his passing.

Rays Having a Fire Sale?

"I'm taking your spot bro." - Evan Longoria

I made a semi-sarcastic comment on Twitter a few weeks back when I said that I felt like the Tampa Bay Rays were going to have a fire sale and I got absolutely killed by a few (presumably) Rays fans. This was shortly after the team traded relief pitcher Cesar Ramos, like I said I was being sarcastic, and were in talks of trading Jeremy Hellickson. Since then the team has saved a couple million by designating Jose Molina for assignment, saved a couple more million by trading away relief pitcher Joel Peralta to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and have made names like Matt Joyce available in trades. Kind of sounds like the beginnings of a fire sale, no?

This won't be a Florida Marlins fire sale, I can't see Tampa trading Evan Longoria, but I think we are in the beginning stages of it. If Tampa makes Ben Zobrist available, which they are expected to, and even consider listening on guys like Alex Cobb or Matt Moore my suspicions will be confirmed correct in my eyes. I can't say I'm disappointed that Tampa is possibly gearing up for a fire sale either, sell, sell, sell if you ask me.

New management, new GM, possibly a rookie manager in Raul Ibanez, if it looks like a duck...

Frank Wren the next Yankees GM?

Let’s be unrealistic for a second here and consider just what would happen if the New York Yankees were to not bring back Brian Cashman after his contract expires after this season. New York has already announced that they were going to tender Cashman a contract to keep their GM in the Bronx for at least another season but what if Cashman declined it? What if the Yankees changed their mind? Would the recently fired Frank Wren of the Atlanta Braves make sense in New York?

Wren has his faults like any other GM but he definitely made his name on building the farm system and by specifically developing starting pitching. Wren was not afraid to lock up his young talent in Craig Kimbrel, Jayson Heyward, and others either which is something we see far too little of in New York lately. Sure Wren gave a big money extension to Dan Uggla and gave even bigger money to BJ Upton after a career year but his track record, albeit in a shorter sample size, looks more hit than miss in Atlanta.

I personally think Wren got a raw deal after his pitching staff was decimated by injury all season long. Wren went out and acquired the likes of Ervin Santana, which was a no brainer, and Aaron Harang, which carried them at the beginning of the season, late to bolster his team. One thing about Wren was he was not afraid to make a move and aggressively improve his team. It is also noteworthy that Wren did not sell off any of his top prospects out of the farm system either while getting the better end of the Justin Upton trade with Arizona.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that Wren would be a sight for sore eyes in New York and may be, faults and all, the GM that the FANS have been screaming about for a long, long time.