Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Last Standing Brian Cashman Apologist


Ever since Brian Cashman took over as the General Manager of the New York Yankees in 1998 he has enjoyed success. While much of that success came early on in his tenure and in large part due to the late George Steinbrenner’s checkbook the Yankees GM has reinvented himself in recent years with his new found power and control over the personnel decisions for the team. Every once in a while we see shades of The Boss in owner Hal Steinbrenner while he is signing a Rafael Soriano or contributing to a second Alex Rodriguez contract, and honestly we probably always will see these types of moves from the higher ups, but we can now say with confidence that overall this is Cashman’s team. For better or worse.

New York Yankees fans are some of the most passionate, and subsequently some of the most emotional, fans in all the world and come with some of the harshest and toughest criticisms you will ever hear. Any fan can go on Twitter, Facebook, Yankees Lohud or your favorite social media site or blog to make a comment or ask a question about a trade or signing involving the Yankees and you are bound to get a flurry of responses. Some of those responses will generally be positive but for the most part those opinions have turned negative regarding Cashman and his decision making. Truth be told I’m not sure why. On a long enough timeline, and Cashman has had one of the longest timeline’s as a GM I have seen in my lifetime for a GM in Major League Baseball, every GM acquires Javier Vazquez twice and signs Carl Pavano for nine wins, four years and $40 million… right?

Cashman has not made those same mistakes this offseason as the Yankees GM has continued to stockpile young talent, hard throwing pitchers and depth at almost every position. Many fans expected Cashman to fold under the pressure and give ludicrous contracts to Brandon McCarthy or insane trade packages for broken Troy Tulowitzki's but instead he got creative and made some trades. Instead of yet another question mark and a ton of salary in Tulo New York acquired a young and promising shortstop in Didi Gregorius and a perfectly capable stopgap in the fifth starter slot in Chris Capuano. Instead of setting the team back even further with another asinine contract for Max Scherzer the Yankees instead stayed the course, stuck to the plan and showed a willingness to rebuild on the fly. There is a finish line, and it conveniently ends when his current contract does after the 2017 season, and for the first time in over 20 seasons the Yankees can see it. The team cannot see that because Randy Levine jumped in and demanded a $12 million AAV for a 7th inning pitcher, the team can see it because of the work Cashman has done since he was given full control over player decisions and personnel.  

Another common complaint against the Yankees GM is the lack of player development and a farm system. While for a long time that was an absolutely legitimate concern and gripe the tides are turning down on the farm finally and we may now be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. MLB Pipeline is releasing their Top 10 lists per position right before Spring Training and the Yankees have a Top 10 RHP in Luis Severino, a Top 10 2B in Robert Refsnyder, a Top 10 1B in Greg Bird and will presumably have a Top 10 outfielder in Aaron Judge. Also Kylie McDaniel, a former Yankees scout and current member of Fangraphs, even went as far as to name the Yankees the 10th best farm in all of baseball and possibly the "deepest in the game." The rankings and the write ups from McDaniels and others makes for a pretty good farm system without even mentioning the likes of Gary Sanchez, Ian Clarkin and the slew of International free agent signings the team has made in the last two or three seasons. 

For better or worse this is finally Cashman's team and in a couple seasons when the plan is complete and has come to fruition I may longer be the last standing apologist for the Yankees GM. 

9 comments:

  1. BRIAN CASHMAN......Rockville Centre, New york.
    You are not the last 'standing Brian Cashman apologist'. There are many of us, just like you.
    From where I stand, Rocket Reed is in front of me.
    Nice post.

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    1. Gracias, senor. This was posted over at Lohud from me the other day.

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  2. #13 Alex Rodriquez......New York Yankee.

    Rodriguez might not be a good guy, but he might not be a total bad guy either.
    But...I'm dam glad he is on my team.

    As spring training finally draws near, I can not get over the amount of Alex haters
    that are now surfacing. This is not Charles Manson...this is a ball player.
    This was once a possible first round ballot for the Hall of Fame.
    Who has had his hips repaired. My guess is that those hips were 100 % last season.

    He is owed $61MM. You can't fire him, unless you pay him. ( some don't get that )
    If you do pay him off, then watch all the MLB teams that rush to sign him, at minimum dollars.
    They will trample, and maim you, if you are slow to get out of their way.

    Such negativity being reported. When No One knows how he will perform this season.

    No One....and that includes this Irish Polar Bear, who drinks Coors Light.
    ( My candles lean towards a 25-30 HR, 90-100 RBI season at DH...that's what he does.)

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    1. You may be pushing that numbers a little but hopefully not by much.

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  3. Well folks, I for one, need not be in the line of; Brian Cashman apologist!

    Although, I am on many sh-t lists after posting my comments earlier!

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  4. I think I was told I was a dumb ass for saying the Farm System was in the top 10! Damn, maybe I ain't got no learnis, but sometimes I is wright! Mostly by accident, but who counts!

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    1. Even the sun shines on a dog's butt every once in a while. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut! I'm kidding though you were def. the first to put the Yankees farm that high and it def. wasn't by accident.

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  5. I've been Cashman friendly this offseason. I do have a couple issues. I think he sold low on Cervelli, and I absolutely hate the Drew signing. But other than that, he did a pretty good job of filling some holes and keeping the farm system intact to do it.

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    1. There isn't much of a market for a back up injury prone catcher that is fresh off a 50 game steroid suspension. I think he did fine in the trade but that is my personal opinion.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)