Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the team through the 2011 season.
Peter Abraham has a statement from Cashman himself:
“I know I’ve said it before, but it’s an incredible opportunity and honor to hold the title of general manager for the New York Yankees. With it comes a great responsibility to ownership, the people who wear the uniform and our fan base. I’ve got a job to finish here. That’s the bottom line.Cashman apparently can stand working for Hank Steinbrenner after all.
“I consider coming off a season where we didn’t reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993 as a personal challenge. I’ve never been one to run from a challenge, and I look forward to having the chance to go after this thing again.”
He has his own philosophy on how to run a team and will certainly be a level-headed voice in the front office to go along with Hal Steinbrenner. With a lot of money coming off the payroll at the end of this season, Cashman can fill up many of the holes that plagued the 2008 team. Whether or not he makes the right decisions, however, remains to be seen.
What are your thoughts on Cashman's return?
6 comments:
i've always been a big fan of cashman. granted, he's made a few bad moves over the years (kei igawa, carl pavano, etc.), but he has also made some excellent moves.
i think the recent postseason run by the yankees had as much to do with cashman as it did the players.
Yankees fans, brace yourself, because this team is going to miss the playoffs again next season.
When your team does not have the ability to scout and develop, Cashman fairytales such as "player development route", like passing on Santana for two pitchers of lesser talent, will only kill your team.
People keep mentioning Igawa and Pavano, but how about some other pitchers Cashman has signed? Like Vasquez? Like Loiza? Like Wright? Like Contreras? (Or was Steinbrenner responsible for that one?) What I'm saying is his record on pitchers isn't that great.
I'm pretty sure many of those moves were made without Cashman's consent (especially Wright). He never expected much out of Igawa and many teams were interested in Pavano. In hindsight those moves were bad, but hindsight is always 20/20.
The Yankees can't rely on Hughes, Kennedy and Joba to pitch innings this year, so signing Sabathia or Burnett is a must. His record with pitchers is poor, but he can make up for it this off-season.
Nearly all of Cashman's biggest blunders all had to do with pitching. Contreras would've worked out if the guy didn't get homesick. Conveniently enough, once he was given away to the White Sox, he does great and helped them win a championship. El Duque was also on that team. Mendoza was let go so he could sign with the Red Sox. He helped them beat us in the 2004 ALCS and also has one more ring than Jeter! (Didn't Cashman sign him to a minor league deal earlier in the season?)
I said elsewhere that another big problem is Cashman feels (after the fact) some pitchers were better when they were with the Yankees and brings them back, often with mixed results -- Nelson, Stanton, Clemens, Welles, Pettitte, et al.
It's going to be a very interesting offseason with Cashman back in command.
I believe the Yankees signed Mendoza after the 2005 season, Kongon, but I see your point about the retreads. Hopefully we've seen the last of Pettitte.
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