Bomber Bites With Jumping Joe–In Defense of Brian Cashman

Multiple reports indicate that Brian Cashman will be getting a new contract extension after the season.  Cashman has been on the hot seat this year as a lame duck GM who was coming off a 2013 season in which the Yankees failed to make the playoffs.  To make matters worse, the Yankees are on the verge of missing the playoffs for a second straight season for the first time since before the 1994 strike.  These shortcomings would likely result in the axe from the late George Steinbrenner, but apparently result in a new contract from his son Hal Steinbrenner.

But is resigning the long time general manager really a bad move?  After all, since becoming GM in 1998, the Yankees have averaged 96 wins a season, collected six American League Pennants and won four World Series titles.  In 17 years at the helm, the Bombers have failed to reach the postseason just twice (although that may increase to three this season).  So you can’t say the team has been unsuccessful during his term.

A common complaint about Cashman is that he tries to buy championships and had saddled the Yankees with terrible contracts over the years.  However, Cashman is GM of the Yankees, not the Royals.  Do you really think that any other person would not flex the Yankees’ financial muscles in the same situation?  So I don’t buy the theory that he just “buys” players.  Every other MLB pays their players too.

Mandatory Credit: Chad R. MacDonald.

The Yankees have been saddled with some bad contracts over the years, no doubt, but Cashman has generally gotten at least some return on those investments.  For example, some of the worst contracts during the Cashman era have been Jason Giambi’s seven-year, $120 million deal and Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year $252 million extension.  Most people think the Giambi signing was terrible, but they forget that Giambi actually hit 41 home runs each of his first two years in pinstripes and over 30 in 3 others.  The Rodriguez contract was signed over the objection of Cashman, but A-Rod did perform for the first three years of that deal, hitting over 30 home runs and amassing over 100 RBI each season.

But he hasn’t won a title since 2009 is another common argument by the anti-Cashman crowd, what has he done lately?  The Yankees have been a mediocre team the last two seasons but that’s largely due to factors outside the control of Cashman, mainly devastating injuries, and a short-lived austerity kick by ownership.  Missing Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Teixeira for the majority of 2013 or having 4/5 of this year’s starting rotation on the DL this year were unforeseen and a large part of the Yankee struggles.  Look at the in-season moves that Cashman has made the last two years, and you can see Cashman has actually done some of his best work the last two seasons despite the Bombers spot in the standings.

In 2013, Cashman acquired Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs and Soriano nearly powered the Yankees to the postseason by himself hitting 17 long balls and driving in 50 runs in only 58 games.  This season he was able to acquire Brandon McCarthy, who has pitched like an ace since his arrival from the Diamondbacks, Chase Headley, who hit a walk-off home run last night and might be the long term answer at the hot corner, Martin Prado, a gritty player who can play any position, and Chris Capuano, who has been a serviceable starter.  And he made all these moves without giving up much in the way of talent or prospects.

The final consistent compliant against Cashman is that the Yankees farm system is terrible and has not produced anyone since the Core Four of Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter.  First of all, Yankees fans need to lower the bar from the Core Four as the standard for the farm system.  The Core Four have two first ballot Hall of Famers in Rivera and Jeter, a borderline Hall of Famer in Posada and another who would probably get in if not for his use of PEDs in Pettitte.  Can anyone name another farm system in the last fifty years to produce four Hall of Fame worthy players at the same time?  No?  Didn’t think so.

The fact is that the farm system has produced some very good major league players over the years, although none bound for Cooperstown, other than perhaps Robinson Cano.  The Yankee farm system has produced Soriano and Cano, as well as Phil Hughes (an 18-game winner in the past and 15-game winner this season for the Twins), David Robertson (2010 All-Star), Dellin Betances (2014 All-Star), Brett Gardner (most underrated player in MLB), Ian Kennedy (former 20-game winner), Joba Chamberlain, and Melky Cabrera (2012 All Star Game MVP).  While many of those players had their best seasons outside the Bronx, they are nonetheless products of the Yankees supposedly broken farm system.  Just this season the Yankees have seen the farm system supplement the major league club in big ways with rookies Betances, Shane Greene and Chase Whitley all playing big roles in the majors.

There are a lot of myths about Cashman’s performance as GM.  He gets too much credit for winning the World Series from 1998-2000, the nucleus having been already assembled by his processors Bob Watson and Gene Michael. However, he doesn’t get enough credit for his work from 2001 on.  No other team in baseball have been such a perennial contender, despite the fact they managed to win it all just once in that span.  The Red Sox have won 3 championships since 2004, but missed the playoffs five times in that same span (2006, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014), finishing dead last in 2012 and likely 2014. [related-topic]

Keeping Cashman is the right move.  He has shown he can get the job done in NY.  He does not let his job security affect the way he does his job.  He doesn’t mortgage the future just to try and save his job, a type of ethics rarely found in front offices.  If the Yankees did not re-sign him, Cashman would likely have his pick of GM positions around the league, and would be unemployed for about as long as it takes for him to pick whatever team he wants to work for.  Cashman has earned the right to stay through the recent lean times by having so much success for so long for the Bombers.  Hopefully, Cashman and the Bombers will end this recent foray into mediocrity and return to prominence quickly.