MLB insider’s take proves why Brian Cashman’s job with Yankees is safe for life

You want general manager Brian Cashman fired? Many New York Yankees fans do. Sadly, if that’s how you feel, you might as well go pick a different team to support because Cash isn’t going anywhere. And we’re not just saying that because of the rumor that suggested the GM would be back in 2023 after this current contract year.

We’re saying it because he’s an integral piece to the Yankees’ corporate machine. Cashman is a good GM. If you don’ t think that, then your anger has overtaken your ability to think rationally. The problem is that he’s not a great GM, as evidenced by his body of work since taking over in 1998.

Yes, the supplementing moves he made to improve the Yankees teams of 1998-2001 were commendable … but what else since then has he done aside from bringing A-Rod to town? He finds diamonds in the rough, yes, but he usually doesn’t sign or trade for the “right” players when the decision hinges on the team’s next-level success.

In the end, Cashman is just serviceable enough. Just serviceable enough to maintain a competitive roster from anywhere between $190-$255 million. But that’s the problem. It’s never competitive enough. Cashman cannot do more with less. He frequently does less with more.

And there’s another problem. The Yankees do not care. They have a man fulfilling their financial preferences/restraints/goals — whatever you want to call them — and as long as the team is in the “discussion,” it doesn’t matter.

Brian Cashman sadly has a lifetime job with the New York Yankees

Here’s what Ken Rosenthal eloquently reported via The Athletic (subscription required):

“Cashman effectively serves as Steinbrenner’s shield, churning out quality teams while adhering to the financial limitations set by the owner. The Yankees retreated below the luxury-tax threshold in 2018 and 2021 to reset their penalty rate to the minimum. During the labor negotiations, Steinbrenner supported a lower threshold and stiffer penalties that would have diminished his team’s ability to outspend other clubs.“This season the Yankees are again over the threshold, and for the first half of the season it appeared Cashman hit on every move. Now fan outcry over a blown division title or early postseason exit might leave Steinbrenner with little choice but to dump both Cashman, who is in the last year of his contract, and Boone, who has two more years remaining.”

Two things can be true: Hal Steinbrenner is holding the Yankees back because of his unwillingness to spend more, and Brian Cashman isn’t a good enough GM to work around those restraints because many other GMs operate well under New York’s payroll threshold and have seen far more success.

If the team is a contender, quasi-contender, hanging around a Wild Card spot, it’s all just fine for Hal and the Yankees. Remember Cashman’s comments on the “World Series or bust mentality being a thing of the past”? That’s the vision executed perfectly. It pretty much translates to: “We’ll be as good as we’ll be, we guess. And probably won’t be aggressive enough to change something that’s not working out. We’re the Yankees. That’s all we need to be: our brand.”

This is Cashman’s 25th year as the general manager. As of now, the Yankees have missed the playoffs only four times. The team has never had a losing season under his watch. He has a quarter-century relationship with the Steinbrenners. What makes you think he’ll be ousted after all this? After pretty much knowing the Steinbrenners have him in their back pocket to go through with their cheapskate ways? The comfort knowing Cashman will likely never oversee an unmitigated disaster of season (he might, though!) is enough for Hal.

It’s not happening. Cashman will be in the Bronx and running the front office until he decides his time is up. It’s a sad reality Yankees fans have to get used to. Many seem to believe a historic 15.5-game choke job might do him in. It won’t.

If you’re rooting for a collapse, you’re simply rooting for eternal embarrassment, because nothing’s going to change regardless of the outcome.

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