Yankees fans don’t need to worry about Brian Cashman signing with Mets

Usually, it’s the New York Mets trembling in fear of losing personnel to the New York Yankees, which explained their hesitance to trade with the Yankees over the last couple decades. Never before was it the other way around.

Until now, apparently! Or, well, at least that’s what the media is trying to tell Yankee fans, most of whom are all but officially done with general manager Brian Cashman. But they can’t be! What if he goes somewhere else and succeeds! Oh, the horror!

In a recent column via the New York Post, Joel Sherman talked about how parting with Cashman may not be the solution Yankees fans are looking for. He’s right. It certainly won’t be right off the bat, but you’ve gotta start somewhere! Of course it won’t be smooth sailing after letting an integral executive of 25 years go!

Multiple executives told Sherman and other reporters that if Cashman isn’t retained by the Yankees, he’ll last mere minutes on the open market. And there’s belief Mets owner Steve Cohen could scoop Cashman up to have him work with Billy Eppler again.

Is that something Yankees fans should be scared of? Cashman is a competent general manager in every sense of the word, but he’s yet to build a World Series winner in 25 years with his sole imprint on it. Great, have Cohen give him an extra $30 million to spend. It won’t matter.

Yankees fans don’t need to be scared about Brian Cashman possibly landing with the Mets

Cashman has constantly done both less with more and more with less. He makes great additions at the margins, finds diamond-in-the-rough trade candidates, and carefully constructs packages to minimize risk/loss. But that’s about it, and his big-money expenditures (under budget constraints) never hit the mark.

Some of those elements work against a team like the Yankees, who can afford to take bigger risks with their payroll, resources, and overall influence. Additionally, his connection to the “human element” of the game couldn’t be further off.

He very rarely makes the “obvious” additions. Yankees fans begged for Bryce Harper. Manny Machado. Michael Brantley. Max Scherzer. Chris Bassitt. Kevin Gausman. Carlos Rodon. Freddie Freeman. Juan Soto. Kyle Schwarber. JT Realmuto. George Springer. Ian Happ. Should we keep going? He landed none of them. Whether he tried or not or was able to or not doesn’t matter. Didn’t get ONE of them.

Instead of non-tendering Gary Sánchez, he decided to trade him for Josh Donaldson’s two-year, $50 million contract. Instead of dumping Aroldis Chapman, he allowed him to play until the left-hander refused and killed team chemistry. Instead of paying Aaron Judge, he lowballed him. He signed Aaron Hicks to a seven-year extension heading into the veteran’s age-29 season. And the one time he went overboard to pay someone, he bid against himself when going after Gerrit Cole.

In no world should the Yankees or their fans fear Cashman going elsewhere and succeeding. He probably will … to an extent. If the Yankees have been this disappointing since 2000, what makes anybody think a tad more financial flexibility in the present day will change that?

The Yankees, since 2001, have had the highest payroll in the sport or were top two a grand total of 18 times. They won one (1) World Series. Exposure to more funds isn’t holding Cashman back. Either the game has outgrown him, or his time with the Yankees has organically come to a reasonable end.

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