Theory and Practice

As I have noted, Cashman must be regarded as a piss poor GM. That is kind of a shame, because his head is in the right place. He wanted to get faster and younger and hungrier, all goals with which I entirely concur. But I'm afraid that he is--whether constituionally or as an effect of having too much money to spend--just too damn soft. However Detroit feels about Sheff right now, they were desparate to get him in the spring, but Cashman did not extract product equivalent to their desire. Perhaps because he never takes fitness into consideration (Kevin Brown was yesterday's Carl Pavano), he allowed the Tigers to steal him blind, off-loading a conditioning/injury problem, Sanchez, on the Yanks and securing their nut (in every sense) in the process. The fans were not fully apprised of Humberto's dismal histrory with his body, but the Yankees knew. If Detroit wasn't willing to part with either of their 2 top minor league pitching prospects, Cashman should have said fine, we'll keep this guy until a good deal comes along, and certainly by the trade deadline it would have. They might have nothing till then, but now they just have nothing. Item 2: RJ wanted to leave and really preferred Arizona. Who cares? Cashman evidently. Because the best deal was clearly in San Diego, where Scott Linebrink was being offered. Boy, couldn't we use him now. Instead, Cashmen, in order to accomodate a pinstripe-bum, who never earned half his contract, especially in the post-season, convinced himself that Ohlendorff was the guy they really wanted--convinced himself, that is, until the Spring, when it became clear Ohlendorff was not ready for prime time and might never be.

The pundits have laid the decline of the Yankee dynasty at King George's feet, not unreasonably as he was the moving force behind some of their worst and most expensive free agent acquisitions. But the corresponding assumption that Cashman was in fact a sterling GM, hampered only by an unfortunate lack of the requisite organizational authority, has proved, well, baseless. Cashman espouses a sound overall philosophy, but being a GM is also about the art of the deal, and Cashman is a "mark" in that regard. To be sure, there is luck involved in some of these transactions, particularly where injury is concerned. But the consistency with which Cashman seeks or accepts damaged goods evidences some degree of culpability. Yes, Epstein is little better: he got unlucky with Clement, he got stupid with Wade Miller, and he wanted Pavano as badly as Cashman. But this year, the Yankees had 2 aging superstars with market attractiveness and Cashman had new-found authority to pursue his vision by trading them. And he came up, if not empty, nearly so, too nearly so for the Yankees to survive, this year or perhaps for the next 2 or 3, the consequences of his errors. For that reason alone, he should be made to fire Torre one news cycle before he gets the ax himself.