Cash looking a wee bit exhausted
Matt I. addressed this topic in an excellent post on Monday, but I didn’t get around to reading Will Leitch’s profile on Brian Cashman in this week’s New York Magazine until now, and wanted to offer my own two cents, being that I’ve written more words this winter on Brian Cashman than I ever thought I’d need to as well as the fact that though I find myself disagreeing with Leitch from time to time, he’s still an excellent writer and works for one of my favorite publications.
Last time I wrote about one of Leitch’s articles I was extremely disappointed in the premise and authored a fairly angry rebuke, which New York was actually kind enough to quote in the following week’s issue. Needless to say, that made my day. This time, however, Will has done his homework, and his Cashman piece is an enjoyable read, even if he does ultimately jump to some questionable conclusions.
Will asserts that Cash has historically been less high-profile than his GM counterparts and friends Billy Beane and Theo Epstein, and backs this statement up by saying that “no one writes books about Cashman, and it’s impossible to imagine him sneaking away from reporters while wearing a gorilla costume.”
Aside from one of these descriptors applying to Beane and the other to Epstein, I’m not really sure how either reinforces the notion of Cash being some low-profile GM. The man works in the most media-saturated market in all of professional sports for the most recognized franchise on the planet with dozens of reporters paid to cover his each and every move 365 days a year — I’m not sure there’s a less high-profile job. The gorilla comment is just silly, while the only reason no one writes books about Cashman is because he clearly isn’t ready to let anyone do so. If Cashman called a reporter up and allowed him 24/7 access to the inner workings of the Yankee front office a la Beane in “Moneyball,” do you really think the writer would turn him down?
Additionally, can you imagine the kind of stories Cashman must have tucked away having worked for the New York Yankees for the past 25 years? Not to mention the fact that 13 of those years have been served as the franchise’s General Manager, a position that only one man in team history has held longer (per Wikipedia, Ed Barrow was at the helm from 1921 through 1944). After Cash retires and finally decides to open the vault, I’m certain his (auto)biography will vault to the top of the best-seller list.
A couple of other interesting snippets:
“Cashman, who will never be played by Brad Pitt in a movie, has always envied this; he’s close friends with Epstein and knows how revered Epstein is, not just in Boston but in the sabermetric baseball community as a whole. Boston is a little bit of a general manager’s fantasyland; Epstein has power and public renown in a great baseball city. Epstein can walk down the hall and talk to Bill James; Cashman is stuck running into Hank Steinbrenner on his smoke breaks.”
I doubt Cash is all that jealous of the fact that Brad Pitt is playing Billy Beane in the “Moneyball” movie, but that’s really neither here nor there. What strikes me here is the idea that Theo Epstein runs some kind of totalitarian dictatorship up in Boston. I imagine these days Theo has his share of autonomy, but how quickly we forget that Epstein left the organization in 2005 amidst “‘agonizing soul-searching’ over office politics and his relationship with his boss.” Perhaps ownership promised to meddle no more upon eventually wooing Epstein back into the fold, but why should we take that concept at face value in light of what happened with Cash’s very public overruling just this past winter? Boston’s ownership group doesn’t strike me as the type to leave each and every personnel decision 100% in the hands of the general manager, no matter how much they might insist otherwise publicly, but now I too am speculating.
“This leads to the inevitable question: Who, in fact, is in charge here? The answer, of course, is: They all are. The Yankees are a billion-dollar organization, with a cable network and a new stadium and revenues flowing from every corner. That is too much for one man to handle. The whole notion of the job of G.M. is to have a finite amount of funds to be dispersed in as efficient a manner as possible; this is the whole point of Moneyball. But the Yankees have infinite funds, even if Cashman likes to pretend they don’t. So much so that when Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine hand him a top-tier player like Soriano, he actually complains about the price. This is Cashman’s curse: He can run the team as smartly as he likes, but he’s never the one truly in charge. He is always going to be smaller than the team. That’s not what today’s G.M. is supposed to be.
Leitch pretty much nails it here — as much as we Yankee fans might like to think the team’s front office is confident enough in their sophisticated general manager to allow him to operate carte blanche, history has shown this not to be the case. There are simply too many egos involved. While Hal Steinbrenner appears to be comfortable with Cash calling the shots, Randy Levine has never been one to shy away from self-promotion, and seems to have this distorted self-image of himself as a kind of reverse folk hero, robbing from the poor (Cash and his beloved first round draft pick) to overpay the rich (the unnecessary acquisition of Rafael Soriano). However, Leitch also contradicts himself to an extent, going from tacit acknowledgment of the fact that no one general manager can have all-encompassing power over a franchise as wealthy and with as vast resources as the Yankees have, to bemoaning the fact that Cashman doesn’t in fact have that same authority.
“Meanwhile, the Yankees get everything they want: a smart, steady hand at the till, trying to keep costs down and put a championship team on the field, a guy they know well enough that they understand when to step in and overrule to spend some money. It might seem like chaos, but it works. And Cashman knows it. Which is why, as much as he might look out the window sometimes and wonder what life is like outside the only adult job he’s ever known, he’ll never leave. He has it pretty damned good here. We all do. If he needs to go slide down a building every couple of years to blow off some steam, more power to him. Nothing’s more stressful than your dream job.”
This last paragraph is fairly tragic in its painfully accurate summation of the team’s current power structure. “A guy they know well know enough that they understand when to step in and overrule to spend some money.” This is exactly why the stat-driven segment of the Yankee blogosphere didn’t support the Soriano signing, and why, even as Cash continued to get taken to task by various members of the media and fanbase, many of us continued to stand by him. Cash had a target, and that target, to the surprise of pretty much everyone who follows baseball, decided to somehow turn down $30 million and go to Philadelphia, leaving Cash to improvise and advise the fanbase to “be patient.” The reasonable among us in Yankeeland completely understood this, knowing full well that there were no other worthwhile starters to be had and that it’d be pointless to overpay in either dollars or via trade for anyone who wasn’t as close to a bona fide ace as it gets. Additionally, the farm system is arguably currently more loaded with talent than it’s been at any point possibly in franchise history, with many a young arm close to knocking on the MLB door. There was no need for ownership to get involved and spend some money simply for the sake of spending some money. If the Yankees honestly think less people would’ve come out to the ballpark in 2011 if they didn’t sign Rafael Soriano, they are less in touch with the modern-day Yankee fan than any of us realized.
However, after all is said and done, Leitch once again has it right in his final paragraph. Even if Cash does secretly pine to prove that he could build a winner on a shoestring, Billy Beane-esque budget, deep down he truly does love the New York Yankees. He understands the team’s importance to the city as well as his custodial role in continuing to maintain and build on the legacy of tradition and winning that the interlocking N-Y has always been identified with, by those who both love and revile the team. He’s a company man through and through, and I can’t envision him ever leaving the only organization he’s ever known of his own volition. He knows the territory, knows who his masters are, and knows that even if he might be the smartest guy in the room, even he will periodically get overruled. And you know what? If you’re Brian Cashman, that’s OK. Something about a $2 million salary and being the highest-paid general manager in all of baseball probably helps take the occasional sting out.
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18 Responses to Another take on Will Leitch’s Brian Cashman profile in New York Magazine
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I think it’s a big jump in logic to go from whatever your team budget is, you want to spend it wisely and an 8th inning reliever isn’t worth what the Yankees are paying Rafael Soriano to assuming that means that Cashman would prefer to operate with Oakland’s budget. As far as we know, he was all for signing Cliff Lee. I’d imagine to some extent he’d like to get more credit for the Yankees success and not to hear critics claim that anyone could be successful with the Yankees budget, but who would really prefer to operate with a lower budget?
I think you raise a good point about Epstein resigning over power struggles. It also seems that Leitch misses the fact that Boston will operate with a higher payroll (once Gonzales contract becomes official), a minor league system with less top tier talent close to the majors, and less financial resources. How exactly does that make them more nimble?
How will Boston’s payroll be bigger than ours? Last I heard they were around 170-180 million and adding 24 million a year still only makes it 194-204 million and we are firmly over that as far as I know.
I read that they had actually passed NY in the offseason with the Jenks signing and the Gonzales extension which still isn’t official. That may have been pre-Soriano and might not be true any longer. I’m not sure. In any case, they are hardly more nimble or a small market team.
OK Yeah I remember that that, it was when Cliff Lee had turned us down and we had yet to sign Soriano and maybe Martin but they had inked Crawford, (maybe) Jenks and traded for Gonzo.
We are back up over them again in the 210-220 range and they won’t reach 200 million until after Adrian signs an extension and they still won’t have as big a payroll though it will be close.
I don’t anyone but ESPN and Red Sox fans consider them small market but it does seem like when they win and we lose it’s always Boston sticking up to the big bad Empire which always makes me a little mad.
I believe they do have better overall young talent that us in the system, they had a better rated draft than we did and I read they have a chance to pass us as early as next year in systems. I really don’t care as long as Banuelos is starting for us in years to come, though I fear he will be traded mid-season for a pitcher.
Looked into it a little more and it was pre-Soriano and Martin signing and thus only temporary. Still, you are overestimating their payroll. It will probably be under $200 million to start the season.
http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/?p=13085
It appears you are right and we will enter 2011 just at 200 million since it appears Chavez and at least 1 if not both of Garcia and Colon will make the team at this pace.
However I would also add that the Yankees won’t go all year with Nova, Garcia and Colon making up the back 2 spots of the rotation and at some point we will make a trade for a top end starter putting the payroll near 210.
Why would Cash care about Brad Pitt? moneyball the book sucked and I am pretty sure the movie won’t make that much money. Cash doesn’t want the media around him. look at all the deals he has done without anyone finding out.
Yeah scaling down a building and doing 100 interviews all off-season scream “get away media!”.
This is the first year I can remember him doing anything like this. Also wasn’t the stuff for charities?
Doesn’t matter if it is for charity he has enough money to do things for charity in private, you don’t think LeBron James could have given the Boys and Girls club more money than was raised on “the decision”? He wanted the attention.
Cash might like making deals in private but the mans human and he likes the spot light, the difference is now he can be the face of the Yankees more since George isn’t there trying to do just that. I know George hasn’t been really in good mental shape for a while before his death but the image of the man was still there, now Cashman gets to have his own personality come forward and he isn’t scared of anything happening to him from above.
To act like the man doesn’t enjoy being on TV or at least in the media spot light is ridiculous, he didn’t have to say 1/3 of the things he did this off-season and he made himself available for most of it.
I consider myself part of the stat-driven community and I have been on board with the Soriano signing since the begining, in no way do I see it as spending money “for the sake of spending money” as it makes what was a possible weakness a strength.
I understand a lot of people don’t like Soriano, some think anyone in a bullpen not named Mo is almost worthless and others love Joba too much to sign anyone to take his place but I find it odd how everyone was on board with Kerry Wood coming back when he likely would have never repeated last season again and then hated it when we signed someone who has never walked as many per 9 as Kerry did last season.
I understand there is a pretty huge difference in money for Kerry and Rafael but the production is much more stable and consistent and most likely Soriano will only be here for 1 productive season in a manner very similar to Adrian Beltre with the Sox last year.
There just seems to be too much hate for a move that was nothing but a complete upgrade over Wood, Chamberlain and Robertson… It seems like most fans would have rather traded for someone mid season and wasted a prospect on another rental while also looking to trade for another starting pitcher. At a certain point if players are avilable you need you have to sign them and stop taking the “we can trade for anyone we want” attitude especially when you already have holes to address via trade.
I don’t think anyone questions that the move makes NY better. It is the matter of at what cost. Set up men just aren’t worth that much money because they throw so few innings. If you acknowledge that but still just don’t care because the signing is unlikely to prevent NY from making any other move they might need to then I don’t think that’s an unreasonable position.
In fairness though, NY traded Matt Cusik and another no namer for Kerry Wood and Cash last summer. You wouldn’t be talking about trading a major prospect for a midseason bullpen upgrade.
Just so it’s clear that “no name” we traded was Zach Mcallister and at the time he was traded he was rated higher than Ivan Nova in our system so it wasn’t like he was a nobody as you imply.
I understand it’s too much money but we are the Yankees and when you consider if he pitches decent at all he will opt out and we end up with a 1 year signing to strengthen the pen with more room for trades then it isn’t a big deal.
Since it wasn’t Cashman’s sign I’m sure it doesn’t go into the “budget” like Teixeira did in 2009 and instead goes down under owner expenses.
People just act like it was spending in order to spend and in this article it even implies the Yankees signed him because they thought no one would come to the stadium otherwise which is ridiculous IMO.
People were looking to trade for Soria over signing Rafael which is really dumb, why trade high profile prospects over giving cash?
My bad, I wasn’t calling Zach McAllister a “no name” I couldn’t remember who they traded so I looked that up on Baseball-Reference and it said the NY side of the trade was Cusik and Andrew Shive. Still, I don’t think anyone was rating McAllister higher than Nova at the time of the trade. He was very disappointing last year and never had that good stuff to begin with. I don’t remember a lot of people who were against signing Soriano endorsing trading for Soria. The whole point against Soriano is that a setup man isn’t worth a lot of money or a lot of prospects.
He went into that year way more known than Nova and in fact Nova had been selected by the Padres in the rule V draft but didn’t think he was ready for the majors and sent him back.
Let’s not forget that Zach started last year in triple A and people were thinking he was ready for the majors soon, Nova started in either high A or double A and made a rapid rise through the system that no one really saw coming.
So while Nova’s stock was going up and Zach’s was going down at the time of the trade Mcallister was still considered if not higher than Nova at least on the same level as him and was quite a bit higher ranked prospect going into the season.
I disagree that he was “way more known” than Nova. McAllister was a highly ranked prospect in the Yankee system at the beginning of the year only because of how few true prospects the Yankees had in AAA. His ceiling was always pretty low — a backend starter at best — because his raw stuff was just not that impressive. Nova always had superior stuff and the fact that the Padres would even pick him when he hadn’t pitched above A ball is a testament to that. The only thing McAllister had over Nova was success at higher levels. When Nova achieved more success than McAllister in AAA, he was absolutely a much better prospect. Even at his peak, McAllister was the type of prospect that was likely to be of more use as tradebait than as a player.
Larry, my take basically mirrored yours. I thought the article missed the mark repeatedly for the first few paragraphs, then really nailed it at the end. I also thoughts attempts at humor were flailing attempts and worse, not very funny.
“If the Yankees honestly think less people would’ve come out to the ballpark in 2011 if they didn’t sign Rafael Soriano, they are less in touch with the modern-day Yankee fan than any of us realized.”
Well, the Steinbrenners seemingly tried to appease the average Yankee fan—the big, loud pinstripe-loving masses—who, right or wrong, held the perception that the team had made no moves to improve the team in ’11. No Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford; Pettite possibly skipping town—which he of course did—no Kerry Wood; the Jeter negotiations, etc. etc. etc. Once again, I’m not saying these folks were right, but this is how they felt—and they voiced their opinions anywhere they could—and I believe the Steinbrenners reacted to that.