Possible Cashman replacements

By On August 31, 2011 · 7 Comments · In Business of Baseball

Just typing the words of that title made me squirm a little bit. All things equal, I want Brian Cashman back as the General Manager of the New York Yankees. He’s a shrewd trade maker (see the Bobby Abreu and Nick Swisher deals) and he’s been good at finding useful parts on the cheap (see: the Yankee bullpens of the last few years; Marcus Thames, Andruw Jones, and Bartolo Colon) and has shown a willingness to hold on to the organization’s top prospects, even this past season when he could’ve gutted the system and simply skipped town.

Of course, this decision is not just up to me. It’s up to Hal Steinbrenner (who would probably like to have Cash back as well) and his crew, as well as Cashman himself. If one party–or both–decides it’s time to walk away, there are some replacement candidates out there. Fellow A.L. East GMs Theo Epstein and Andrew Friedman are both going to be available, and Dodger GM Ned Colletti could be out there. We’ve also heard rumblings in the last week or so that Billy Beane is starting to grow discontented in Oakland. There are also internal options, like Mark Newman, Damon Oppenheimer, and Billy Eppler.

Each candidate has his pluses. The in-house troika is obviously familiar with the organization and its leadership and players. Epstein and Friedman know the A.L. East and have presided over winning organizations for the last few years. Colletti has worked in a big market, and Billy Beane has proven he can win with no money at all. We can let our minds wander and dream on what he could do with not just some money, but the most money.

But each one also has his drawbacks. Colletti has a reputation for not being the most forward thinking GM. Billy Beane likes his manager to be an extension of himself and while Joe Girardi has generally been on the same page with Cashman, I think some Beane/Girardi clashes would be possible. NewOppLer doesn’t have the GM experience and it might be difficult to throw one of them into a situation like the Yankee GM job. And while I won’t buy too much into this narrative, it’s possible that the Yankees wouldn’t want someone like Friedman, who’s worked essentially expectation free. Epstein is sort of like Cashman in that he’s both underrated and overrated at the same time. He’s obviously had a lot of cash to work with, but he’s still managed to make mostly the right moves.

Anyone after Brian Cashman should be considered plan B on down. He’s essentially the perfect fit for the job. He has a good rapport with the media most of the time, he has shown a willingness to be unsentimental when it comes to player decisions, and he usually pushes the right buttons and gets the right players for the team. Hopefully, any talk of a non-Cashman GM is purely academic and Brian is right back in his old spot for 2012 and beyond.

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7 Responses to Possible Cashman replacements

  1. whocarestom says:
    August 31, 2011 at 11:52 am

    I don’t see Cashman leaving, but, of the group you listed, I’d take Andrew Friedman eight days a week and twice on sunday. He works miracles with Tampa’s laughable payroll.

    Reply
  2. Patrick says:
    August 31, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    Why does Ned Colletti’s name even come into the conversation? If he wasn’t hired by McCourt he would have been fired years ago. a good but not great Juan Pierre for 5-44M, a used up Jason Schmidt 3-47M, trading Carlos Santana for Casey Blake. Heck Clayton Kershaw is the only good MLB player he has developed that i can think of. I really hope Cashman stays put.

    Reply
  3. Bernie says:
    August 31, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    Again you startle me with your columns. Cashman is easily one of the worst general managers in recent times… for the Yankees maybe the worst. You and your colleagues get all excited and quote the 5 WS but they were a product of Michael and Watson. They put into place players with longevity as opposed to Cash-Man’s approach of renting and releasing. With the kind of money the Yanks throw around Cash’Man simply takes his pick or the “marquee” free agents each year. Sitting around waiting for Lee made hin look like the fool he is; he did everything short of begging. You remember in 2005-06 that he wanted, and got, control of the farm system. Now 6 years later “show me the beef”. Ohlendorf gone to Pitt, same with Karsten… Kennedy with Ariz and probably a Cy Young candidate, Coke (the lefty he worshiped to Det), etc. He had not problem moving them out. Yeah I know about Granderson (FINALLY having a good year) Now what did he keep?: Hughes, a babied loser, Chamberlain, much the same, Robertson (a winner) and ??????? He has spent in excess of a BILLION DOLLARS on Iraiba (sp), Vasquez (twice) Chris Hammond, PAVANO, JARET WRIGHT, Steve Karsay, Orosco, Osborne, K. Brown, Jeff Weaver, Quantrell,, Contreas, etc. and even Randy Johnson was a bust (for the Yanks). Mussina was a plus but no ring.. The winners for the Yanks during their run was Jeter, O’Neill, Posada, Andy, Scott B., Williams AND THEY WERE ALL PRE-CASHMAN……. Where’s the core now??? Brilliant Brian even spent 28 million on Clemens for HALF A SEASON to no avail. So don’t flash any rings with his legacy attached to it. Bottom line… he ain’t no Theo and he ain’t no Friedman. I’ll be glad to see him go. Remember, his answer for losing good pictures.. “they couldn’t handle New York”, what a crock!!!!

    Reply
  4. Ron says:
    August 31, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    Cashman must go! He has made plenty of bad deals as well as the the ones listed in this article. AJ Burnett, Kevin Brown, jarett Wright for starters. Look to the past and you will see more bad than good!

    Reply
  5. Don White says:
    August 31, 2011 at 6:46 pm

    Frankly, I would like to see what another GM could do for the Yanees. I have no great allusions, but with the money he spent on A-Rod and Sabathia, I would find someone who has had great success with less. And the only man is Billy Beane of the Oakland A’s. He spends maybe a third of the money Cash has on hand, so there is no comparison. and, frankly, if Joe Giardi has to go so that Beane can bring in his own manager, so be it.

    Reply
  6. Mike Din says:
    September 1, 2011 at 2:35 am

    how about Ruben Amaro Jr :>)

    Look how he’s built the best pitching rotation for the Phillies – we had a chance to get Halliday; Roy was more than willing to come to the Yankees. Cashman said we had enough pitching, instead of Halliday, Cashman had gotten us Burnett. Yankees wanted Lee, instead Phillies got Lee. Phillies added Hunter Pence before the trading deadline and he’s won them games; Cashman couldn’t put together any deals.

    Even with ace pitching staff and star players, Phillies payroll is below the luxury tax.

    Looks like Cashman is trying to save $, waiting on prospects to hopefully become stars. We tried that in 2008 and it was the first year Yankees didn’t make playoffs in over a decade. Meanwhile, winning the World Series this year is not his focus. We have a very good team but no sure thing to win – compare that to the Phillies whose front office has done a much better job to position themselves for World Series titles for a number of years.

    Reply

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