You’ll recall that I’ve previously suggested that Brian Cashman’s tenure with the Yankees may be in some jeopardy: I believe the exact phrasing was, “short-timer.” Well, I have news. Good news, at least for the constituency that is of the opinion that a Cashman-less Yankee organization is, in all probability, a weaker organization.
First, there was the near shocking candor of Cashman at a joint charity appearance with Theo this week. I’m not sure what or if the Yankees GM had been drinking that day, but just…wow. First, he restated his preference that the Yankees keep their own pitching rather than trade for Santana. Ok, nothing terribly shocking about that; it could be gamesmanship, could be a statement for the record, but either way it’s contradictory to Hankenstein’s public commentary. But Cashman didn’t stop there. Regarding Yankees fan favorite and could-have-been-a-Sox Bernie Williams, Cashman claimed that the center fielder’s music “took away from his play,” and that his 2005 season was, not to put too fine a point on it, “terrible.” Continuing, he added that Joe Torre had inserted Williams “ahead of guys who could help us win.” Ouch.
Not enough for you? How about publicly calling out Abreu and Damon for reporting to camp out of shape? Or, when asked about the Yankees biblical encounter with the Cleveland insect life, responding “I thought our guys weren’t mentally tough enough to get through it.”
Good lord. Want your job much, Brian?
The presumed source of the friction hasn’t exactly been sitting on his hands during all of this either. Hankenstein, in an interview with the AP yesterday, issued what I’d agree with Olney could be considered a veiled threat to his GM. Unless you think the following is a ringing endorsement:
“I will be patient with the young pitchers and players. There’s no question about that because I know how these players develop,” [Hankenstein] said. “But as far as missing the playoffs – if we miss the playoffs by the end of this year, I don’t know how patient I’ll be. But it won’t be against the players. It won’t be a matter of that. It will be a matter of maybe certain people in the organization could have done something else.”
To recap, for the ADD afflicted:
- GM calls out former player
- GM calls out former manager
- GM calls out two thirds of his current outfield
- GM states preference for forgoing a trade that his owner has publicly admitted he wants to make
- Owner states that a playoff appearance is mandatory
- Owner states that in the absence of said playoff appearance, players are ok, front office is not
Anyone think this will end well? Anyone?
wicked clevah 
My friend Bryan was at this event. You should ask him about it … he was surprised by Cashman's comments as well.
Looking around, we're not the only ones. In spite of the Times' matter-of-fact reporting, the quotes were – to say the least – incendiary. Williams has already fired back, and I'd expect more will.
I was at the Hot Stove, Cool Music Roundtable the first week of January and I couldn't believe some of the things Cashman said there. When asked how the trip to Japan affected his team a few years ago, he said that the MLB has everything down so well that it is a pretty easy trip. Then he added that the biggest thing is the guys in the clubhouse having a good attitude about it. Then he added that there were two guys in their clubhouse who did NOT have a good attitude about it. THEN he told us who they were: former Yankee Kevin Brown and current Yankee Mike Mussina. My brother and I looked at each other in disbelief. Couldn't believe he threw a current player under the bus like that.
Cashman was probably the most engaging speaker on the panel because of his candor, and I do think the Yankees will be worse off without him. With Hank running the ship, I think it's only a matter of time.