Is Cashman-Yankees Divorce Inevitable?

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Being the general manager of the New York Yankees has its pros and cons. On the plus side, you have a budget that dwarfs that of your peers throughout Major League Baseball. This allows you to sign pretty much who you want, when you want to.

The down side is that with such a budget, and a winning tradition like no other pro sports franchise, come high expectations. Anything less than a World Championship is considered a failure in the Bronx.

With this as a backdrop, I’m beginning to wonder if current Yankees GM Brian Cashman is setting the stage for his departure sometime soon.

While Cashman has done a pretty good job in his 13+ years “shopping for the groceries” in New York, some of his comments in recent weeks suggest that he may be ready to shed his pinstripes.

A few weeks ago, the Yankees signed former Tampa Bay Rays’ closer Rafael Soriano to a 3-year, 35 million dollar deal to strengthen their bullpen. With the best closer in the history of the game – Mariano Rivera still on the roster, Soriano will be asked to play the role of set-up man. It certainly has the makings of a dominant back end of the bullpen for New York.

At Soriano’s introductory press conference, Cashman stated for the record that he didn’t agree with the signing of the Rays’ former closer. “I didn’t recommend it just because I didn’t think it was an efficient way to allocate the remaining resources,” he said. “We had a lot of debate about it. Like everything on the free agent and trade market, you discuss it, make your recommendations to ownership, and they choose what direction they prefer to go given the circumstances. My preference was waiting. They obviously acted, and we are better.”

Cashman went on to make it clear that this was Hal Steinbrenner’s team and that little Stein would ultimately do what he wanted to do, regardless of Cashman’s recommendations.

Cashman’s reasons for not wanting to sign Soriano are sound. He believes that the team needs to find another quality arm or two for their starting rotation as their top priority. Soriano’s signing didn’t address that need.

Still, his public disclosure that he was against the Soriano acquisition at the very same press conference where Soriano was being introduced to the New York media was an awkward situation and a clear statement to all of Yankee Nation to not blame him if they don’t bring home World Championship #28 this October.

Cashman’s comments on the Soriano signing, while never forgotten, probably would have faded over time until the GM threw more high-octane fuel on the fire. When asked by WFAN’s Mike Francessa who the better team is on paper right now, Cashman replied, “the Red Sox.”

He went on to say in the interview, “their starting pitching…..they’ve got guys they can run one through six and I’m looking for a fourth.” This was clearly another effort by Cashman to state his objection to the signing of Soriano at the expense of starting pitching.

Some have suggested that Cashman, who has one year remaining on his contract, may be setting the stage for his departure from New York. Let’s not also forget that he let the Derek Jeter negotiations play out in public drawing a line in the sand for the Yankee legend while turning public sentiment against him.

Maybe Cashman is trying to set the wheels in motion for his departure at or before season’s end. Maybe he’s simply trying to cover his rear end in the event that Jeter, Soriano and the Yankees don’t have a great 2011 season. Or maybe this is all just a game and an effort on the part of Steinbrenner and Cashman to get the Yankees on the back pages of the New York tabloids where they belong.

Whatever it is, it sure makes for good drama and adds spice to the upcoming season in the Bronx.