On Brian Cashmaan

Finally In Charge?
One of the most fascinating people in the Yankee Universe for me is GM Brian Cashman. He almost walked away from the Yankees because he found working there intolerable. Miraculously, or perhaps, rationally, George Steinbrenner retained him and so Brian Cashman is back at the desk, working the deals.
Here's an interesting article on Cashman.

"In one of the initial conversations I had with Randy and Steve, I was in tears," Cashman said of his meeting with Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president, and Steve Swindal, the team’s general partner. "I told them I love this organization, but that I couldn’t stay here in this job under these circumstances. We hadn’t even gotten around to the money."

From his home in Connecticut, Cashman labored over the most important document of his career one that would define how the Yankees would do business in the future: The fractured baseball operation, with factions in New York and Tampa, would report to the general manager. And the GM would have supervision over the draft, and sole responsibility for the 40-man roster.

"As I recall, it was the next day, after that conversation, that George called me and convinced me to stay," Cashman says. "I had begun my conversation with him by telling him that, no matter who he hired, this is how I thought it should be with the chain of command from the owner, to the GM, to the manager.

’It’s got to be that way,’ I said, ’or it won’t work. The players, the press and the fans all have to know that.’

But to Cashman’s surprise, Steinbrenner said he was absolutely fine with the plan and, as further incentive to keep Cashman in the family, as he put it, sweetened the financial terms of the three-year contract to $1.6 million, $1.8 million and $2 million, making him the highest paid GM in the game.

In the less-visible business end of the Yankees, Steinbrenner had already fulfilled his vow to give the younger herd more freedom, entrusting Levine and son-in-law Swindal, both 51, along with Trost, 60, as the front men in the intricate, multimillion dollar YES Network deal and new stadium project. But from a baseball standpoint, it remained business as usual with Steinbrenner overseeing a dual front office in New York and Tampa and allowing the two factions to clash bitterly and publicly over player personnel.

It had become a dysfunctional operation that too often made it appear the team’s right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. The favoritism shown by Steinbrenner for the Tampa-based minor league/player development operatives with whom he spent most of his time compounded the situation, as did the fact that he publicly held Cashman and manager Joe Torre accountable for the team’s fortunes.

Meanwhile, Torre had issues of his own with Steinbrenner and Levine, and it was into this prickly situation that Swindal, as general partner, asserted himself. For the past two years, the manager had endured the periodic slings and arrows from Steinbrenner, mostly through statements from P.R. mogul Howard Rubenstein, and it was his belief that The Boss, with Levine’s encouragement, was looking for a way to get rid of him.

Publicly, Torre maintained his stoic demeanor for the most part but the years of sniping and second-guessing from The Boss were taking their toll. Not a confrontational man, Torre, too, felt he needed to get his situation resolved.

That is how Cashman attained young elephant status as boss of baseball operations from Steinbrenner and how Torre and Steinbrenner bonded again. Why it happened is a matter of differing theories by Yankee insiders.

Says one: I think George finally came to realize he shouldn’t let his friends in Tampa run the baseball operations; that they hadn’t served him well.

The insider cites the Yankees’ abysmal drafting record over the last 10 years and depleted state of the farm system, noting that Tampa-based VP of scouting Damon Oppenheimer’s decision to pass up St. John’s closer Craig Hansen in favor of a high school shortstop, C.J. Henry, last June may have been the final convincer.

Another Yankee insider was more specific. The fact is, George has gotten older” he says. He’s 75 and most people his age are retired to a life of leisure, not still running a major corporation. But this isn’t the same situation as it was 25 years ago when the Yankees were just a baseball team.

George’s world has changed dramatically, and he’s grudgingly come to accept that. It’s been hard for him to make any concessions to age, simply because of what he’s been. But now that he is, he’s turning to people he feels he can trust.

Steinbrenner acknowledges that Cashman, who has worked in the Yankee front office since he was 19, and Cashman’s mentor, Gene Stick Michael, who has served the Boss throughout most of his 33-year ownership of the team as player, coach, manager, GM and chief scout, are two people he regards as indispensable.

The other day in spring training he even referred to Cashman as the boss.

I wanted Brian with me, Steinbrenner said. He’s one of the young elephants I was talking about. He has my full confidence. And Stick’s been with me forever. I want him involved.

But as much as this restructuring of the New York-Tampa operations might be perceived as a major concession on Steinbrenner’s part, Cashman is quick to point out that the only thing that’s really changed is that everyone in the organization now has a clearly defined role.

Cashman now has the responsibility he’s always wanted, and as Steinbrenner might add, the accountability that goes with it.

The thing one realises about Brian Cashman is that he too has been brought up through the Yankee organisation, much like its homegrown superstars. He's a product of the Yankee system just as much as Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, and this is perhaps why fans root for the GM.