Before the Yankees fully turn their attention towards building next year’s roster — despite what dopey polls like this one might suggest, there won’t be a massive overhaul, at least not to the lineup — they’ll need to address their general manager situation. Brian Cashman’s contract is up at the end of the month, and despite one report that said the talks were already underway and going smoothly, Cashman said yesterday that he hadn’t yet begun negotiations to return. Which isn’t to say it won’t happen in due time.
Cashman says he wants to return, and team brass says they want him back, as well. And considering it’s possible to read entire articles about the job that lies ahead of Cashman, which don’t even mention that he’s not actually under contract beyond this month, it seems inevitable that he’ll be back.
And that doesn’t surprise us: Cashman once had to be assured he was in charge of baseball operations, and though the Rafael Soriano signing proved he doesn’t necessarily have final word in these things, it’s worth remembering that the issue at hand was that Cashman didn’t believe the deal made financial sense, and he was overruled by those actually signing the checks. Being forced to spend money is a problem most general managers would kill for.
And that’s the thing about being general manager of the Yankees: Many (though not all) of the issues that other GMs must deal with don’t really apply. The Yankees might not have an infinite amount of money to spend, but they’re closer than any other organization, and by plenty. There’s a trade-off, of course: Expectations are always extremely high, and it’s an undeniably stressful position, between the scrutiny from fans and the media, and simply having to work for the Steinbrenners. But Cashman, who’s worked for the organization full-time since the late eighties, has handled it all pretty well. There’s some work to be done this offseason, to be sure, but we’re confident it’ll be Cashman running the show, once again.