The Philadelphia speculation begins

May 4, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 25 Comments

Stop me if you’re heard this one before: Jim Salisbury of The Philadelphia Inquirer opines on Brian Cashman’s future today. With a GM vacancy in Philadelphia probably opening up after the season, Salisbury believes that, if Cashman’s Yanks fail to make the playoffs, he could be out in the Bronx and in in Philadelphia. I think Salisbury is getting too far ahead of himself. As things stand today, the Yanks are 1.5 games out of a playoff spot and 3 games out of first. Meanwhile, the youth movement won’t happen in one month, and the Steinbrenners, despite Hank’s public comments, seem to understand that. I know a good number of Yankee fans don’t think highly of Cashman, but getting rid of him won’t be as easy or as quick as Salisbury seems to think.

yankeemonkey

What makes people think that Cashman would want to go to Philly?!
- http://www.myspace.com/j_panama Jamal G.
  
  There were reports prior that he looked upon the job with delight.
stuart

cashman is a very good GM.

he has changed the culture(young is OK)

anyone think the loser sheffield signing is cashman and not the dopes in Tampa and gerogie know nothing
http://www.myspace.com/j_panama Jamal G.

Nat Boyle of MLBTR and I seem to agree that Mr. Salisbury (BTW what is it with that name and sportscasters that just oozes foolishness) is a few too many steps ahead of himself. Yankees fans love to bash Brian Cashman for every little thing but I challenge them to come up with 1. a better replacement and 2. a better option than Cashman took.

That’s one thing I don’t think people realize with second-guessing, if you want to second-guess fine, you do so, but you better have a better option in-mind if you’re going to second-guess somebody. Same thing with calling for Cashman’s job, there better be someone who can do the job better even if Cashman has made some mistakes his resume as a whole has been damn good IMO.
http://yankeesetc.blogspot.com/ Travis G.

cashman made two great moves in bringing in two viable 3b options and one of the best BUCs in the game. no one thought posada and arod would go down, but they have and we are still alive bc of those moves. he also decided to keep a certain young OFer who is one of the best CFers of the young season.
dan

It also doesn’t hurt that the Steinbrenners love Cashman
JT

Off topic… Does anyone know why Action Jackson has not played the last 2 games at Trenton?
- Mike W.
  
  I believe he has the flu.
Rich

Any credible story that tries to create the impression that Cashman will leave the Yankees better have a quote from Hal.
Mike W.

Cashman may be the worst judge of pitching in the major leagues. I am not sure what a different GM would be able to do with a 200 million dollar budget (I imagine that there would be plenty of people who could do a good job with that budget), but I can say that he is not a good judge of pitching at all.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  All he can do is acquire the talent. He can’t control what the Vazquezes and Igawas and Hugheses and Browns and Weavers and Pavanos of the world do when they’re out there on the mound.
Bonos

Small and Chacon say Hello. Forced Wang on Torre etc. Got Weaver, Vasquez, was agains’t Johnson trade. Mr Phillips, is that you.
- yankeemonkey
  
  Don’t forget picking up Rasner off the trash pile, trading Johnson for a bunch of serviceable to good prospects (including pitching!), signing Tom Gordon….
  - swo
    
    Side effect of Tom Gordon: his going to Philadelphia got us a compensation pick that we used on……guess who…….Joba Chamberlain
    - yankeemonkey
      
      And wasn’t Hughes a comp pick for Pettitte?
http://yankeesetc.blogspot.com/ Travis G.

the Abreu trade – need i say more?
http://riveraveblues.com JimT

Brian Cashman is a baseball enigma. He seems to have the respect of most people around baseball. But if you look at some of the teams he has assembled they are often badly put together and lacking the balance and pitching to win in the post season.

Theo Epstien called him one of baseball best developmental men, yet the Yankees have lacked organizational depth after the major league team for years. What they are left with are too many underperforming first basemen, journymen filling in for injured players rather than younger, potential future stars and ,the worst sin of all, the need to rush talents like Kennedy and Hughes. This team is getting old and there is very little major league ready talent in place to take over.

The problem is that Yankee fans, the New York media and the owners are ill prepared to take a step back in order to re-tool. It may be that Cashman’s best skills are being wasted in the rush to put a vetran “win now” team on the field every year. Perhaps the time has come for him to move on and show his full range as a baseball man.
- http://www.myspace.com/j_panama Jamal G.
  
  So you admit he has the skill set necessary to improve the organization but is being hampered a bit by outside circumstances yet you want him to leave? Please explain.
  - http://riveraveblues.com JimT
    
    Its not that I want him to leave, rather I wonder if its time for him to leave in his own mind. If you accept that Cashman is a developmental guy at heart, one has to question if he’ll ever truley get that chance with the Yankees.
- Bonos
  
  Consider this, next year the Yankees have a minimum of three Aces, Wang, Joba and Hughes with Brackman, Horne and McCutcheon knocking on the door. The bullpen is nine deep with Cox, Melanson, Robertson and others lining up. Pitching had to be fixed first, that’s been done.
  - http://riveraveblues.com JimT
    
    I think that Joba and Hughes may need to win as many as 10 games at the major league level before they are considered competent, much less “aces”.
    
    Funny how Kennedy no longer factors into that conversation.
mustang

Although I may not agree with the way he has implemented certain things this year or some of his signings. I still think he is the best man for the job.
Bonos

The man has been unbelievably loyal and patient. The Tampa faction ran the team into the ground after the Michaels era. Cashman was a joke as GM when first appointed. No one questions his smarts, so why replace Johnson with Giambi. Vladdy with Sheffield, Beltran with Johnson or the Brown fiasco. I think these were all quick fixes that were geared to PR, the farm system was abandoned for years. Since Cashman took over there has been a huge shift and reorganization. But it’s like a liner, it takes time. But the Yankees have to compete with Boston and they are behind 2 – 0. The only way they can catch up is by the Cashman method. Doesn’t matter, him or someone else.
RustyJohn

If you look at Cashman’s trades they’ve been pretty good- the free agent signings, in the early years particularly, leave a lot to be desired, but as we all know the Boss had alot to do with those.

When people talk about a $200 million payroll I think they fail to take into account the differencebetween living expenses in a given city as well as the tax burden. I’m sure the players have tricky accountants/tax folks, but I’d becurious to seewhat the tax implications are for a player making $15 million a season in New York (hello federal, state and local income tax plus 1st or 2nd most expensive place to live in the country) v. a $10 million a year contract in Texas, Florida, or Washington where there is no state or local income tax and the cost of living is relatively cheaper.

Howmuchmore has to be paid to a FA just to be comperable to other markets?
- RustyJohn
  
  As a side note, being a resident in the Pacific NW I was always curious why Bavasi over pays FA’s- is it because Bavasi sucks, the players recognize the organization sucks and don’t want to come here or the factors listed above don’t come into play? If I were a player, playing in Seattle would be golden- awesome facility, great place to play in the summer (zero rain in the summer, but April and May suck), no state or local income taxes, fan base that gives you minimal pressure to win (it is as if they are resigned to losing) andrelatively lowcrime for a big metropolitan area.