Over at MetsBlog this afternoon, Matthew Cerrone jumped into the Brian Cashman fray. He pondered the idea of Cashman helming the Mets’ front office and wondered why current GM Omar Minaya isn’t shouldering more of the blame for the Mets’ failures.
Personally, I’m stunned that Minaya has received what amounts to a free pass in the New York media while Willie Randolph has become the whipping boy for the media. Omar Minaya put this team — this expensive, flawed team — together, and it stands to reason that the Mets’ struggles are as much his fault, if not more, than they are Willie’s.
Right now, that’s neither here nor there. The Mets’ problems are a Queens-based issue, and we’re concerned with the Bronx. But I did get a good chuckle out of the MetsBlog commenters who seem to hate Brian Cashman almost as much as some Yankee fans do. A sampling, if you will:
“No thanks. Omar Minaya blows this guy away.”
“I’d rather pick up Delgado’s option than hire Cashman to be GM.”
“Cashman is a bigger failure than Omar is.”
“Cashman’s team is one game under .500 while Omar’s is 3. Not a big enough difference to make me want Cashman. He’s a joke”
“He’s contributed nothing but one bad investment after another. This guy is a joke.”
“Cashman would be Horrible. Omar has done a pretty good job; it falls on the manager to get it done. Cashman has made mistake after mistake during his tenure. No more Yankee trash!”
So let’s review: Brian Cashman’s Yankees have won three World Series titles, were two outs away from a fourth, have made the playoffs every year during his tenure as GM and are the best team in baseball over that same period of time. Yet, somehow, because the Yanks haven’t won a ring, Cashman is “Yankee trash,” “a joke” and my personal favorite: “a bigger failure than Omar is.”
Now, I know that Yankee fans are divided on Brian Cashman’s effectiveness. Some see a series of bad moves and an inability to find starting pitching when starting pitching is at a premium. Others see a mixed record of good and bad moves as well as an increased focused recently on the farm system that has already begun to pay dividends.
Yet, for all his flaws, real or otherwise, Brian Cashman has been an effective GM. The Yanks have reached October, and their losing in the playoffs has less to do with his ability to put a team together and more to do with the Amazing Disappearing Yankee Offense in October. For all the guff Cashman takes, the Mets could do a lot worse to have him as their GM, and if the fans can’t see otherwise, I’m more than happy to see Cashman stick around the Bronx. And, hey, while we don’t all agree on Brian Cashman, at least we can all agree that Mets fans are just a little bit nuts.
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