The Cash Man Speaks (And Listens, Apparently)
Yes, he’s back and he’s feisty and he wants to finish what he started.
There weren’t many specifics that came out of his press conference today. I think the only player he mentioned by name was Kei Igawa when he admitted that “missteps have been made” (speaking in the passive tense and sounding oddly like George Bush). He said he’s since changed the scouting in Japan. Good move.
He was asked if he has nightmares about not signing Santana. He answered that he has no regrets about his decision to keep our “assets.” O-kay then, but what about my nightmares?
He said the starting pitching needs to be addressed, but cautioned fans not to “have high expectations for certain guys.” So I’m not supposed to hope we get Sabathia? Burnett? Somebody with a pulse? Bummer.
He was asked about that so-called “advisory board” Hank Steinbrenner was threatening to convene. He kind of laughed and said that while his advisory board consists of his people in baseball operations, along with Hal and Hank, he’s open to suggestions from everyone. Everyone!
Here’s his semi-direct quote on that subject:
“If there’s a caller on the radio while I’m driving home and that person says something interesting, I might think, Hey that’s not a bad idea.”
Wow! So our GM listens to us. Maybe he’s reading our blogs too. And just maybe he’ll pick up on our ideas and implement them, and we can look onto the field next season and say with pride: “I was responsible for bringing him to the New York Yankees.”
Confessions of a She-Fan 
Jane, are you a Scorpio? Because we both seem to have the same idea that everything that happens in the world somehow revolves around us. (Not that it’s a bad thing or that it’s inaccurate.)
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/
Hi Jane. I have added you to my blog roll, and I’d be thrilled if you added me to yours.
Jason
http://heartlandpinstripes.wordpress.com/
Hey there! Thanks for finding me. Great blog, the whole Santana thing is silly. Who wouldn’t have nightmares, oh goodness Cashmen. TTYL
–Amy P
http://fanhood101.mlblogs.com/
Who asked the question about not signing Santana? Nobody had the chance to sign Santana without trading AT LEAST4 chips in the farm system to the Twins. Santana was not a free agent.
I know the Red Sox didn’t not want to trade Lester, Buchholz, Lowrie, and Masterson (which was one of the packages, another included Ellsbury) to the Twins for Santana, AND then pay him 125 million.
I think IF Santana WAS a free agent, Cashman would have done anything to sign him. However, if I remember, he didn’t not want to part with Hughes, Kennedy, Cabrera, and one other minor leaguer (I think) AND pay 125 million for him. I may have some of the names wrong who were to be included, as I’m going totally on memory.
After the years Hughes, Kennedy, and Cabrera had, it is easy to 2nd guess not making that trade now. But, in my opinion, the Twins were trying to play the Yankees and Red Sox against each other to get the best deal possible and had to settle for the Mets deal when neither blinked.
I don’t blame Cashman for not making that deal. I think it may have been 50/50 back then on not making the deal, as the Yankees don’t have a #1 Ace. But I am not really tapped into the pulse of the Yankee fan.
I know people on the Boston airwaves were say the Yankees needed to make that trade more than the Red Sox because the Sox had a #1 stud ace in Beckett already, along with Schilling (this was before his injury) and Matsuzaka with a nice problem of having Wakefield, Lester, and Buccholz to fill the final 2 spots.
Anyway, enough of this long comment. I could make this it’s own blog post.
Greg
Red Sox Ramblings: http://thevendahhh.mlblogs.com
Paul, I’m a Taurus, which explains my bullheaded nature. So are you saying that everything that happens in the world doesn’t revolve around us? Gosh, whenever A-Rod hit into a DP this season I took it personally!
Hi, Jason. Really like your blog too. Will link up!
Welcome, Amy! I bet Cashman has nightmares about a lot of things. He has that haunted look around the eyes.
Greg, not sure which beat writer asked the Santana question today. But yeah, the Yankees were being played off the Sox to trade away Hughes, Kennedy, Melky and/or some variation of same. I agree that the Yankees needed Santana more than you guys, because of the pitchers you already had. He didn’t guarantee the Mets a playoff spot, obviously, but he sure did his part for them, and I can’t help but think he would have been great for the Yankees. One thing Cashman said today was that he thinks our offense went down because of the lack of a stable rotation; that hitters were tense at the plate knowing they had to score 7 runs with people like Rasner and Ponson on the mound. So having Santana might have helped the offense too.
Whoa, a baseball operative who listens? I know last year I sent several emails to Astros staff ordering them to sign Josh Fogg, especially on foggy mornings (I declared it a sign). He ended up on the Reds’ 60-day DL.
So as I sit here writing this, the Phillies have just beat the Brewers (thank God) in the first game of the NLDS. They should have hired you as a color commentator/analyst! They had Alyssa Milano last year, and I mean, you wrote a book. Well, several, but one about baseball!
I will arm wrestle you for Josh Hamilton!
Kylie — http://kylie.mlblogs.com
Arm wrestle me for Josh Hamilton. LOL!!!! You’d win, Kylie. I’m a total wuss.
I for one am glad he didn’t pull the trigger on the rumored deals for Santana. It wasn’t worth the 3 to 4 prospects and the salary on top of it. It obviously looks like Cash made the wrong decision based on the years that Hughes, Kennedy and Melky had. But you can’t really judge the deal on 1 year. There have been plenty of stud pitching prospects that teams dealt and i’m sure now regret. The Giants dealing Liriano and Joe Nathan to Minnesota. The Mets dealing Scott Kazmir to TB. Hughes has basically gotten his minor league seasoning in the majors and there’s bound to be bumps along the way when a team does that. i’m pretty sure Cashman even mentioned that at the beginning of last season. Hughes is 22 and he’ll be fine. Kennedy is 50/50 and Melky. Well, he just blows.
At the time I thought Cash was smart to hold on to them. I still do. I thought it was rolling the dice, hoping Minnesota held onto him, and signing him this offseason. It obviously didn’t work out. But it’s not liek Johan got the Mets to the postseason. The Yankees problem by and large was the offense. Santana might have gotten us a few extra wins, but we’d likely still be sitting on the sidelines.
J-Boogie
http://boogiedownbaseball.blogspot.com
I hear you, J-Boogie, and I know there are tons of Yankee fans in your camp on this one. Normally, I would have been in favor of keeping our rookie pitchers and building for the future. I just thought that at the end of last season, with the Yankees getting bumped in the first round yet again and the final season of the old Yankee Stadium coming up, the organization should have pulled out all the stops and done whatever it took to win a championship. Posada was on the record as wanting Santana. Other players lobbied for him too. I understood the argument against trading for Santana, believe me. I just disagreed with it.
Alright, so I’m following the Dodgers to the Series! One down! We’re on our way! By the way, I’ve added you to my “favorite peoples” link list on my site! I enjoy your posts!
Keep it going!
~Skip
http://skiponsecond.mlblogs.com/
The Yankees pitching staff gave up 50 less runs this year than they did last year – with 3/5 of their rotation out of Spring training not pitching for most of the year, including their #1 starter. The bullpen had a lot to do with that, but the starters weren’t terrible. Any team would be lucky to get Santana, but at what cost? Melky had a bad year, but he’s a great fielder with a great arm and he drove in 73 batting 9th last year. I’m not too high on Kennedy and I thought the Yankees should have dealt him while teams were still interested. Hughes can have a great career if he stays healthy. He has a mid-nineties fastball that hits both corners and an unhittable curve that comes in throat high and drops into the back of the strike zone. If he adds a splitter and stops trying to strike everybody out (Cashman, are you reading this?) I predict that he will win at least one Cy Young within the next 5 years, maybe more. That being said, the Yankees need to add a starter because of the uncertainty surrounding Moose and Pettite. Preferably a lefty (come on CC, we’ll give you a ton of money and a chance to win the World Series every year).
Thanks for adding me to your favorites list, Skip. I’m honored! And yeah, our adopted team did great tonight. Nice to get the first one out of the way.
Pinstripepride, you’re right about the Yankees pitching staff giving up fewer runs this season. I was actually surprised when Cashman said that today. I’m hoping Hughes stays healthy in ’09 so we can see him mature and find out what he’s got. All that nibbling and driving up his pitch count every outing drove me crazy, but maybe playing winter ball will help his confidence. I’d love to see him succeed. As for Kennedy, I get the feeling the organization is pretty down on him, given that they didn’t bring him up when the rosters expanded, but of course that could change.
Greg Maddux said that he became a much better pitcher when he stopped trying to strike everyone out (and he actually got more strikeouts). We can only hope that Hughes gets that message and starts being more economical with his pitches.
Hmm Hamilton is a product of Texas.
His road OPS is .779. If you compare it to his .1019 OPS at home that tells you he’s not THAT good.
He’s not a bad player, but considering he’s not so proven yet. It would be a high risk to attempt a trade for him. It will require a great starter. Like Wang or Joba to land Hamilton.
Well, diony, it doesn’t hurt to have Hamilton on my wish list, right? At this point, that’s all it is – a fantasy!