Brian Ca$hman Lives Up To His Name, pt. 1

I remember hearing WFAN's Mike and the Mad Dog talk about Billy Beane. Chris said something to the effect of, "well, how many rings has the guy won?" None, as of yet. Based on that logic, Cashman is the best GM in baseball, right? After all, he's even got more rings than Schuerholz and Sabean combined!

Wrong. According to my count, WFAN frequent caller/nutcase Jerome from Manhattan has said one half-intelligent thing: Cashman is a buffoon!

I don't care how many series Cashman has won. He's been awful. And if not for George's endless money supply (as well as predecessor Gene Michael's getting the likes of O'Neill and Cone and holding on to Pettitte and Rivera), he'd have gone the way of Kevin Malone and Steve Phillips long ago.

First off, the Knoblauch trade. At the time, everyone thought it was a stroke of genius. But then things got ugly. Not only did Knoblauch forget how to throw, but Eric Milton and Cristian Guzman have become solid everyday players. That's a bad trade right there.

And don't tell me about Cashman signing and re-signing the likes of El Duque, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mike Mussina, Jorge Posada, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, and Kenny Lofton. Billy Beane can't do that. Neither can John Schuerholz. How would Cashman have done a year after losing 82 HR in Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez, as well as Greg Maddux?

And in early '99, another winner of a trade. The Yankees gave up future star Mike Lowell for the immortal Ed Yarnall. If memory serves correct, the Yankees needed a 5th (or 6th?) starter. Hence the trade. Yarnall ended up starting 2 games all year. But then again, who misses Lowell's 30-HR bat when you can just trade for A-Rod?

Okay, one good trade. The Yankees got future starters Ted Lilly and Jake Westbrook in the Hideki Irabu deal. But Cashman was smart enough to ship 'em out later, trading Lilly for Jeff Weaver. Nicely done. The David Justice deal? Not a bad one. But: he was awful in '01, and part of the reason they lost. And: they gave up two decent starters in Westbrook and Zach Day.

After Justice, it's been straight downhill. Denny Neagle was a total bust. Then there was Cashman's infamous Jose Canseco pickup, getting him just so the Sox wouldn't. How many teams can afford that?

I can write a whole other piece with more of Cashman's blunders. And that's exactly what I plan on doing. Stay tuned.