Minaya vs. Cashman, part 2

If you missed part 1, click here.

Now, it's the Ca$hman's turn:

Good moves -

Chein-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano - Cashman struck gold by bringing up these kids in early 2005, and deserves credit for not trading them. They have turned out to be huge contributors.

Andy Pettitte - I thought he'd miss the easy NL Central, but so far, he's been the Yanks' best pitcher.

Bad moves - Where do we begin?

'04-'05 - Carl Pavano. Jaret Wright. Randy Johnson (was horrible in October). Tony Womack. Tino Martinez (did nothing in the second half of '05). Felix Rodriguez.

'05-'06 Re-signing Hideki Matsui. The Yanks and their huge payroll could've gotten someone much better for left field, both defensively and offensively. I don't care how much ad revenue he brings in.

'06'-07 Kei Igawa - The Yanks gave tons of money to the guy, who's made Hideki Irabu look good.

Humberto Sanchez, Chris Britton, Luis Vizcaino - This is the biggest difference between Cashman and Minaya. Ca$hman traded Sheffield, Wright, and Randy Johnson this offseason, and got nothing. He got a couple of prospects with serious injury issues, and got another Felix Heredia in Luis Vizcaino. Oh, and a decent mop-up man in Chris Britton. Terrible job there. On the other hand, Minaya's been excellent in getting young pitchers in trades.

Money moves -
Bobby Abreu -- a total salary dump. Can't give him credit for that one.

Lucky moves -
Aaron Small, Shawn Chacon. Yeah, these guys saved the Yankees in 2005. But hey, they could've worked out as well as Scott Erickson, Sidney Ponson, or Tim Redding. Also, those guys were useless in 2006.

CONCLUSION -- But in evaluating both GM's success, the discussion has to include pitching coaches. Rick Peterson has been a huge part of the Mets' pitchers success. The Yankees have a PR guy there, Ron Guidry. And who has Guidry helped? Which pitcher has done better as a Yankee, thanks to Guidry? In fact, I wonder if Small and Chacon did better in '05 due to Stottelmyre.

When you're the Yankees, with a huge payroll and all, you've gotta splurge for a great pitching coach. The Yanks have tried to draw fans with Guidry, and he hasn't helped the pitchers much.

And then there's the pathetic Yankee bench. Notice how it's gotten much worse since Cashman took full control. That's been a big reason for their early-season struggles.

So while Minaya's made his share of mistakes, overall, his good moves have had much more impact. I'd take him over Cashman any day.