Brian Cashman has made the playoffs every year he has been the Yankee general manager. A nice feat, but remember the payrolls he had. A general manager must do 3 things right to build a team, draft, get free agents for good value, and make good trades. Well 3 strikes Cashman is out. Drafting The worst drafting in MLB, bar none. He hasn't had a 1st round pick reach the majors yet in his career. Only 5 others can match that. Cards, M's, O's, Expos/ Nationals, and D-Backs. The Cardinals drafted one of the top catching prospects in Daric Barton (now with the A's), The Orioles have failed under multiple GM tandems, The Diamondbacks have Conor Jackson ready to make it, former Mariners GM Pat Gillick sees the draft as a waste, and the Expos/National spend $8 a year on scouting and computers to research players. With his resources Cashman should have drafted a major leaguer by now.(Duncan is close, but Drew Henson's collapse lingers in my mind dampering my enthusiasm). The Yankees have the oldest team and a terrible farm system. Cashamn has passed on Bonderman, Dunn, Crawford, Macpherson, David Wright, Bobby Crosby, and other MLBers. Last years pick in the supplemental round Jon Poterson ahd a .634 OPS. David Parrrish has never had an OPS of .800, Brandon Wedden has an ERA over 5.00 in A ball, John Ford Griffin has stalled on Toroto's AA team, David Walling's ERA hasn't gotten under 5.00 since A ball and he's now out of baseball, Andy Brwon is a 25 year old in AA who has never had an OPS over .750. His drafting has been brutal. Trades When Cashman goes to a trading table he knows he has an upper hand b/c the other team is probably in salary dump mode. I'll only examine the major ones(sorry Chris Hammond for Edwardo Sierra) 2004 The Randy Johnson deal was negotiated by ohters and Cashman had very little say in it. 2004 A-Rod for Soriano A salary dump trade, Cashamna did very little 2003 Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, Randy Choate for Vazquez Looked great ,but now looks like trading away a 1B who could be all star if he stays healthy. 2003 Weaver, Yhency Brazoban, and Brandon Weeden for Kevin Brown A salary dump that Cashman maaged to give away premier set up man in. 2003 Traded Jesse Orosco for Juan Padilla Wash. 2003 Sterling Hitchcock for Justin Pope and Ben Julianel No one in that deal contrubuted to either team 2003 Traded Armando Benitez to Seattle Mariners in exchange for Jeff Nelson. A bust in Nelson for a bust in Benitez. 2003 Traded Robin Ventura to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor. To make room for Boone got too guys that New York loves, let's see if they ever do anything(Crosby's .498 OPS doesnt count) 2003 Sent Dan Miceli to Houston Astros for future considerations. Miceli was another bad trade to try and help that pen out. Got little in return 2003 Traded Raul Mondesi and cash to Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Dave Dellucci,Bret Prinz and John Prowl. Finally Mondesi was gone, but he forgot a new RF and no one they recieved helped much. 2003 Traded Brandon Claussen, Charlie Manning and cash to Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Aaron Boone. Boone hit the biggest homerun in Yankee's history and gave the Yankees the pennant and Claussen doesn't look like much 2003 Traded Jason Anderson, Ryan Bicondoa and Anderson Garcia to New York Mets in exchange for Armando Benitez. A salary dump, but Benitez was a bust and was out in a month. 2003 Received Jesse Orosco from San Diego Padres for future considerations. Orosco was shown the door in about 2 months 2003 Purchased Karim Garcia from Cleveland Indians. Received Dan Miceli from Cleveland Indians for future considerations. Basiclly one trade, it was a salary dump and Miceli was out real soon, however Karim was a serviceable player while he was a Yankee. 2003 Traded Marcus Thames to Texas Rangers in exchange for Ruben Sierra. Adavatage Cashman by default. But if Thames is called up is a .750 OPS unrealistic? No, and he would have been a fraction of the cost. 2003 Traded Rondell White to San Diego Padres in exchange for Bubba Trammell, Mark Phillips and cash. This one boggled the mind, White is clearly a better player than Tramell and Tramell quit the team anyways. 2002 Traded Ted Lilly, Jason Arnold and John-Ford Griffin to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Jeff Weaver and a player to be named later; New York Yankees received Jeremy Bonderman (August 22, 2002). The trade says they recieved Bonderman, but he was sent to Detroit to finsih the trade. Obviously a disaster trade. Lilly always looked good and still does, and Weaver was booed out of town. 2 players contributed to their new team in this one (hint Weave wasn't one) 2002 Traded Scott Wiggins to Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Raul Mondesi. A salary dump, the Yankkes hated Mondesi and took on needless salary. 2001 Traded Jay Witasick to San Francisco Giants in exchange for John Vander Wal. Vander Wal was a serviceable player, and Witasick had been bad in NY so edge=Cashman by default. 2001 Traded David Justice to New York Mets in exchange for Robin Ventura. A trade tha made semi sense, of course they neede a 3B, but they could have done much better.(Henson was still looked at as good prospect and good trade bait) 2001 Traded Damaso Marte to Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Enrique Wilson. This one was stunning. Wilson was a utility man and Marte is acctually a player who contributes to helping teams win. 2001 Traded Wily Mo Pena to Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Drew Henson and Michael Coleman. The only seviceable player is Willy Mo Pena, but Henson fooled all of baseball. So Cashman gets excused 2000 Traded Chris Spurling to Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Luis Sojo. Spurling is nothing and Sojo's single won the WS. 2000 Traded Ben Ford and Oswaldo Mairena to Chicago Cubs in exchange for Glenallen Hill. Hill was incredible for the Yankees in the stretch with a 1.112 OPS. 2000 Traded Ed Yarnall, Drew Henson, Jackson Melian and Brian Reith to Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Mike Frank and Denny Neagle. They got Henson back (damn)and Neagle struggled the whole time, Yarnall's career went to hell. A wash 2000 Traded Ricky Ledee, Jake Westbrook and Zach Day to Cleveland Indians in exchange for David Justice. Justice was a great pickup for the Yankees, but Day and Westbrook have had MLB careers(When i was discussing this another problem came up, Day and WEstbrook would have never made it to MLB in Yankee's uniforms, exactly one of Cashman's problems, the lack of faith in AAA player for bench roles coughAndyPhillips over Tony Clark's disaster in 04 ALCScough) 2000 Traded Jim Leyritz to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Jose Vizcaino and cash. Vizcaino won Game 1 of WS with a single (funny how the best trades have ended up being these little ones) 1999 Traded Hideki Irabu to Montreal Expos in exchange for Jake Westbrook and 2 players to be named later; New York Yankees received Ted Lilly (March 17, 2000) and Christian Parker (March 22, 2000). The "fat toad" had to go. This was when the Yankees were stock piling arms that would fail or succeed somewhere else. Lilly found succes in Toronto Westbrook in Cleveland and Parker was named the 5th starter in 2001, pitched 3 innnings and blew out his arm. 1999 Traded Chad Curtis to Texas Rangers in exchange for Brandon Knight and Sam Marsonek. Knight was another arm that failed, but Curtis was the only one to really accomplish anything, though not much. 1999 Traded Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd and David Wells to Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Roger Clemens. At this point I wonder why you are still reading and haven't skipped to free agency (shout out to Vander). A great trade, but the Jays were backed into maiing it and Clemens basically negotiated it. 1999 Traded Mike Lowell to Florida Marlins in exchange for Mark Johnson, Todd Noel and Ed Yarnall. The Yankees loved Scott Brosius and his .700 or so OPS and traded away a future all star in Lowell( as valuable in 1999, eclipsed him in 2000) for what amounted to nothing. 1998 Traded Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, Danny Mota and cash to Minnesota Twins in exchange for Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch was a good leadoff hitter the whole time with the occasional 3 throwing error games. Milton has been an above average, while Guzman had no place to go and is not really a good player. Other Problems 1. Cashman treats yankees like an alummi club, they bring back everyone Wells, El Duque, Nelson, Stanton, he is praying that they return to 98-2000 form, guees what, it's not happening. 2. The lack of attention to the details. Last year Boone went down and the Yankees traded for every 3B they could then they got A-Rod they immediatley got all the others out before even thinking about the bench. Enrique and Clark can't hit.Yet Andy Phillips was called up in September and wasn't on the playoff roster. Ruben Sierra's under .700 OPS made him the DH I aplologize for the site looking like one big paragraph, this is my first attempt at a website.
