Cashman's Memorial

Memorial Day weekend, a typically strong sports weekend was surprisingly quiet and uninteresting (unless you like NASCAR and Indy Car racing, in which case, why are you reading this blog?). The Cavs and Jazz both won earlier, making both series semi-interesting for about .5 seconds. The Jazz promptly lost at home last and acted like 5-year old children at the end of the game, and Larry Hughes is out for at least game 4 with a torn heal muscle, quickly making both series irrelevant again.

One piece of news that did come out over the weekend, but was not much of a surprise was George Steinbrenner participating in a formal interview and saying that Brian Cashman is on the hot seat and if the Yankees don't start turning it around and start winning, he could see the door.

I was discussing this whole situation with a buddy and we both agreed that this would be the right move. 99% of the time, when teams aren't winning, it's because the players aren't producing on the field. This situation is no different. However, the roster that Cashman has put together, combined with the massive contracts and no-trade clauses most of the stars on the Yankees have, it is nearly impossible to blame a player or two, shake things up, make trades, etc. This is New York though, and someone has to take the blame and be the scapegoat. In this case, it is the person who put the team together, General Manager Cashman.

I believe the blame is being put on the right person in this particular case (besides the players of course, but not much can be done there). Cashman wanted full reign and authority to put together the team he wanted and he got it. I'm not going to get into the details of the questionable moves he pulled, but he asked for the responsibility and George's dough, and hasn't done much with it. After the most recent sweep of the Yankees at home to the LAA Angles, resulting in the Bombers trailing the Red Sox by 13.5 games, I could see a dramatic move being made as early as this week.

Next in line is Joe Torre himself. Steinbrenner has stated that he is behind Torre, but at the same time mentioned that Don Mattingly, is indeed, being groomed to become the Yankees next Manager. Is he ready? Absolutely not. But as we have seen in the past, Torre and Steinbrenner have not always seen eye to eye, yet have always seemed to get past the rough patches. However, having not been to a World Series since 2003, or won one since 2000, George might just be fed up and wanted to implode the front office and start from scratch. The Yankees have a handful of young prospects, both hitters and pitchers, but it would be a tough move to swallow for Steinbrenner and the fans having a payroll upwards of $200 million.

Personally, I believe that Cashman should be fired, but Torre should be able to leave when he wants and finish out the year. If Torre had accomplished what he has for the Yankees in any other city (4 championships in 6 years), he would have an automatic lifetime contract. Again, this being New York, that is not the case, and anything less than a championship every year is a failure. That being said, although I do believe Torre has lost a little bit of his in game managerial skills, he is in the last year of his contract, and I still feel he should be able to ride off into the sunset after this year.