Cashman Trashes Bernie

by yankee come lately on Feb 6, 2008 12:51 PM EST

So Cashman and his new best buddy Theo Epstein appeared at a University in New Jersey last week to tell everybody how great they are. Halfway through Cashman decides it's time to open up about Bernie Williams and Joe Torre. He called Bernie "terrible" in '05 and that his music career was a distraction from his play on the field. He went on to rip Torre's decision to play Williams so much in'06 when there were, in his words, better players available.

I've never been a Cashman fan. I think he's shown very little skill as a talent evaluator in the signature trades he's given credit for (Weaver for Ted Lilly, signing Javier Vasquez instead of Schilling, etc...), but this is the last straw. The first thing that came to mind was Freddo and Moe Green from "The Godfather". Cashman's on stage killing two all time great Yankees with the enemy Theo Egg-sucker right beside him nodding smugly like a Sith. What was it that Michael tells Freddo "don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again", right? Cashman showed his true colors here; he's more loyal to the fraternity of GMs than the Yankees. I think it's time to send Cashman out fishing on the lake

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forgot the link :<

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/01/26/bernie-cashman-feud-heats-up/

"You play the game to win the game, and not to worry about what's on the back of the baseball card at the end of the year." - Paul O'Neill

by yankee come lately on Feb 6, 2008 12:53 PM EST 0 recs

Wanted to attend

I graduated from what was William Paterson College, and couldn't get tickets to the event. A friend of mine did attend and wanted to run into Cashman in the bathroom after his speech to beat the hell out of him after bashing Bernie.

I am not a Cashman apologist, and I agree that he's a horrible talent evaluator (see "He's not a blower"), and likely has a Napoleon complex. Look, he's a little man with lots of power, but he has a paper kingdom that could come crashing down right quick if the trinity fail.

I do give the little bastard credit for not succumbing to danglings of Santana and others that would have seen one or more of the three shipped onto stardom elsewhere.

Ah, hell. It's 80 degrees in Virginia right now and I'm grossly overdressed and alittle cranky. I hope Cashman gets the crabs, and pictures of his dalliances with Zimmer hit the 'net!

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Feb 6, 2008 5:02 PM EST 0 recs

He thought Bernie was terrible at the time

yet he got cheap with the money when he could've gotten Beltran for 8 years, $100M and didn't do it, which I thought was the right move at the time. He waits a year later and signs Damon, 4 years older than Beltran and the inferior player both offensively and defensively, and gives him the same per year salary as Beltran. So at the time Damon signed he would be 36 at the end of the contract while Beltran would've been only 32. Even if you think Beltran has been a disappointment as a Met there is still no comparison between him and Damon now as Damon appears to be over the hill.

by andyroth on Feb 6, 2008 9:54 PM EST 0 recs

Beltran

If you really believe Scott Boras was going to hold at $100 million over 8 years, you're a more trusting man than I am. Beltran took 120 over 7 years from the Mets (17 per).

I wanted Beltran too, but the RJ signing had just pushed the Opening Day payroll to $208,306,817 before luxury taxes.

Even at 12.5 per year, with the 40% luxury it would have been like paying 17.5 for Beltran when you already had a 12.3 million dollar CF on the roster.

Cashman made the smart fiscal move (one I disagreed with, but still perfectly logical and in character with his other moves). When Bernie didn't bounce back, Cash signed the best CF available.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Feb 7, 2008 7:38 PM EST up 0 recs

Cash made the wrong baseball move

in not signing Beltran and it started a trend of the Yankees all of sudden being concerned about money when they are the richest franchise in sports. He signed that piece of garbage Igawa because the $26M posting didn't go toward the luxury tax. The bottom line is he ended up paying the same per year salary of an older and less talented player in Damon. And it was very clear at the time that the Yankees could've had Beltran for $100M. There was never any question of that at the time so why you wonder whether Boras was telling the truth has no credence.

by andyroth on Feb 8, 2008 10:06 AM EST up 0 recs

Disagree

Beltran was vastly disappointing his first year with the Mets - only 16HRs. He's hit more the past couple years, 41 and 33, but he strikes out too much and can't hit above .280. Beltran has a lot of years left, no doubt, but he's not worth that salary. Glad he was passed over.

by docgonzo on Feb 8, 2008 10:27 PM EST up 0 recs

Re:

Schilling had a full no-trade clause when he was traded before the 2004 season.

The D-backs ownership was pissed with the Yanks for 'stealing' David Wells back to pinstripes before the 2002 season after he'd made a handshake agreement with them.

First they demanded Nick Johnson and Alfonso Soriano from the Yanks, then took Casey Fossum and spare change from the Sox.

I'm not sure how Cashman was supposed to handle those two problems better.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Feb 7, 2008 7:45 PM EST 0 recs

ok

...but to the larger point: you're fine with Cashman Freddo-ing former Yanks with Theo?

"You play the game to win the game, and not to worry about what's on the back of the baseball card at the end of the year." - Paul O'Neill

by yankee come lately on Feb 7, 2008 8:29 PM EST up 0 recs

I'm fine with

Cashman earning some extra dough by speaking in a public forum. He didn't appear 'with' Theo; they are not new best friends. He appeared and Theo appeared.

To the best of my knowledge, they both answered questions. If Cashman gave his honest evaluation, how can I fault him for that?

If I think he's wrong I'll criticize him, but in this case I have no reason to disagree with his analysis (Bernie's 2005 line: .249/.321/.367 against a previous career .305/.392/.492)

Look at those numbers; the first set are acceptable for a 4th outfielder, the second set are a HoF caliber CF. Cash feels Bernie was distracted from performing at his best when the team truly needed him.

In 485 ABs Bernie reached base 155 times, and his 53 BB was the lowest of his career as a starter tp that point (he played partial seasons in '92 and '93). Cash expected (fairly or not) something closer to the .260/.360/.420 line Williams had posted the previous two years). That's an extra 20 outs (nearly a full game) that the rest of the team had to find a way to make up for.

If there are 2 wins in those 20 outs, then maybe the Yankees can line up their pitching staff rather than going into that final weekend in 2005 at Fenway battling the Sox for the division and the Indians for the Wild Card, and line up the rotation for the playoffs instead.

If Bernie focuses on baseball a little more, maybe Bubba Crosby never makes it into the lineup to crash into Gary Sheffield in game 5 of the ALDS.

Is it fair to lay all of this on one of the great Yankees of the post Mantle era? I don't think so, but that's Cashman's analysis. He was asked a question and he gave an answer; I will not fault him for that. If you want blind loyalty to Yankee players you can tune into John Sterling in 7 weeks.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Feb 8, 2008 2:56 AM EST up 0 recs

Well...

I was sort of thinking about fielding this one, but you pretty much said it a whole lot better than I could have.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Feb 8, 2008 9:00 AM EST up 0 recs

Not the point

Whether his analysis is right or wrong doesn't matter.

There was absolutely no reason for him to say what he said. None. It was stupid and Hank-like. There are 1000 ways to properly answer that question, here's one:

"Bernie was an all-time great Yankee. I wish his playing career with the Yankees ended on better terms. He is a permanent member of the Yankee family, and we look forward to celebrating all he achieved here in the years to come."

by matthaggs on Feb 8, 2008 9:26 AM EST up 0 recs

He could have handled it differently

Probably should have. The line you suggest is Jeterian in it's blandness. From the articles I've seen I don't know what the question was; if he was asked "Did Bernie's music distract him from baseball in 2005?" then he gave his answer.

Cashman said Williams spent too much time with his music career "and that took away from his play" on the field. Cashman said Williams had a "terrible season" in 2005 and that former manager Joe Torre was wrong to play Williams as often as he did in 2006 because better players were available.

It sounds like a one or two sentence answer. Like a politician, Cash probably never expected this kind of reaction to his answer and he should have.

I guess I just don't understand the rancor. I want these guys to talk honestly about the former players so that I can understand what they were thinking (current players are different).

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Feb 8, 2008 11:28 AM EST up 0 recs

I am totally with you, jscape

Sort of brings to mind the scene from Bull Durham where Kevin Costner is teaching Tim Robbins the art of giving a bland interview. Snore.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on Feb 8, 2008 4:09 PM EST up 0 recs

It would be different

if Bernie were still playing, then maybe in some way Cashman would be trying to motivate Bernie to play harder this season or something.

Bernie is gone, Torre is gone. Both of their numbers are headed to the leftfield wall. There is no reason at all to explain or justify why Cashman would "dance on their graves" like that.

Not a big deal, but it's a total 180 from Cashman's usual approach. I think he was just jealous of all the attention Hank was getting.

by matthaggs on Feb 8, 2008 9:27 PM EST up 0 recs

To DocGonzo

2007

Damon .270BA .352OBP .396 SLG 12HR 63 RBI 79K
Beltran .276BA .388OBP .525 SLG 33HR 112RBI 111K

Maybe if you knew that slugging percentage and RBI's were the most important categories, especially when you're talking about a power position like an outfielder you wouldn't have written what you did. And Beltran's 111K's aren't awful figures for a guy who hit 33HR and had 112RBI. And you failed to mention there's no comparison on defense and that Beltran has 24 assists in three seasons with the Mets and Damon has 6 in 2 years with the Yankees and has one of the worst arms in baseball. $12M a year for a guy like Beltran is an absolute steal right now. Just look at what Jose Guillen and a washed up Andrew Jones got. If you're telling me you would rather have Damon or Cabrera in CF over Beltran then you really have no clue about the game.

by andyroth on Feb 13, 2008 9:14 AM EST 0 recs