Brian Cashman: Master of his Domain

Lately this blog has become the mouthpiece of “In Cashman We Trust.” And when Ben and I got a chance to meet Brian Cashman in person last week, I think that increased my feeling that Cashman is truly the man for the job. We lamented that things would never be the same after Cashman left for greener pastures and worried that time would come after this season was over. But the more I’ve thought about the situation this past week, I realized that not only is Cashman not going anyplace, but this off-season has provided the greatest example of how much of a master he truly is in his own domain of negotiation and people management.

My grainy pic of Cashman doing his best as barkeep at Foley's last week

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” you’re probably saying. “What about all that Jeter garbage and his public blowups and his talk of leaving after this season and not getting Cliff Lee and walking off the company line and, come on, CARL PAVANO!?”

I think that it has all been part of Cashman’s master plan. I don’t think he wanted to see Cliff Lee spurn the Yankees for the City of Brotherly Love, but I think it allows Cashman to actually build the team in his image; home-grown talent supplemented by smartly acquired free agents and reclamation trade targets. Think about the current team: it’s an equal amount high-priced free agents (CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira), buy-low trade targets (Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson), and young home-grown players built from smart international and domestic drafting (Robinson Cano and Phil Hughes).

I don’t think Cashman would have minded trading prize prospects for Lee, but after seeing him escape in July and again this winter, Cashman has the luxury of watching some of those prospects like Jesus Montero and The Killer B’s (I hate giving them a nickname and dooming them to that fate, but it works so well) develop in the system. Would Cashman’s life be easier if Andy Pettitte would come back and he would have only one rotations spot to worry about between the likes of Ivan Nova or Manny Banuelos or Sergio Mitre or *gulp* Bartolo Colon? Would he like A.J. Burnett to "pull a Gil Meche" if he doesn't produce this next year? Of course. But with a farm system greatly improved and stacked with some top prospects, Cashman has the assets to either find the candidate within or go out in July and acquire that arm.

As far as Jeter goes, I think Cashman was acting out his role of Chief Budget Officer for the Yankees and realizing that in 2011 he will have Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez being paid like their 10-year-ago-selves and that he couldn’t have Derek Jeter slowly fading in Pinstripes for the next four years making just as much.

And instead of just quietly working out that contract with Jeter, Cashman’s public declarations not only gave him and the Yanks a negotiating advantage, but it also will serve as bulletin board material for one of the proudest men in all of baseball. Is anyone really surprised that Derek Jeter is already working on his hitting mechanics with all that public talk and the incentive clauses in his contract? You don’t think that Cashman didn’t mean to let that whole Jeter-to-the-outfield bit slip out at a breakfast even if he had to "apologize" for it afterwards? Cashman’s message was clear: I don’t care who you are and what you’ve accomplished so far, to get paid (and to continue to play the position you want) with me in control, you’re going to have to produce.

So he had it out with Jeter in public and blatantly told everyone listening that the Yankees’ near-Hall-of-Fame catcher, Jorge Posada, was no longer going to suit up as a backstop. And as much as Posada may not totally get it, I think that Jorgie knows he has to keep relatively quiet and produce if he wants to play beyond the end of the contract in 2012. And Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen isn't about stubbornness; it's about a shoulder injury.

Not that Cashman always has control of the moves made by the Yankees. He has a budget hampered by a Hank Steinbrenner-negotiated albatross of a contract with Alex Rodriguez (who the Yankees have to almost pray doesn’t hit his incentive clauses) and he has never toed the company line to support the Rafael Soriano signing (even if others under the organization’s umbrella may have been censored to do just that).

But what General Manager doesn’t? J.P. Riccardi was roasted in Toronto for what happened there but by all accounts it was the owner who gave the Vernon Wells contact which the Jays were just able to get out from under. Cashman doesn’t have full control over the Yankees because giving full control doesn’t happen in sports unless you’re Bill Belichick or Nolan Ryan or someone like that. It’s not that Cashman hasn’t proven himself to Yankees’ management, it’s just that different philosophies are always going to be present and he just lost out on this argument. I’m sure if George Steinbrenner was alive and on Twitter, Cashman would be dealing with a lot more “Rafael Sorianos” and a lot less control. He may have an axe to grind here, but in reality things are good for Cashmoney right now.

So why complain? Because any good negotiator does so. At the end of the season, Cashman has to make the organization feel that there’s a chance that he’ll leave for the Washingtons or Oaklands of the baseball world. He has to make them feel that there’s some sort of unhappiness there or else there’s no negotiation opportunity when Cashman, himself, becomes a free agent. Because otherwise people just insist he's not going to leave.

I think this whole off-season has been a negotiating ploy with the Yankees’ organization. Between Derek Jeter and Rafael Soriano, Cashman has made a few moves but all supplement a team that was pretty damn good last year already. The rest of this has all been Cashman’s opening salvo for next winter when he’ll need the Yankees to pony up to pay him. Carl Pavano? Ha! He just wanted everyone to really pay attention to how much he didn’t want to give up a draft pick for Soriano. Cashman’s wacky off-season wouldn’t be topped off unless Carl Pavano’s name arose, would it?

I really thought there was a possibility he would leave until I attended the Foley’s bar event where he was a guest bartender. Cashman was joking and having fun with the crowd, laughing off the media speculation that he might be leaving. When I got up to the bar to order a drink (a Brooklyn Lager like a good New Yorker), I asked Cashman about working in the Yankees organization and advice for people interested in doing the same (very Adam Rubin of me, I know).

Cashman stopped for a second, smiled and said “I started out as a teenage intern and worked my way up through hard work and determination. If I can do it, then anyone can.” Is he really going to leave all of that when the fruits of his labor are so close? Even after this wacky off-season, I wouldn’t bet on it.