Cashman did a great job increasing this team’s Swishaliciouness.  For that he should be commended.

Especially for you, OTF.

The Yankees have beaten their previous year’s win total with 22 games remaining. That’s gotta be a once every 25 years type of thing.

It wasn’t just Betemit. It was Marquez, too. And, I think Jhonny Nunez.

Yeah, I know that doesn’t change anything.

Will the Brian Cashman haters give him credit for getting Swisher for basically nothing?

Never, never I say! Mitre sucks!

Confirming the obvious.

Newsday:

...the Yankees will need to use only three starting pitchers in the American League Division Series, putting Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen

As long as they win the first seed in the AL, the Yankees will have their pick of playoff schedule. They’ll naturally choose the one that gives them an off day between Game 1 (Oct. 7) and Game 2 (Oct. 9)

[snip]

Joe Girardi acknowledged this today, noting that, in one of the AL playoff series formats, teams would need only three starting pitchers. “We’ll leave it at that,” Girardi said.

When I saw Girardi’s quote in the NYT:

“There are two different division series,” Joe Girardi explained. “In one, you need three starters, and in one you need four. I’ll just leave it at that.”

I didn’t think it was as clear as [6] has it.  Maybe Joba is strong in his next starts, maybe the next series is a consideration, maybe not facing Verlander/Jackson twice matters.

the cashman haters will probably tell you that any GM could have flipped Betemit for Swisher since Swisher had a crap year in Chicago, and it was an ill advised risk that just happened to pan out.

@[8] The Cashman haters would be misguided if they argued that.  Swisher was far from an “ill advised risk.”  He was more like a smart, calculated risk.

I’m too lazy to look it up, but I remember reading that Swisher’s BABIP in 2008 was abnormally low, while his walk rate and isolated power were still very respectable and within his career norms.  Betting on Swish wasn’t a sure thing, but it was definitely a smart gamble, particularly for the price.

Watching the Yankees Encore now.  Bottom 9.  Shhhh.  Don’t ruin the ending.

Watching the Yankees Encore now.  Bottom 9.  Shhhh.  Don’t ruin the ending.

I’d thought your dog would have told ya earlier in the day.

9. I know. My point was that there are idiots out there who write Was Watching and will go out of their way to blame Cashman for stuff that doesn’t even exist.

I’d thought your dog would have told ya earlier in the day.

She predicted a Cameron Maybin HR at Citi.  Drew blanks for the Bronx action.

9. I know. My point was that there are idiots out there who write Was Watching and will go out of their way to blame Cashman for stuff that doesn’t even exist.

Like swine flu.

Well, wasn’t it about time Cashman did something so very nice that didn’t reqire oodles of money?

Props to him then. But overall, his tenure as GM is average.

This is a very fun team to watch, isn’t it?

A-Rod 30/100 watch:

22 games left (really more like 19 given his time off):

6 home runs shy
20 runs batted in shy

Chances of him hitting the 30/100 mark?

I’d say about 10%.

FORTY GAMES over .500 - that’s amazing. They haven’t been 40 games over .500 since the end of the 2004 season (they haven’t been 41 over since a few games before the end of the 2004 season - they haven’t been 42 games over since one of the last games of the 2002 season, where they ended up 45 games over .500!

Not to kill the high but Robertson is going to see Dr. Andrews.

[3] Happens a little more often than you might think.  Twice in the 90’s in fact (ignoring the strike years).  1998 Yankees hit win 96 (1997 total) in game 132.  1993 Yankees hit the 76 wins of the 1992 Yankees in game 135.  Checked the 80’s quick and it looks like the ‘83 team hit win 79 matching the ‘82 team in game 139.  That’s just the Yankees, not sure if you were referring to all of baseball (pretty sure I don’t care to check).  I’m pretty sure Tampa last year more than did that.  You’re right that it *seems* like it should be rare, but it isn’t.  Not common for sure, but not rare.

[16]  That’s like *so* yeseterday’s news.  Right now I believe we’re mildly concerned.  Nothing showed up on his MRI and they just want to get another opinion to decide on course of action.  They’ll probably just rest him for 2 weeks and then start working him back into the mix.

Will the Brian Cashman haters give him credit for getting Swisher for basically nothing?

No. They have other ammunitions.

1. They will continue to discredit Cashman for using the biggest advantage Yankees have, money. A team that wins every freaking year cannot contend if they did not spend tons of money, because they don’t get the draft picks, but tell it to them.

2. They will continue to discredit Cashman for not being able to build a bullpen or bench, without realizing even the sophisticated front offices have problems with the bullpen (see Tampa Bay). As for the bench, it is pretty freaking solid,  and compiled with trades that hardly cost the Yankees anything (Hinske-Hairston-Molina) or internal options (Gardner), but it will take a while for them to realize that.

That said, at least Don went on record saying something that can be recorded as a backhanded compliment to Cashman. Baby steps.

Another great win, yay! 

Losing Robertson would suck, though.

I didn’t know Robertson was hurt.  Going to see Dr. Andrews is like going from 100mph to 0mph in two seconds.

Cashman is the man.  Don knows it, but can’t write it.

If anyone fails to give Cash credit for convincing Hal to allocate money that was coming off the books after this season to signing Teix (by reminding him that they failed to do that when Beltran was a free agent in 2004, and it cost them for years), they are (to borrow the sentiments expressed on this blog) an idiot and should go away. The success of this season in large part has turned on that move.

My letter grade for Cashman is a solid B.  He’s a pretty good trader.  His track record with signing FAs is so-so at best.  He’s figured out that the draft is really important, which is good (though it took him a while).  All in all, I’m content.

[18]  And the bullpen is looking pretty good, too.  You’ve still got Mo, Hughes is as good as a setup man as anyone, Robertson - if healthy - would be the setup man on most teams, and it’s starting to look like we’re finallying seeing the Marte Cashman traded for.  Aceves is a jack-of-all-trades, who may not be as lights out as he showed last year/early this year, but most teams would happily take him.  Coke and Bruney get a lot of flak, but if going into the post-season those are your 6th/7th members of the bullpen…well, I think they’d match up well with the back of anyone else’s bullpen.

Something I didn’t realize about Swisher, he’s really turned his defense around recently.  According to FanGraphs, he’s the 4th best defensive RF (by UZR) in the AL right now.  And the 12th best outfielder (among qualifiers, for both lists).  Pretty damned good.

[22] I’d give him more a B+/A-.  I think it’s been pretty well documented that until after the 2005 season, he didn’t have control over a lot of the things that went into his decision making process.  For example, he didn’t control the draft, that fell under a different person (don’t remember whom).  When Cashman got control, he put Oppenheimer in charge. 

Pretty sure Cashman also didn’t control who the scouts were, he just got their input, which influenced who he targeted as FA (e.g. the Japanese scouts who told him Igawa was a #3).  I believe Cashman fired many of the scouts when he got control. 

There’s also well documented situations were Cashman was told to go sign certain players (e.g. Womack), or was taken completely out of the process (Cashman wanted - and had signed - Vlad Guerrero, Steinbrenner signed Sheffield).  Not saying Cash hasn’t made any mistakes - who hasn’t? - but pre-2005 off-season it’s difficult to tell what he was responsible for (both good and bad).  After that he’s still made some mistakes, but I think he’s been right more than wrong.

Short and interesting video on mlb.com about how much Derek Jeter’s swing changed after his 2003 injury.

Was that the shoulder injury from sliding into 3rd base?

last thing I’ll say about Cashman: He’s been a very solid GM. He has had more than a few signings flop especially the big dollar pitchers like Pavano and Igawa, but if you’ll show me the GM who is never wrong about a pitcher, I’d gladly advocate shitcanning Cashman and hiring that imaginary fellow.

Cash will always be a difficult GM to evaluate, because 1) before 2005 you can’t be sure how directly responsible he is for each move that was made, and 2) the Yankees have significantly more financial flexibility than any other team, which makes his job a lot easier.

Post-2005, Cash has done a good job of leveraging the Yankees financial muscle in both the trade market (Abreu and Swisher) and the free agent market (Damon, Sabathia/Teixeira/Burnett), while simultaneously focusing more on developing and retaining cheap, young talent.  That’s basically all you can ask for from the Yankees GM.  Cash has made some blunders, but his track record gives me every confidence that most of his decisions will be quite sound.

For those interested, you can find the Yankees trading history under Cashman’s tenure here: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/07/gm-trade-histor.html.  The list only goes until 2007, but you can easily find the trades since then listed on baseball-reference.com.

[28]  Honestly, i think the money makes his job HARDER.  He has impossible expectations…People think he can just spend his money on obtaining Pujols, Mauer and Lincecom.  Their payroll allows them to keep homegrown talent and to absorb overpriced talent, but it’s very very rare for a CC or Tex to be available.  The key to his job is to not burn money on the overpriced talent and stockpile for when those gems come around.

And then, Cashman is the ONLY GM who’s success is determined by winning actual titles, as opposed to just making the playoffs.  And with this playoff format, it’s impossible to create a team that’s “likely” to do that.

[6][7] I agree with rilke.  This doesn’t strike me as a no-brainer at all.  As little confidence as Joba is currently inspiring, isn’t it at least possible that Joba v. Rick Porcello is more favorable than a second AJ or Andy v. Edwin Jackson matchup?

Moreover, something appears to be wrong with Jarrod Washburn.  He’s sucked since the trade and now they’re skipping his next start.  So it’s possible Porcello has to slide up to Game 3 and then why wouldn’t you seize the opportunity to face Armando Galarraga ()in Game 4?  Though I suppose it’s possible Leyland could roll the dice with Verlander on short rest if down 2-1.

If the opponent is Texas, the case for the drawn-out series is even stronger as they’d be forced to trot out Brendan McCarthy or Derek Holland for Game 4.

I fear that Girardi is telegraphing his lack of confidence in Joba, which strikes me as sub-optimal especially since you’re going to need him if you get to the LCS.  Also I wonder if there’s some sense that Joba will automatically be able to recapture teh awesome Aug-Sept ‘07 bullpen magic, which seems not-at-all a sure thing. 

A more legit rationale might be that Girardi is already preparing for a Robertson-less postseason and figures he needs to beef up the pen.

Cashman sucks.  Only an idiot would have passed on low-risk, high-reward guys like John Smoltz, Brad Penney, Rocco Baldelli and Nick Green.

[29] I think we’re defining what makes Cashman’s job easier or harder in different ways.

I agree that the money he has at his disposal dramatically increases expectations of success.  But that’s just a matter of PR, which, yeah, makes his job harder in that it’s probably more aggravating and pressurized than being the GM of KC, but, if he’s at all competent, then the court of public opinion shouldn’t have minimal, if any, effect on his actual baseball decisions.

What does effect Cash’s baseball decisions is the money available to him.  In an ideal world, a GM would make all his decisions without any concern for money whatsoever.  Even the Yankees face financial constraint, but Cash’s job comes closest to the ideal operating conditions in all of baseball.  And that makes his job easier, in terms of enabling to make the best possible baseball decision in each transaction.

I fear that Girardi is telegraphing his lack of confidence in Joba

I took it as a subtle (or maybe not-so) jab to Joba, “if you want in the post-season, pitch better”.  Which maybe that’s what Joba needs to focus.  Depending on the exact question asked of him, “no comment” was probably the worst answer, and false-confidence would probably not have been much better, so…

[29 & 32]  I think having the money is a different challenge.  While you may want to say, “he shouldn’t worry about what the papers or the public say”, I think a lot of GM’s do, and that influences their decisions.  I think that Cashman needs to get credit for that; he doesn’t spend the money just because he has it, and he doesn’t bow to pressure from the papers/fans to do a “now” fix just because Yanks can afford it. 

That being said, the biggest thing that the money makes difficult is evaluating Cashman.  I think it is easier for him w/ a high budget than a low one, but it’s tough to evaluate him sometimes BECAUSE all the papers/tv shows/fans expect him to do everything.  Heck, there are already a lot of people who I think will be disappointed if Cashman doesn’t get Mauer sometime in the next few years; can you imagine if the Twins trade Mauer after the 2010 season and Cashman decides *not* to part with Monetero+McCallister+AJax+2 other top prospects?

I think there are a few other GM’s who would probably do as well or better than Cashman if they were with the Yankees.  But only a few.

I’d expect Porcello to start game 3 for the Tigers regardless of Washburn’s status.  I’d also expect to see Verlander on short rest if they play the seven day series rather than the eight day series.  Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Verlander start game 3 on short rest if it’s an elimination game (assuming again that Detroit is playing the eight day series).

I though Girardi was overusing Robertson, especially in light of the fact that Robertson mentioned tightness 10 days earlier.

More and more GM’s are evaluated by efficiency end points like WAR/$ spent.  The goal of the GM in some circles now seems to be perceived as assembling the most cost-effective team possible.

Beyond the Boxscore the past couple of days has had posts lauding Jon Daniels for the Rangers WAR/payroll.  Daniels has done a strong job there but from those kinds of basic efficiency frameworks Cashman is always going to be largely dismissed.

Those kinds of evaluations are always going to hurt the way Cashman is perceived because diminishing returns per dollar invested just aren’t nearly as meaningful to the yankees as it is to other clubs.  The yankees have a very different business model and organizational mission.

The way I see it, the Yankees’ resources do make Cashman’s job easier. Much easier.

1) He can pay extra to overcome a player’s objections (“big city”, pressure, ballpark, whatever).
2) He can afford to erase his mistakes - even big dollar ones.
3) He can wait until other teams tip their hands and make their best offers, then come in at the end.
4) He doesn’t need Plan B - well, as much. If he misses on Plan B, he’s still in it for Plan A.
5) He can sign Plan B first, and it doesn’t preclude him from pursuing Plan A. See Swisher, N. and Teixeira, M.

I don’t know that his decisions/success rate is any better/worse than any other GM. But the end result is that if he does make a mistake, he has more shots to take, and the team won’t suffer as much as “the one deal” that makes or breaks another team’s season.

I suppose that means for his mistakes, they have less effect on the team and more on him because his mistakes have more dollar signs and commas. His mistakes don’t go unnoticed and are harder to brush away. He’s paid to shrug that off so long as the team is successful.

Depending on the exact question asked of him, “no comment” was probably the worst answer, and false-confidence would probably not have been much better, so…

Here’s the whole thing:

Asked if he could see a scenario in which Chamberlain would pitch in the bullpen in the playoffs, Joe Girardi replied: “There’s a possibility if you’re in the playoffs. There’s a division series where you need three starters and one you need four and I’ll just leave it at that.”

Can’t get much closer to ‘no comment’ than that.  We all love to read as much into everything that’s said as possible, but all he really said is that, yeah, if they don’t need a fourth starter than Chamberlain could pitch in relief.

I though Girardi was overusing Robertson…

Robertson hasn’t pitched on consecutive days since August 11 and 12.  When did he first mention tightness?  Ten days before yesterdays news would be after his August 30 appearance.  He pitched three innings in the next six days.  He hadn’t been used all that heavily before August 30, either, appearing on the 15th, 18th, 22nd, and 27th.  Never threw more than 30 pitches and always got multiple off days in between.  If pitching a guy for one inning at a time every other day is overuse, then you might as well shut him down.

37. Pinstriper, you make some very good points

I think Cashman’s batting average is up with a really good performance over the past year, at least IMO.
This may seem like speculation, but I truly believe the following:

One negative of being a Yankee GM is that some teams fear doing anything to help the Yankees. There is a reluctance to take a chance in a trade that may appear to be restocking the yankee machine.  As evidence of that one only has to look at a rather short list of teams that Cashman has made deals with. I’m not talking about insignificant throw away deals.

I also think its speculation to assume that Cashman is relieved of blame for Pavano and Igawa.

Bottomline is that most of you have it right. He’s doing better than average and particularly of late. A strong B indeed.  Sorry Don.

For all of the money and resources at Cashman’s disposal and use, his targeting of players in the Mexican/independent leagues goes unnoticed, or at least under-appreciated.

You’d think a GM with a $200 million payroll wouldn’t think twice about places like the Mexican or independent leagues.  Yet he plucked away guys like Al Aceves and Justin Christian when no one else would. 

To me, that’s the sign of a guy using all tools at his disposal.  And that’s what I want in a GM when it comes to player/farm system development.

1) He can pay extra to overcome a player’s objections (“big city”, pressure, ballpark, whatever).
2) He can afford to erase his mistakes - even big dollar ones.
3) He can wait until other teams tip their hands and make their best offers, then come in at the end.
4) He doesn’t need Plan B - well, as much. If he misses on Plan B, he’s still in it for Plan A.
5) He can sign Plan B first, and it doesn’t preclude him from pursuing Plan A. See Swisher, N. and Teixeira, M.

Of course, there’s a flip side to all of this, which is that it is simply assumed that Cashman can have any player he wants any time he wants him.  Any time a high profile trade is made that doesn’t involve the Yankees, the story is that Cashman screwed up, regardless of whether the player traded would actually fit on the Yankees and regardless of what the Yankees would have had to give up.  Any time a high profile FA signs with any team other than the Yankees, the headline is that Cashman screwed up.  But any time the Yankees do sign a FA that they targeted, the headline is that the greedy player screwed the other team(s) and took the evil empire’s money.

[38] Thanks for the context, MC.  I still worry that, barring a turnaround by Joba in these mini-outings, the CW is: Oh noez, we only have 3 good starters.  When the truth is our #4 is on a par with other #4’s.  But maybe I’m not giving Girardi enough credit for a willingness to buck the CW.  If I get a minute, I’ll look at Verlander’s track record if any on 3 days rest.

IIRC Sabathia pitched well down the stretch last year on short rest.  I suppose he’s a possibility for an elimination Game 4.  All the more reason to pick the short (7-day) series.

IIRC Sabathia pitched well down the stretch last year on short rest.

I think that’s putting it mildly.

If pitching a guy for one inning at a time every other day is overuse, then you might as well shut him down.

They shut down Mo for a couple of games with his groin issue. I rather be conservative when players complain of something. Usually the problem has persisted for a while even before the complain. 

But I haven’t looked over the game situations that called for his appearance. And regardless of that, you might be absolutely right.

Another thing to consider is that extra off days don’t just help starting pitchers.  The bullpen doesn’t have to be as deep if everybody is available for every game because you only play two days in a row once in more than a week.  You’d also expect Matsui, Posada and especially A-Rod to benefit from the 8-day schedule.

I rather be conservative when players complain of something.

I think they are being conservative.  Like I said, I’m not really sure when he first mentioned the tightness, but if it was either the 27th or the 30th, they gave him two days off, and then used him pretty lightly.  When the tightness didn’t go away, they shut him down and did an MRI.  Now they’re sending him to Birmingham even though the MRI supposedly doesn’t show anything.

[45]

I think the benefit is marginal, especially with respect to the position players.  4 games in 5 days at most and perhaps 5 games in 7 days is not an unreasonable load for the thirtysomethings.  It represents as much if not more rest than they’ve gotten throughout the season.

I don’t think the effect is marginal for the specific players I mentioned.

[47] There’s often a lot of concentrated travel in the postseason, which is wearisome.

[41] Again, though, who cares what the headlines and public perception are, so long as Cashman is making sound moves?

If the only downside of having a lot of money to spend is that fans and pundits are going to yap endlessly about it, that’s perfectly fine by me.

Cash’s job is just to spend the money wisely, which he mostly seems to do.

[49] True, but the travel schedule in the 7-day series is identical to that in the 8-day Division Series.  The additional day would off come at home between Games 1 and 2.

Certainly an extra day off would be good for everyone’s nagging ouchies, but as I said 1 day off for every 5 (which is what you get in the “short” series) is pretty much what Jorge and A-Rod get right now.  I think the primary consideration shjould be the impact on the pitching matchups.

FORTY GAMES over .500 - that’s amazing. They haven’t been 40 games over .500 since the end of the 2004

I sincerely hope that are hearts aren’t broken as they were in 04. That said it was farther than any subsequent team has gone. I am still amazed that team won as many as they did with the staff they had. Vazquez was supposed to be the ace. He did good enough in the first half-seems like he won 10 then faded-badly. Joba??
Lieber and Mussina were good that year, but not so good as you would think they would run away from the Sox over the season.  Who am I forgetting? El Duke? didn’t he pitch well over the 2nd half? Oh yeah, Kevin Brown- well he sucked most of the time as I recall, though he did well in one division game vs. Minn.

Anyway, that staff seemed mediocre- To be honest I was really surprised they took the first three from Boston.  As long as CC is CC, we have one guy who is more of an ace than anyone in that year.  Honestly, though I’m worried beyond CC, can’t understand how Andy has done it lately, and Burnett doesn’t inspire my confidence.  One thing as I recall from 04 was that it was a hitting team much like this one and that took them to the brink of the WS and with just a little effective relieving in a couple key games,we should have gotten there.

Isn’t it just crazy how long Gehrig has held the team’s hit record? That’s a scary ballplayer right there.

The short rest theory. I go back a long way but this was supposed to hurt a pitcher from being effective.  It may have an effect but not always.

In 64, Cards prevailed pitching Gibson on short rest three times vs Yanks.
In 95, the M’s pitched the Big Unit three times in five games, twice as I recall in relief.  The D-backs pitched Schilling three times in the WS in 01.

There are probably other examples I’m forgetting. It seems though that the Yankees have been on the short end of the results when others have done it against NY.  I would lean on CC very much in the post season in similar fashion if push comes to shove.

Isn’t it just crazy how long Gehrig has held the team’s hit record? That’s a scary ballplayer right there.

Ruth had a late start to his Yankee career. 
Joe D. had a war shortened career and retired with a lot left in the tank.
Mantle had an injury/alcohol shortened career. 

I don’t think the effect is marginal for the specific players I mentioned.

I don’t think so.  It’s 1-1-3 series vs a 2-3 series no?  With this lead all the position players should be rested enough and ready to play either without any problems, even the old ones.

Matsui probably won’t start every game anyway in the playoffs.  I could see either Damon or Posada at the DH spot for at least one game, depending on the matchups.

The Yankees depth in the pen might make them want to go with the shorter schedule.  It’s not that hard to imagine CC handing the ball off to Mo for a 4 out save in game one, and Hughes being available for 2 innings in game 2 and another inning in game 3.

Also, the Yankees should be the most rested team going into the playoffs, so maybe they want a series with a little wear and tear.

who cares what the headlines and public perception are, so long as Cashman is making sound moves?

In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re talking not just about Cashman’s performance, but about all the noise involved in the various evaluations of Cashman’s performance.  He seems to have a pretty thick skin, so I don’t think that the media storm has much impact on how he does his job.  But it certainly impacts the way he is perceived, which as I said, has become just as much a topic of this thread as the other thing.

I think the primary consideration shjould be the impact on the pitching matchups.

Uh, yeah, we sort of noticed that.  But here’s the thing—you don’t get to tell the other team who to pitch when, so you can’t really control the pitching matchups.  You can only look at your own roster and decide who will be impacted by having or not having the extra day off and how (or how much).  And it seems to me that limiting that analysis to your starting pitchers is kind of short-sighted.

It’s 1-1-3 series vs a 2-3 series no?

No.  One series gets an off day between the first two games, a travel day after game 2, and another between games four and five.  The other series gets travel days after games 2 and 4.

This is an angry thread for followers of a team that is winning every freaking day.

The Yankees depth in the pen might make them want to go with the shorter schedule.

The problem I have with this line of thinking is that it amounts to pinning your hopes on your fifth and sixth relievers being better than theirs, when the likelihood is that it never comes to that.

the Yankees should be the most rested team going into the playoffs, so maybe they want a series with a little wear and tear.

I could see this if other races go down to the wire, but right now it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.  The Tigers have a 6.5 game lead and a pretty soft schedule.

No.  One series gets an off day between the first two games, a travel day after game 2, and another between games four and five.  The other series gets travel days after games 2 and 4.

When did the travel day between 4 and 5 start?  I remember in 2001 the Yankees had to fly cross country and play the A’s the next day?

Anyway, that doesn’t really change anything.  No position player should have a problem playing 2 games in a row twice in one series.

[50] Cash’s job is just to spend the money wisely, which he mostly seems to do.

The problem isn’t so much that Cash doesn’t spend wisely. It’s that too often, the decision on whether or not to spend money isn’t his to make (e.g., the A-Rod contract negotiations; the length of the contracts that were offered to Rivera and Posada).

Even when he has spent money unwisely (e.g., Pavano’s contract), or made bad trades (e.g., Weaver) there were mitigating factors, including that he had no input into the amateur draft process and the accompanying failure to produce a mL pipeline of talent, yet it was his responsibility to scramble to find acceptable ML options to fulfill the often counterproductive mandate from the owners to be able to win the WS every single year.

Similarly, his critics often ignore the fact that he didn’t want to trade for Randy Johnson, nor did he want to sign Jaret Wright or Tony Womack.

IMO, Cashman’s one weakness is that, by his own admission, he is not a talent evaluator, so he has to rely on the judgment of other people, which can leave him vulnerable to be victimized by the misjudgments of others (e.g., Igawa). In some ways, a GM is the scouting cross-checker of last resort, and an ability to assess talent can be an important asset in that regard.

Going forward, my hope is that Cash is the one who decides on the length of Jeter’s next contract.

I don’t think anyone is angry.  I’m certainly not.  Especially now that the Rangers have put a little more pressure on the Red Sox.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re talking not just about Cashman’s performance

Exactly, and as I mentioned above I *do* think he needs to get some credit for his thick-skin.  I think other GM’s - both with the Yanks and other teams - have in the past shown to NOT have thick-skin, and made bad moves to appease the press/fans.  I’m not saying just hand him an A because of that, but I think that’s worth a half-grade.

I also think its speculation to assume that Cashman is relieved of blame for Pavano and Igawa.

I didn’t mention Pavano at all, and with Igawa sure Cashman deserves *some* blame.  But I think it is known the scouts were high on Igawa, and after the Yanks got Igawa to the stadium Cashman revamped the entire scouting for Japan, so…

Isn’t it just crazy how long Gehrig has held the team’s hit record?

True, but Ty Cobb’s Tiger’s record has lasted longer, and I don’t think anyone is going to challenge it anytime soon.

When did the travel day between 4 and 5 start?

Not sure exactly, but it’s been a couple of years at least.  I think that cross country flight for the Yankees and A’s in 2001 might have had something to do with the change.

No position player should have a problem playing 2 games in a row twice in one series.

Just because nobody has a problem with it doesn’t mean that nobody would be better with an extra day off.  Matsui would probably be better if he never played two days in a row.  The same might be true of A-Rod right now.

And just for the hell of it, I’d like to mention that Edwin Jackson has been a perfectly ordinary pitcher for the past month or so.

[63] - I’m also entertained by the Rangers keeping it interesting.  I don’t really believe they have a great shot to keep the RS out of the post-season, but I do believe they’ll prevent the RS from being able to rest key players/pitchers going into the final week.

Just because nobody has a problem with it doesn’t mean that nobody would be better with an extra day off.  Matsui would probably be better if he never played two days in a row.  The same might be true of A-Rod right now.

I guess but I just don’t think it would make much of a difference at all.  Certainly no where near the amount it would make to the pitching staff so it really shouldn’t be a serious consideration.

I don’t think anyone’s angry.  I’m certainly not.

I find you to be rarely angry, but unfailingly snarky in an out-of-proportion sort of way.

To your [57], yeah I know.  And your point about the possibility of Verlander going on 3 days rest is well taken and should be factored in.  But when assessing the calendar/days off, etc. I don’t think it’s radically controversial to say that the impact on the pitchers should be front and center.  They’re the ones that can’t go every day.

Besides what you’re seemingly unwilling to acknowledge is that the starting 9, even under the compressed ALDS schedule, would be getting just about the exact amount of rest they’ve come to expect throughout the season.

And I think it deserves to be considered every bit as seriously as the prospect of facing some other team’s #4 starter, when there’s no guarantee that the other team will use that guy or that he won’t pitch the game of his life if they do.

unfailingly snarky in an out-of-proportion sort of way

This is incongruous.  It simply is not possible for snark to be out of proportion.

Francesa asked Girardi if Joba isn’t going to start in the ALDS, would he use him in the pen or leave him off the roster.

Girardi said:

“Hypothetically speaking, I think we will probably put him in the bullpen.”

Maybe I’m reading into it, but his tone in uttering the first two words seemed to indicate that his current plan was to use him in the pen.

I don’t think it’s radically controversial to say that the impact on the pitchers should be front and center.

Speaking of out-of-proportion, when did I ever say that it shouldn’t?  I just said that it isn’t the entire story.  That other factors should also be considered.  Especially if the people actually making the decision (ie—not us) think that they’ll be roughly equally happy with either schedule from a starting pitching POV?

Besides what you’re seemingly unwilling to acknowledge is that the starting 9, even under the compressed ALDS schedule, would be getting just about the exact amount of rest they’ve come to expect throughout the season.

I didn’t realize that I was required to acknowledge every true statement that is posted here.  But so what if they’re all used to a certain amount of rest?  How does that inform as to whether they could or couldn’t do better with even more rest?

It’s the end of a long season, and Posada, A-Rod, and Matsui etc.

Maybe I’m reading into it, but his tone in uttering the first two words seemed to indicate that his current plan was to use him in the pen.

Since you also quoted the question, all that says is that they’d put him in the pen as opposed to leaving him off the roster for the first round.  The interesting thing is where he’d be in the pecking order.  I’m not sure I trust the Joba we’ve seen lately more than say, Bruney.

Then again, I keep forgetting that Steve Phillips says that Joba is electric as a setup man.

I don’t think anyone is angry.  I’m certainly not.  Especially now that the Rangers have put a little more pressure on the Red Sox.

Let’s check back on your mood when the O’s roll over for the Sox tonight.

Berken goes against Byrd.

I wish the Yankees got a shot at Byrd, and tattoed him for 4.1 IP/8 ER. That could end Byrd’s career with the Sox.

[76] Yeah, you forgot that Joba will instantly turn back into 2007 Joba when he returns to the pen.  No worries.

[72] That’s my sense too.  I wonder if 3 flawless innings tonight would change the calculus.

Let’s check back on your mood when the O’s roll over for the Sox tonight.

Since this is inevitable, I’ve already factored it in.

I wish the Yankees got a shot at Byrd, and tattoed him for 4.1 IP/8 ER. That could end Byrd’s career with the Sox.

You still might get your wish.  Or have you already projected the rotations out for that series?  Unfortunately, it’s too late for Byrd to hook up with an NL contender and pitch a couple of two-hit shutouts down the stretch.

I wonder if 3 flawless innings tonight would change the calculus.

Depends.  Three consecutive flawless innings?  Starting with the first?

I don’t think I’d put any stock in Berken(Birkin) overcoming the sox.

Let’s go Yankees!

Let’s go O’s and Rangers, right now those games are more meaningful for us.

<i In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re talking not just about Cashman’s performance, but about all the noise involved in the various evaluations of Cashman’s performance.  He seems to have a pretty thick skin, so I don’t think that the media storm has much impact on how he does his job.  But it certainly impacts the way he is perceived, which as I said, has become just as much a topic of this thread as the other thing. i>

I noticed, thanks.  In case you hadn’t noticed, my argument has been that the noise is just that—noise, which doesn’t particularly matter if we’re trying to evaluate the job Cashman has done. I felt that needed to be argued because whenever Cashman’s public perception was being discussed in this thread, it was being discussed as though it mattered to how we should evaluate him as a GM.

Like Mike K., I’m happy to give Cashman some extra credit for having thick skin.  So in that respect - how he handles the media attention - the external, non-baseball stuff does factor in to how we evaluate the job Cashman has done.  But that wasn’t your argument in [41].

i’d also like to point out that a pretty ordinary Kenny Rogers put our bats to sleep a few years ago, which says to me that the playoffs are like baseball, you can’t predict it, and you’re wasting the east river if you even try. Or something?

Seems to me that it’s basically impossible to decide which ALDS format is better for the Yankees as opposed to Detroit. Just too many factors. Under those circumstances, crazy as this sounds, might it not be better to just take the one that is likely to give you the extra day off before the ALCS?

“take the one that is likely to give you the extra day off before the ALCS?”

I think the second-fifth games coincide.  - Yep.  Only way to get extra time is not to lose.

But that wasn’t your argument in [41].

My argument in 41 was that everything Cashman does is filtered through the noise, and actual objective evaluations of his performance are rare.  Witness this thread, where even those claiming to want to stick to grading his performance keep talking about the peripheral stuff.  You haven’t written anything that refutes that argument.

I agree completely with your argument in [89], which is similar to what I had been arguing in this thread, but I’m not sure how you think that that’s what you were arguing in [41].