Cashman turns Yankees’ focus to farm system
MOOSIC — He has the most resources to use. He has the most famous franchise in sports to tout. He has the command from ownership any general manager would beg for: Win now, at any cost.
The combination only works for so long, though. Brian Cashman knows it now. There’s a fine line between spending to prepare and spending to survive. And, in trying to do the latter, the guy got backed into the corner one time too many.
He realized it himself last year, about this time. The New York Yankees were pushing $200 million in payroll — expensive even by their standards. Their great center fielder, Bernie Williams, was more beloved than productive and at the end of a contract that paid him more than $12 million in 2005. As Cashman put it, the Yankees "needed” a center fielder, and he didn’t need a thorough look through the farm system to realize the Yanks had no suitable replacement ready to fill in.
So Cashman did what Cashman has always had the ability to do: He threw a four-year contract and $52 million at 32-year-old Johnny Damon. Then, he asked himself how the team with the most resources and the most famous name let the “Win now” mantra get in the way of being prepared for tomorrow.
“Certainly, (Damon) is going to be a great sign for us,” Cashman said Tuesday. “But I’d like to put myself in a position where I don’t have to go into the free agent market for anything, if I could.”
I'd like to put myself in a position where I don't have to go into a weekend hoping for my POWERBALL numbers to hit, if I could.
What last longer? The Yankees staying out of the free agent market or picking up a high priced rent-a-player or my losing streak? Stay tuned.
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