A bunch of people I know went to go see Yankees GM Brian Cashman speak last week. (It was on Monday, so I decided to go home and watch the US Open final/Giant game instead of waiting around for the speech.) Anyway, when they were telling me about it afterwards, the Q&A period was brought up. Cashman was asked something along the lines of "What transaction do you regret?," and a number of people in the audience immediately started with the cough...Carl Pavano...cough.
It always bothers me when people immediately bring up Carl Pavano as this giant black mark against Cashman. Sure, it didn't work out. But who could've foreseen Pavano being injured for basically his entire Yankees career? On paper, he saw a guy who filled a need that could help the team. And if you look at what Pavano did in Florida before he came to the Yankees and in Minnesota since he left, you can see why he wanted him. It's not Cashman's fault Pavano couldn't stay healthy, and it's unfair to blame him for that fact. Especially since he's made plenty of other moves that turned out a lot worse than Carl Pavano.
Just a few examples...
Kei Igawa: I'm not blaming him for Hideki Irabu because that was all George Steinbrenner, but Cashman definitely deserves a good portion of the "credit" for Kei Igawa. He was so good in Japan, that the Yankees paid a $26 million posting fee just to talk to him, then gave him a five-year, $20 million contract. And what did they get for that $46 million investment exactly? A 2-4 record and 6.66 ERA, followed by three years in the minors.
Josh Phelps: The Yankees took Phelps in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft, meaning he had to stay on the big league roster all season or they'd lose him. And with Phelps guaranteed a roster spot, that meant there was no room for Bernie Williams. So I already didn't like him, then he didn't exactly do anything to change that perception. He was released in mid-June, which means Bernie Williams was cut so that this schmo could be on the team for two months.
Nick Johnson: One of the reasons I give Cashman a break on Carl Pavano is because there was no way to predict Pavano would be so chronically injured. Not so with Nick Johnson. This guy occupied a permanent place on the disabled list of the Expos/Nationals and Marlins after leaving the Yankees, yet for some reason was brought back as a free agent in 2010. And guess what happened. A season-ending wrist injury on May 8. Shocking, I know!
LaTroy Hawkins/Kyle Farnsworth: They're lumped together because there's very little to differentiate them. They both sucked. Hawkins holds a slightly higher ranking in my mind because on top of not being good, he wore Paul O'Neill's number for a week and didn't understand why the fans didn't like that. There were two reasons, LaTroy. Farnsworth was never good, yet somehow lasted three seasons before the Yankees turned him into Pudge Rodgriuez, who was a strange acquisition in his own right.
Ian Kennedy/Phil Hughes/Joba Chamberlain: Likewise, it's very difficult to make a distinction between this trio. It was his bright idea to have all three of them in the starting rotation as rookies in 2008. It was a noble effort, but it didn't work, and the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Kennedy was traded to Arizona in the Curtis Granderson trade and has actually had a decent career. Same with Phil Hughes, who found a fair amount of success in Pinstripes. Then there's Fatso. They messed with his head with that whole "Is he a starter, is he a reliever?" nonsense, and he was consistently inconsistent after that lights out 2007 rookie year. The Yankees had absolutely no interest in bringing back either Hughes or Chamberlain when they became free agents after last season.
But, to be fair, Cashman has also been responsible for some moves that really paid off. That even includes all of those moves last season that kept them in the race a lot longer than they should've been, from picking Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay up off the scrap heap to the midseason trade for Alfonso Soriano. So what if Soriano was released in the middle of this season after becoming an automatic strikeout.
Aaron Boone: Let's go back to 2003. The Yankees traded Robin Ventura and needed a new third baseman, so they made a trade with the Reds to get Aaron Boone. And in October he permanently entered Yankees lore while also earning a new middle name in Boston. Then in the offseason he hurt his knee playing basketball, which gave the Yankees an excuse to trade for Alex Rodriguez. Take your personal feelings about Alex Rodriguez today out of the equation. That was a steal 10 years ago.
Bobby Abreu: Much like the last two seasons, everybody was injured in 2006. So at the trade deadline, Cashman pulled off one of the shrewdest deals of his entire tenure by getting Abreu from the Phillies for four low-level minor leaguers. And he had a great two-and-a-half years in Pinstripes. Abreu hit .295 for his Yankees career, had 100 RBIs in both 2007 and 2008, and he finished second in the AL in runs in 2007.
Raul Ibanez: We're looking at the second straight year of the Yankees missing out on the playoffs. They haven't won a playoff game since Game 5 of the 2012 ALDS against Baltimore, and they wouldn't have won that series without Raul Ibanez. If not for Ibanez, Derek Jeter might not have broken his ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS against Detroit, either. His big postseason home runs stand out the most, but his regular season was pretty good, too. Signed to be a part-time DH, the 40-year-old got a lot more playing time than expected, especially in the outfield, and hit 19 home runs, many of the dramatic variety.
Orlando Hernandez: El Duque was his first big free agent signing, and he was arguably the best. He came over from Cuba in 1998 and went 12-4, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. He was even better in the playoffs, winning his first eight postseason starts for the 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series champions. Hernandez was also MVP of the 1999 ALCS.
CC Sabathia/A.J. Burnett/Mark Teixeira: After missing the playoffs in 2008, the Yankees went out and spent big in the offseason. And the three pieces they got were integral in winning the World Series the following October. They got an ace and a slugging, switch-hitting first baseman. And say what you want about A.J. and how his Yankees career ended, but there's no denying how valuable he was in 2009. They don't win that World Series without him.
That's just a sampling of the good and the bad during Brian Cashman's tenure as Yankees GM. There are plenty more that could've fit into either category. There are also some moves that are still to be determined, although the Masahiro Tanaka signing and the Michael Pineda/Jesus Montero trade are both looking pretty good for the Yankees right now.
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