Figuring Out Brian Cashman
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by user Corey Kempf
Call this a conspiracy theory, call it what you will, but does anyone else find it a little more than odd--nevermind satisfying--that the New York Yankees just missed dropping into third place in the AL East standings on Sunday?
So the team has had to battle through some injuries, sure, but it's not as if they were doing terribly great before the injuries. One would think with the money invested into a power lineup like theirs, they'd have won 50 games by early June. Instead, they still haven't won 50 games, and it's July!
Brian Cashman was given $200 million to spend on a winner, and he has subsequently failed. Aside from Homeland Security, has there ever been another instance where so little has been done with so much? If you gave Brian Cashman $50 million to find the fattest piece of property he could, what is the over/under on the possibility of him finding the priciest landfill available? There may not have been anyone in the Yankees front office so inept since George Costanza.
A lot of people will say, "Don't blame Cashman; it's Steinbrenner." Well, OK, but doesn't Cashman have the final say in personnel deals? Wasn't it Cashman who dealt for a quickly aging Randy Johnson? Wasn't it Cashman who decided Chien-Ming Wang was a viable No. 2 guy?
Honestly ask yourself this question: Why would Steinbrenner need a puppet when he's the most notable big-wig in all of sports?
But back to my original question. Isn't it a little strange? Are we seriously supposed to be gullible enough to believe that a $200 million payroll can't buy you a championship--no--a playoff caliber team?
Much was made of the disparity in Major League Baseball during the Yankees' three year run as World Champions, to the point where MLB investigated the disparity (you can read all about it in Moneyball). But since 2000, the Yankees have not won a World Series, losing twice. So, did MLB get their wish?
Or, as ridiculous as it may sound, is there something else at work? I'm not one to believe in divine interventions, especially with sports, and it's silly to believe that God simply hates the Yankees, so don't think I'm implying anything of the sort.
But as outrageous as the Roger Clemens' 50-game suspension conspiracy theory may be, there's just something about it that isn't so far-fetched.
Perhaps it was Major League Baseball that needed a puppet.
Date
Sun 07/02/06, 8:31 pm EST
