Do You Consider Brian Cashman A Good GM?

[Driven]

Really wondering what people's thoughts are.

[SportsAndrew25]

He is sure as hell better than my team's GM or should I say former GM.

[ugafan]

I don't think you can really know until some sort of stipulation is placed on him. He might be great or he might be terrible, no way to know for sure with a payroll upwards of $200 mil.

[Gigantes4Life]

I don't think you can really no until some sort of stipulation is placed on him. He might be great or he might be terrible, no way to know for sure with a payroll upwards of $200 mil.

Yeah, he has made a lot of mistakes in his career. Unfortunately, none of those mistakes have impacted his future decisions in any manner like other general managers who have made far less severe mistakes.

[Mell413]

It's hard to say. He certainly has more room for error. I don't think a lot of GMs would be able to keep their jobs when they have had signings like Igawa, Pavano, Wright, Vasquez, Burnett, etc. He doesn't really have to worry about a signing going bad since they will just outspend their mistakes. Assuming the rumor is true that he was willing to offer Montero for Soria I do have to question his ability. All that said he gets his team in the playoffs more often than not and that's all you can ask.

[papipapsmanny]

Am I a good GM? If yes then cashman is too.

Swisher trade was good.

Vazquez, not at all

Granderson- is questionable at best.

Tex/CC- anyone would have done that if they could

Burnette- retarded.

To be honest I think he is terrible, like he literally signed Igawa it seems in spite of the sox signing matsuzaka.

And whether its him or the owners they are ultra conservative in the draft for some reason, picking the worst area to have any fiscal responsibility.

He is responsible for Arod, Tex, CC, Burnett, Swisher, Granderson, in signings and trades going forward on this team.

Tex/CC/Arod is what a 10 year old could think up, again burnette, terrible signing, swisher was a good trade, and Granderson is questionable to me at best.

[Webslinger]

When Cashman isn't making obvious decisions on who to sign and let go he's typically making bad ones. Basically anyone could do the job he does. The same can't be said for alot of other GMs in baseball. When I look at the team I can't honestly credit Cashman for any brilliant moves since he came on. Virtually every player he trades for is a one or two year rental and then they're gone or worse yet never amount to anything while the player he traded away turns out to have value he didn't realize. Inexpensive free agents that he should have picked up are passed up on for more expensive "long term" solutions which may not be the case since most players don't get better into their mid to late 30s. Cashman is almost solely reliant on luck each season to get him thru. That to me is not the mark of a good GM.

[bagwell368]

Just consider the conditions.

#1. He had to deal with Blustering George
#2. He has to deal with the media
#3. He has to deal with a fan base that expects to win at least 3 times a decade

Look at Minnesota or Oakland. Those guys have tiny budgets and have to get used to playing penny ante hands, so they get pretty good at it.

Cashman basically has a big 40 oz bat in his hands, and he's the only guy with no blindfold on when its his turn at the pinyata, and he gets to hit it 2 times for everyone else's 1. He doesn't need to be subtle or brilliant, he just needs to bring home the bacon, and he ends up having to overpay for every FA because everyone knows they can afford more.

Now tell me you can judge him the same as others?

I prefer myself to watch the GM's in the 2nd tier - the ones with means, but the ones that also have to field teams with former specs on the roster, the ones that have to shortcut some positions, That's the main action for me. The creative guys with little budget, they can be fun, but except for the it seems Twins none of them can maintain it for long. Go take a look at the Rays at start of '13 and say I'm wrong.

[5+7=DYNASTY!!!]

Bottom line is he gets rings. People point to the GMs and systems of the A's, Twins, and Rays but the bottom line is how many rings or pennants have those three teams won in the last 15 years.

[bagwell368]

Bottom line is he gets rings. People point to the GMs and systems of the A's, Twins, and Rays but the bottom line is how many rings or pennants have those three teams won in the last 15 years.

That's too simplistic. The Pirates, Reds, Jays, Orioles, etc. haven't even gotten into position to do anything.

If you inherit $900,000.00 through a trust and at some point get over $1,000,000.00 in wealth some might say the guy is a millionaire. But a guy that went from putting himself through school and carried big loans and gets to $900,000.00 we all know who did more.

He's good considering his situation, but he's not much better then that.

[papipapsmanny]

Bottom line is he gets rings. People point to the GMs and systems of the A's, Twins, and Rays but the bottom line is how many rings or pennants have those three teams won in the last 15 years.

you can credit 09 too him, that about it in terms of rings

[Tkirk]

I think you have to give some credit to the fact that, regardless of payroll, he has been able to put a team out every year that wins close to 90 games. No matter how much money you throw at the team that is still impressive.

[Yendil]

I honestly believe no he is not. If he was good IMO, he would not have to overpay for FA's, he would not cry and throw a fit everytime something doesn't go his way.

[Jilly Bohnson]

I think you have to give some credit to the fact that, regardless of payroll, he has been able to put a team out every year that wins close to 90 games. No matter how much money you throw at the team that is still impressive.

Can you really? If you're playing monopoly and are always allowed to start with four more $500 dollar bills than everyone else, should you really be given that much credit when you win more often than anyone else?

That's not to say that Cashman is a bad GM. I heard someone else put it this way and I agree with it: he's practically playing a different game than anyone else, so it's not really possible to evaluate him accurately.

[SnoStorm]

Like most people have been saying, it is really hard to judge him because of the situation he is in. Also can we all be sure that some of the signings and trades were not in his hands but pressure from the top? Though he has had "full control" the past few years there are still instances where the Steinbrenners basically made deals for him (See ARod and Soriano). Along with pleasing the Steinbrenners, he has to please one of the largest fanbases in American sports. He has to take some risks to bring in product that fans will be happy with. Some of the risks work out brilliantly and other fail miserably.

As we've seen this offseason with a few players (Lee to be exact), money isn't always the top motivator. Lee went where his heart was not where the money was. In the eyes of a lot of people this is all Cashman's fault. In reality, he gave the best offer and did all that he could but still lost. I would put little to no fault on him for the Lee deal.

Though from an outsider he seems to be living the good life of a GM with 200 million at his disposal, there is much more that comes with the job. He had to show something in his thinking and team building ideology to even be considered for the job and even continue to be resigned. I personally think if we took the smartest and most respected poster from the forums and put he/she at the helm of the Yankees, they would have an extremely tough time filling the shoes of the Yankees GM.

If I had to make a rough estimate, he is average. He has made some good deals and some not so good. I can't say he is poor on the fact he has created a solid core of players for the MLB team and has rebuilt the farm system into quite an impressive one. There is a lot of promise in the Yankees system.