Yesterday, Brain Cashman sat down with New York’s best sports reporter/ commentator, Mike Francesa for what turned out to be an honest, frank, and very lengthy conversation. They covered a variety of topics from Robinson Cano’s contract negotiations to minor league prospects to on field performances. Here are a few of my take aways:
First, Cashman seems to have an irrational dislike of Eduardo Nunez. Nunez is a pretty capable backup all things considered. He can play second, third, or short fairly well and he hit .265 over about 300 ABs in 2011. Nonetheless, Cashman has been bad mouthing him for years. When interviewed, most GMs simply repeat the party line that whatever they have in camp is good enough to win and that each player is playing great and will have a great year. Brian doesn’t do that, making him both a good interview and a little bit painful to watch. He comes off as that super mean, inaccessible boss who rules with an iron fist.
In regards to Nunez, Cashman said point blank that he thinks the team can do better. Both in a utility role and as a part time DH. I’m not sure that’s true and I definitely don’t think that it was the right thing to say publicly.
The GM was harsh on some other players as well. He got on Travis Hafner for always being injured and made a joke that he should never be allowed to put on a glove.
He called the Yankees’ offense bad on multiple occasions, saying that it was below the organization’s standards and the pitching and defense would have to take up the slack. This begs the question though, if Cashman is critical of the Yankees’ lineup, why hasn’t he done anything about it. Isn’t it his job to put a competitive team on the field every year? As such, shouldn’t he be confident in the product of his work each spring? If he thinks there are problems, there must really be problems.
On the prospect front we got quite a bit of valuable information. We learned that Austin Romine will definitely start the year in AAA as will reliever Mark Montgomery. Both of these decisions are arguably mistakes.
We also found out that there are some serious problems with both the Yankees top pitching prospects. Manny Banuelos is having Tommy John surgery and will be out until next spring in all likelihood. Dellin Betances is still struggling with his control and the Yankees are more or less hoping for the best with him.
On a positive side, the Yankees have three minor leaguers that Cashman believes can be above average major leaguers pretty soon. The obvious one is catcher Gary Sanchez but Cashman was really high on a couple of outfielders as well. He compared centerfielder Slade Heathcott to a young Grady Sizemore and Mason Williams to Otis Nixon with power. As a Yankee fan, I’ll take that for sure.
Cashman was interesting for the entire time he spoke. Whether dissing his anemic lineup, his weak bench, or his backup shortstop, or hopping aboard the Kevin Youkilis or Slade Heathcott bandwagon, or skirting questions about the future of Robinson Cano, he was forthright and honest. As a fan, a media watcher, and a baseball blogger, I really appreciated that. He came off as a bit of a jerk but I’d rather listen to a guy I don’t like with some information than an empty suit.
-Max Frankel
