So the state of the Yankees is what lots of people in New York are talking about these days. The Yanks are getting lots of back page coverage for being terrible, with an 8-15 record, while the Mets are 16-8 and 1 1/2 games out of first.
All this means is that Yankee GM Brian (Fredo) Cashman, who is traveling with the team on this road trip to Baltimore, is flapping his gums a lot these days. He told the press today that he takes full responsibility something he has claimed to do multiple times. (Here’s one Squawk I wrote about him doing so after the 2013 season.) This is what he said today, in a conversation in which he said that neither Joe Girardi nor the coaching staff’s jobs were in danger:
“Listen, I put this roster together and it’s underperforming so it’s my responsibility . . . I don’t think this is a coaching issue or a manager issue in any way, shape or form.”
And here’s what he said in 2013:
Q. “Who do you put the ultimate responsibility on for the team not being good enough?”
A. “Me.”
Q. “Nobody else?”
A. “It’s my responsibility.”
Q. “Were you given all the resources necessary in the winter to build a winner?”
A. “Yes.”
Since that time in 2013, the Yankees have actually gotten worse. So when, exactly, does Cashman take full responsibility and quit his job? Just wondering. Hmmmm, maybe taking full responsibility means, um, NOTHING! Gee, ya think?
Cash also had this to say about Prince Hal and the Steinbrenner family:
“I’m not going to represent ownership, but clearly they’re not happy,” Cashman said. “I’m sure you’ll have chances at some point to talk to Hal. It’s a catch-all; there’s no one that would be happy other than our opponents.”
My guess is that Hal’s too busy being a dilettante (you know, flying planes, getting ripped off when buying sports memorabilia, pretending he’s a weatherman) to pay attention to this team. After all, if there was any time for Rip Van Steinbrenner to wake up, it should have been when Lonn Trost and Randy Levine screwed up the print-at-home ticket issue and turned it into a hot mess. But Hal didn’t say a word then.
Will Hal say something now? We shall see. Will he do something now? Never. Let’s face it — union shop stewards have less job security than the Yankees front office.
On the other hand, the Boston Red Sox cleaned house last summer in their front office, even though Ben Cherington had been the architect of the 2013 World Series! Yes, that’s right. He lost his job less than two years after getting them a title! Meanwhile, the Yankees have as many World Series appearances since 2003 as the Mets do, and Cashman still has a job!
Speaking of Cherington, I read a very interesting article in the Boston Globe about his post-Red Sox career (he’s been teaching at Columbia University this semester.) He did something very curious after parting ways with Boston: he actually looked back at his job performance and tried to learn from it! He also consulted dozens of baseball people to pick their brains on the sport, and people in other industries to pick their brains on life:
“Although I think I learned something from that exercise, when you’re still in the middle of the fire and the trees are kind of burning around you, it’s hard to see where the fire started,” said Cherington. “Although I didn’t leave under the circumstances I wanted to, I did have the benefit of some distance to look at it again.
“I was pretty quickly well past the acceptance part of it. Are there things you’d do different? Sure. Were there mistakes made? Sure. Did it lead in some way to short-term results not being there? Sure.
“And so once you sort of get past that, I think it’s sort of easier to just keep looking at it. Then it’s just about trying to learn from it, sort of past the point of whether, ‘Wait, did I have anything to do with this?’”
I don’t know what Cherington will do next, but he will be better prepared for it because of this relentless self-examination. Does that ever happen in Yankeeland? Doubtful.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
