Cashman opens up

GM discusses Santana, Yanks hierarchy
Sunday, January 6, 2008

As Brian Cashman walked out of Fenway Park [map]’s EMC Club yesterday, the New York Yankees general manager offered a final message.

“Right now,” said Cashman, “all is quiet.”

But when it comes to the Yankees and a potential trade for Minnesota Twins ace Johan Santana, comments from both Cashman and the team’s senior vice president, Hank Steinbrenner, suggest serenity is anything but the norm these days.

On Friday, Steinbrenner told the Associated Press: “Nothing is really decided at this point. I’m still leaning toward doing it. There’s others leaning not to do it. There are some others that are leaning to do it also. Disagreements within the organization. Nothing major, but just different opinions. I’ve changed my opinion a couple times.”

Steinbrenner also touched up the dynamic between himself and Cashman.

“I always told him, ‘I’m going to make the final decisions because when you’re the owner you should,’ ” Steinbrenner said. “He is the general manager, and he has the right to talk me out of it and he has talked me out of some things.”

Yesterday, Cashman, in town to support the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music charitable event put on by Red Sox [team stats] general manager Theo Epstein and twin brother Paul’s Foundation to be Named Later, offered insight into how decisions are currently being made within the Yankees organization.

“The dynamics are changing with us,” said Cashman, while serving on a panel discussion that also included Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, Red Sox adviser Bill James, agent Scott Boras, Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons and Theo Epstein. “When I signed up with this current three-year deal, and this is the last year of it, it was with full authority to run the entire program. George (Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ owner) had given me that. But things have changed in this third year now with the emergence of Hal and Hank Steinbrenner and that started this winter.

“I’ll be honest, I’m learning as I go along, too. But it is different. But the one thing is that I’ve been with this family, the Steinbrenner family, for well over 20 years, so I’m focused fully on doing everything I can to assist them in their emergence now as decision makers. But it is definitely different than it has been the last two years.”

Listening to Cashman and Epstein, it sounded as though the priority was to focus on the development of the here and the now of their organizations’ younger players, rather than Santana.

“There’s a lot going on around baseball,” Epstein said. “We’ve reached a point with our situation, with most of the world championship club back and a burgeoning farm system which was just rated second in all of baseball by (Baseball America), we feel we can improve by letting our young players play. We don’t have desperate holes that we have to go out and fill at any cost.

“We can pick and choose what makes sense for us rather than being desperately in the market place.”

Cashman reiterated that this time of year typically isn’t reserved for slotting in big pieces of the puzzle, although, as he points out, the Yankees in past years made trades for Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens well into the offseason.

“I can only tell you I know where we’re at, but I can’t speak for (the Twins) because they have more information,” said Cashman regarding the Santana situation. “They know what they want and they know what’s on the table.”

Not so fast

Despite the perception that the delay in a trade involving Santana might be holding up other moves, such as finding a fourth outfielder if center fielder Coco Crisp [stats] is dealt to Minnesota or elsewhere, Epstein said that isn’t the case.

“That was a factor in some potential opportunities at the GM (meetings) or winter meetings. But now things are fairly settled and I don’t think there is one central deal that is holding up something else,” Epstein said. “I think that has been overstated.” . . .

Boras said the plan is to begin talks regarding a potential contract extension for catcher Jason Varitek [stats] during spring training.

“(Varitek) is a valuable part of the franchise who is a unique guy,” Boras said. “He’s a special man to an organization, which is realized more now than before.”

The agent had no news to report regarding another of his clients, Sox pitcher Julian Tavarez [stats], who was reportedly not pleased that the team picked up his option of $3.8 million for 2008.

“I knew it was going to happen,” Boras said. “These baseball people (with the Sox) are smart.”

Boras said he hadn’t heard whether or not former Sox reliever Eric Gagne, a client who was named in the Mitchell Report shortly after signing with the Milwaukee Brewers, would be releasing a statement.

Helping hand

The event, which also featured a panel involving Celtics [team stats] co-owner Steve Pagliuca and Bruins [team stats] Hall of Famer and vice president Cam Neely, raised more than $100,000.

The second portion of the weekend-long fund-raiser takes place tonight, a concert staged at the Paradise Rock Club. For more information, visit hotstovecoolmusic.org.

News source：http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1064862#articleFull