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A tumultuous offseason for New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has gotten worse as his wife, Mary Cashman, has filed for divorce in the face of her husband allegedly engaging in an extramarital affair, according to the Associated Press.

The woman with whom Cashman allegedly had an affair, Louise Neathway, has been charged with stalking and extortion as she reportedly was blackmailing Cashman for thousands of dollars in exchange for keeping the affair a secret.

The Associated Press is also reporting that Cashman and his wife have been separated and living apart for a year. With spring training quickly approaching, Cashman will need to find a way to put this situation behind him and focus on baseball.

Cashman has been the Yankees’ GM since 1998 and has won four World Series during his time in that post. He has certainly come under fire at times since the only acceptable result in New York is winning it all, but he has been largely successful.

The Yankees’ 2012 offseason started off quite slowly, but Cashman ultimately made it a good one. He dealt catcher prospect Jesus Montero to the Seattle Mariners for young fireballer Michael Pineda. On top of that, he inked Japanese starter Hiroki Kuroda to further bolster what once looked to be a weak starting rotation.

New York disappointed in the playoffs last year as it fell to the Detroit Tigers in five games in the American League Divisional Series. The Yanks last won a World Series in 2009, but thanks to a much-improved pitching staff and a great offense, New York will be one of the favorites in 2012.

The 44-year-old Cashman signed a three-year extension with the Yankees in November 2011, and there has been no indication that his current situation will have any effect on his job standing. Even so, this can’t be the way Cashman wanted to start the season.

When it comes to athletes or those involved in sports having off-the-field issues, they usually go one of two ways. They either let their personal issues affect their job performance and fail, or they use their job as an outlet to escape and excel even more.

The Yankee organization is obviously hoping that Cashman will fit in with the latter group rather than the former. It isn’t as if Cashman needed any more attention since he already works in the New York market, so this will certainly test his mettle in a lot of ways.

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If there’s anything the New York Yankees don’t need right now, it’s another player like David Ortiz.

And if there’s one team on which Ortiz’s talents would be squandered, it’s the Yankees.

See where I’m going with this?

After a long and successful tenure with the Boston Red Sox, Big Papi may be on the way out of Beantown as a free agent, with some “baseball insiders” suggesting he may cross over to the (other) Dark Side to suit up in pinstripes.

The only issues? He and the Yankees simply don’t need each other. New York’s roster is already loaded with old, overpaid stars of yesteryear who will need at-bats at the DH spot, where Ortiz, a career professional hitter and a mediocre fielder at best, does the bulk of his damage.

The assumption around Yankee Stadium is that Jorge Posada, the longtime catcher who spent most of the 2011 season “DHing,” will retire, though that won’t exactly open up more opportunities for someone like Big Papi to absorb. Aging Hall-of-Famers like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter figure to get a reprieve from the field in that spot, as does first baseman Mark Teixeira.

That is, when rookie Jesus Montero isn’t busy eating up opposing pitchers and the at-bats that come with the territory.

Therefore, even if the Yankees wanted to kick the rival Red Sox while they’re down and pick up Ortiz, doing so wouldn’t exactly be to the betterment of their chances of winning, not with a team that’s already among the oldest and least effective defensively in all of baseball.

Nor would a move to New York necessarily benefit Big Papi. Aside from scaring off Wally, a cap swap would put Ortiz in a position where, as previously mentioned, he would be lucky to sniff 400 or 500 plate appearances, much less the 605 trips to the batter’s box he garnered in Beantown this season. Instead, he’d be relegated to a sort of platoon duty, splitting the bulk of his time with Montero while ceding his spot to A-Rod, Jeter and Tex on occasion.

And it’s not as though Big Papi can’t handle a full workload, either. Ortiz had a terrific season at age 35, hitting .309 with 29 homers, 96 RBI and an OPS of .952. The man can still rake but probably doesn’t have too many primo productive years left in the tank. As such, he’d be well served to take his act to a team on the cusp of big things, a team in need of a veteran presence and a powerful bat.

Like, say, Tampa Bay, thereby following in the footsteps of former teammates Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. The Rays showed in September that they have the pieces to be a dangerous team in the AL East in 2012, sporting a combination of dominant pitching, strong defense and clutch hitting that even the mighty Yankees can’t match.

Wherever Ortiz goes, he isn’t likely to find any monstrous, long-term deal. He’ll get one year, maybe two if he’s lucky, at around $5 or 6 million per, though New York may be more inclined to offer him a deal in the $2 million range, as they did with Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones.

The key for Big Papi is to find the right fit on a good team with legitimate World Series aspirations. The Yankees don’t have the at-bats, the need or really the pennant prospects that would make springing for Ortiz a sound, logical move.

Then again, when it comes to Yankees-Red Sox, you can pretty much throw logic and sound reasoning right out the window. GM Brian Cashman passed up an opportunity to sign Big Papi when he was released by the Minnesota Twins in 2002, which opened the door for the Dominican daddy to sign with Boston and become one of the Yanks’ biggest tormentors over the last nine years.

But, if Cashman is smart, he’ll resist the temptation to make up for lost time, and if Ortiz is smart, he’ll turn down the chance to redo history if Cashman can’t help himself.

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In February of 1998, a 31-year-old former intern of the organization took over as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the New York Yankees.

Since then, Brian Cashman has been the man in charge of the Yankees, holding one of the longest current tenures of GMs in the sport today.

On Saturday, Buster Olney of ESPN hinted in his blog that this may in fact be the final year Cashman could be with the team.

Cashman is in the final year of a three-year deal he signed back in September of 2008.

Some have wondered before the season if Cashman was in fact fed up and tired of the organization, something that came up after the Yankees upper management vetoed Cashman and went ahead to sign Rafael Soriano to a three-year deal.

Cashman may have gotten that one right, considering Soriano has been out on the disabled list since the end of May and at the time, his ERA was over five.

Soriano was not the only player that Cashman was against bringing in and feuded with Yankees management over.

Before the 2004 season, Cashman could have brought in Vladimir Guerrero, who was 29 at the time and recovering from injuries in the 2003 season, which made a couple of teams skeptical about bringing him in.

Instead, the Yankees signed Gary Sheffield, 35 at the time, to a three-year deal for $39 million. Sheffield was known for having a bad attitude and was not the most well-liked person in baseball. But because at the time he still had the superstar name and quality, that made George Steinbrenner personally negotiate with Sheffield and ignore Cashman’s request to go for Guerrero.

Short-term, Sheffield was a very good player, up until he got hurt in 2006. Sheffield missed the most of the 2006 season with a severe wrist injury, which lead to the Yankees trading for Bobby Abreu that summer.

They tried Sheffield out at first base, which he was not for. He also thought he was better than Abreu and was getting to be very disgruntled in the Yankee clubhouse, which lead to the Yankees trading Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers before 2007.

Long-term, Guerrero would have been the smarter choice over Sheffield.

Cashman was also against the Yankees signing Tony Womack before the 2005 season.

These were some of the things that nearly drove Cashman out of the job after the 2005 season. The Yankees upper management were going over Cashman’s head and he nearly walked away from the organization he had been a part of since 1986.

The Washington Nationals were reportedly rumored to be interested in hiring Cashman to be their GM, but Cashman was promised full autonomy from the Yankees and from George Steinbrenner.

Cashman was even quoted to saying, “I want to run this team and not have to wake up one day to see we signed Tony Womack without my knowing.”

Shows how much Cashman really wanted Womack, huh?

In 2005, Womack hit .249 with no homers, 15 RBI and only stole 27 bases. He started out as a second basement, but then was moved to the outfield after the Yankees promoted Robinson Cano in May of 2005.

Cashman’s contract ran out again after the 2008 season, but he was still intent to build a championship team, so he re-signed for another three years.

The next year, the Yankees brought in CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher and won the 2009 World Series.

The World Series was the fourth championship under Cashman’s watch.

And now here we are, another three years later, with the GM’s contract up and the strong possibility of him moving on.

When Olney talked to rival executives around the league, they got the feeling that Cashman was done with the Yankees and was ready to move on.

Cashman on Friday said he wasn’t going to talk negotiations during the season and didn’t want to discuss his future.

To me, that sounds like someone trying to get around answering it and saying how he feels.

Unless something drastic happens or he has a major change of heart, I think 2011 could in fact be the final year for Cashman.

Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues gave 50-50 odds on Cashman returning.

I’m not even going that high. I say 20-80 on him staying.

After 14 seasons, 10 division titles and four World Series championships, Cashman has had a very good run.

It could be that he is burnt out, or he just wants out of New York.

If it’s time off from baseball and to get away from things, you can understand. We have all gotten stressed out from our jobs and our bosses. I’m sure working for George Steinbrenner couldn’t have been the most pleasant at times.

But, if he wants out of New York, given Cashman’s resume, I’m sure he’d have no hard time finding another job as a GM in baseball.

This probably won’t be a major issue for the Yankees until the end of October or early November once the season is over.

If Cashman decides to walk, finding their next GM will be an interesting subject come the winter time.

So I will leave it up to you the Bleacher Report community to debate and talk about. Is this it for Cashman after 2011?

Only time will tell. Stay tuned.

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During the 1995 offseason, New York Yankees general manager Bob Watson and new manager Joe Torre made some bold moves. They allowed free agent catcher Mike Stanley to sign with the Boston Red Sox and acquired Joe Girardi from the Colorado Rockies.

Stanley was an offensive force that Girardi couldn’t come close to matching.

In his three seasons as the Yankees’ regular catcher, Stanley batted .290, hit 61 home runs, and drove in 224 runs. Girardi, in seven years with the Chicago Cubs and then the Rockies, had hit .269 with 18 home runs and 190 RBIs.

Torre told Murray Chass of the New York Times why he was pleased to acquire Girardi.

“It depends on what’s important to you,” said Torre at the time. “My priority is a catcher…When a pitcher has confidence in a catcher, he pitches better…Hopefully we’ll have enough offense. We could make up elsewhere what we’re going to lose behind the plate.”

In his first season with the Yankees, Girardi turned some heads, as he batted .294/.346/.374 and did an outstanding job behind the plate. The Yankees, led by Torre, beat the highly favored Atlanta Braves in the World Series to win their first world championship since 1978.

Girardi shared the regular catching job in 1998 with a young future Hall of Famer named Jorge Posada. Following the 1999 season, the Yankees allowed Girardi to become a free agent. He signed with his old team, the Chicago Cubs.

As everyone knows, Girardi is a shrewd individual. He realized that Posada was being groomed as Thurman Munson’s successor in the long line of great Yankees catchers (Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, and Munson).

In an interview during spring training of 1999, Girardi discussed his plans for the future.

Girardi told sportswriter Buster Olney that general manager Brian Cashman often joked about Girardi becoming the Yankees general manager with Cashman serving as his assistant. Girardi admitted that he was fascinated by the possibility of becoming a general manager.

“It’s something that intrigues me. I want to stay in the game. I’ve been on the field and I want to see what an off-the-field position would be like. I’ve told some of the general managers I’ve played under I have an interest in doing that.”

Cashman told Olney he thought Girardi’s ability to deal with people was a great strength that would help him become an outstanding general manager.

Of course, Girardi eventually did replace a member of the Yankees management team, but it wasn’t Mr. Cashman.

On Oct. 30, 2007, Girardi succeeded Joe Torre as the Yankees manager. In many ways, Torre was Girardi’s idol.

When Girardi was hired to manage the Florida Marlins in 2006, he told Charles Noble of the New York Times that Joe Torre influenced him more than any other individual.

“Joe Torre taught me how to get the best out of your players,” said Girardi. “Know the personality of your players and how the personality affects them on a day-to-day basis. His communication skills with his players are unbelievable. Instead of responding to what a player might say, he thought it was more important to understand why he would say it.”

In his first year at the helm with the Yankees, Torre led them to the world championship. In his first year at the helm with the Yankees, Girardi’s team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the strike-shortened 1994 season, when no team made the playoffs. Going back one year, the Yankees weren’t in the playoffs in 1993.

In 2009, Girardi’s Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, but in 2010, the Texas Rangers soundly defeated the Yankees to win the pennant.

This season, Girardi has his work cut out for him. His team lacks reliable starting pitching, has one ineffective left-hander in the bullpen, and lacks a consistent offense.

Brian Cashman’s contract expires at the end of this season. It has been rumored that he might consider offers from other teams. It would not be wise to dismiss Girardi’s feelings about becoming a general manager.

References:

By, M. C. (1995, Nov 21). Yanks acquire girardi to fill stanley’s spot behind plate. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. B11-B11. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/109483524?accountid=46260

By, B. O. (1998, Mar 19). Girardi sees his future as a general manager. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. C4-C4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/109907704?accountid=46260

Joe Girardi

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In today’s New York Daily News, John Harper wrote that Jesus Montero’s hot start in Triple-A may give Brian Cashman a better opportunity to trade for a top-of-the-line starting pitcher.

I think someone should shoot Cashman right in the head if he even thinks of trading Montero for a starter.

And then go shoot Harper for suggesting it.

Last summer, as the Yankees desperately tried to trade for the Mariner’s Cliff Lee, reports surfaced that Cashman was willing to include Montero in the deal, but that the young shortstop Eduardo Nunez would not be included.

Let’s analyze that for just a minute.

The Yankees were in need of starting pitching. Lee was the best prospect out there. Any team in a pennant race should have wanted him.

At that point though, Cashman would have been renting Lee for a little over two months in the regular season and for the playoffs.

There was no certainty Lee would stay with the Yankees for 2011. All the proof you need for that is when Lee went back to the Phillies for less money, even after Cashman opened Scrooge McDuck’s bank vaults in January.

To rent Lee for less than half a season though, the Yankees were willing to give up their top prospect in Montero, but not Nunez.

Analyze a little more.

The Yankee shortstop last July was a fella named Derek Jeter. He was in his “walk” year. (Like he was really going to walk!)

Theoretically (quantum physics kinda theory here), Jeter would be gone, and the Yanks would be out of a shortstop come November.

So, Cashman would have had to keep Nunez in case Jeter did indeed walk away from New York.

Montero has been touted by everyone who has seen him as a can’t-miss,major-league hitter. He has hit superbly at every level of the minor leagues.

He is hitting .448 through the few games the Scranton Yankees have played in Triple-A so far this season.

Harper thinks that is just grand because the better Montero hits in Scranton, the better chances Cashman has of landing a starting pitcher.

Just how valuable does Harper think a front-line starter will be? Or how valuable does Cashman think one would be?

Valuable enough to give up Montero?  In the humble opinion of this writer, that is stupid.

The Yankees had question marks with their starting pitching in 2009 and still won the World Series.

The Yankees had serious problems with their starting staff in 2010 and still made it to the ALCS.

Another example, in 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series with no starters winning more than 14 games.

Montero can be a major league catcher. He showed that early in Spring Training this year when everyone was raving about his defense. He fell off about half way through camp, both defensively and with the stick.

But this kid is only 21 years old. He could be the answer for the Yankees behind the plate for the next 15 years. How often will the team have an opportunity to have a catcher who can tear it up with the bat for 15 years?

Never.

That is how often.

Jorge Posada has been a great offensive asset. On the other side of the ball, he has been a less-than-average defensive catcher, causing problems to the point that some big-name pitchers did not want to throw to him.

Can Montero possibly be any worse behind the plate than Posada was for more than a dozen  years? 

The answer is no.

Cashman wanted to protect a shortstop last summer who has proven nothing, while dangling a stud catcher who is going to be a star in the major leagues.

I repeat, if Montero continues to tear it up at Triple-A and Harper convinces Cashman to trade him for an arm, please, somebody shoot them both right in the head.

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Earlier this spring, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman insisted that Manny Banuelos, who won’t turn 20 years old for another few days, had “no chance” to make the major league team out of spring training. 

The young left-hander, says Cashman, will begin the 2011 season at Double-A Trenton.

This would make sense if Banuelos were your normal soon-to-be 20-year-old pitcher; which is to say, somebody in desperate need of more seasoning before being ready to even dream of pitching in the major leagues.

But to watch Banuelos pitch, even in spring training, is to know the minor leagues have nothing to offer him but innings. We see no rational reason to waste those innings in the minor leagues—especially when the major league team is in such desperate need of quality innings from the rotation.

While Banuelos possesses overpowering stuff—he has great command of three plus pitches—he is not simply overpowering batters. Even at the tender age of 19, the lefty is anything but the proverbial “thrower.” Banuelos is a pitcher, and an advanced one at that.

“(He’s a) special kid,” a former MLB scout told Yankees ‘n More. “This is the product you get when a guy learns to pitch first with pretty good stuff, and then picks up a couple ticks.”

And what about keeping Banuelos on the majors from the start this season?

“It’s incredibly tempting,” said the former scout. “Most young talents, you can see where they need seasoning. He (Banuelos) already has the moxie of a major league pitcher.”

For proof of that “moxie,” look no further than Manny’s performance Friday evening against the Boston Red Sox. Banuelos pitched two scoreless innings, but it’s not simply the results that impressed. It’s the way he achieved those results.

Banuelos twice spotted a nasty changeup for a strike when behind the count 1-0. He also dropped in a nasty curve for a strike when he fell down in the count 2-0 to a third batter.

And what did young Manny show when he found himself in a bit of trouble with two men on in his second inning of work? This kid, who had been sitting at 93 with his fastball most of the evening, reached back for 96—blowing away the batter to end the inning, while registering his third strikeout of the night.

So what’s the problem with allowing Banuelos the opportunity to pitch his way into the major leagues? Would this be any sort of issue if he were pitching as he is at the age of 22 or 23? Can Brian Cashman really be so blind as to not recognize a special set of circumstances when he sees them?

Seattle‘s Felix Hernandez was pitching in the major leagues at a younger age than Banuelos is now. In fact, “King” Felix pitched 84 innings in the major leagues the year he turned 19. He pitched 191 more the year he turned 20. If memory serves, that worked out okay.

That worked out okay because Hernandez was a special case. And when you watch him pitch, you know Banuelos is as well. To just blindly apply a strict set of rules to every 20-year-old for no other reason than because they are 20 is, at best, silly.

No, don’t misunderstand. The Yankees should be very protective of this young arm. But you do that with pitch and innings limits. Where those pitches and innings are thrown should be determined only by Banuelos’ performances. Period.

There is one other thing that must be considered with Banuelos, or any other pitcher for that matter: injuries.

Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, especially not to pitchers. God forbid Banuelos is one of those unfortunates who only has a very limited number of bullets in the chamber—think Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, etc.

But whether young Banuelos proves to be the next Mark Prior or the next Nolan Ryan when it comes to health, the question still has to be asked:

Just how many of Manny’s bullets do we wish to waste on the minor leagues?

Brian Cashman might not be ready to see Manny pitch in the major leagues, but the kid is sure enough ready to pitch at that level. To send him anyplace else would be a waste.

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With all of 50 at bats at the major league level, this prospect from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is already infamous in Yankees history. 

He will forever be known as the player that did not land Cliff Lee.

Born on June 15, 1987, Eduardo Michelle Nunez is a right handed batter standing at 6’0″, weighing in at 155 pounds. Tall and lanky, he has an infielder’s body type and has been deemed by Brian Cashman as Derek Jeter’s successor at shortstop.

Cashman balked at including him in the 2010 deal that would have landed Cliff Lee when option one, David Adams, came up injured at trade time.

Eduardo was signed as a non-drafted free agent on February 25, 2004. He made an immediate impact when he was sent to Class A Staten Island in 2005. He hit .313 with 88 hits in 281 at-bats getting on base at a .365 clip. He stole six bases in nine attempts, showing his speed. Six of his hits were triples and had 11 doubles. 

When he was moved to Class A Charleston and high A Tampa, Eduardo regressed over the 2006 season. He hit a combined .214 with a .261 on-base percentage. What gave the Yankees some hope was the 22 stolen bases he tallied. 

In 2007, Eduardo started the year at Class A Charleston hitting a pedestrian .238 in 328 at-bats. He did, however, continue to display his speed by swiping 20 bags. 

Continuing to believe in his ability, the Yankees decided to move him by sending him to high A Tampa of the Florida State League. In 123 at-bats, he began to show why the Yankees had faith in him by turning the average around. He hit .285 with an on-base percentage of .336 while swiping nine more bases for a total of 29 on the year.

Nunez spent the entire 2008 season with Tampa and had some moderate success. He hit .271 in 373 at-bats, scoring 45 runs. He stole only 14 bases and was caught 10 times.  He was beginning to look like a fifth infielder at best, if not for some suspect defense. 

Things were about to change for him.

2009 saw Eduardo start to fulfill the promise that intrigued the Yankees and their hope for him in the future. He was promoted to Class AA Trenton and simply hit. In 497 at-bats, he hit .322, scored 70 runs, 26 doubles, nine home runs and a slugging percentage of .433 with an on-base percentage of .349. He stole 19 bases, but his decision-making still needed work, getting caught seven times.

This was the breakout that he and the Yankees were waiting for.

Scranton-Wilkes Barre was his first stop in 2010 and Eduardo kept rolling. In 464 at-bats, he hit .289 with 25 doubles, three triples, four home runs and a .340 on base percentage. He became a more disciplined base stealer, bagging 23 bases and getting caught only five times. 

Eduardo’s showing at Scranton convinced the Yankees that he deserved a call to the majors. In 50 at-bats with the big club, he hit a respectable .280 with 12 runs scored and five stolen bases. 

The biggest knock on Nunez has been his defense. He has a very strong arm, sometimes a little too strong for his own good. From 2005 through 2007, he made between 23 and 33 errors with a fielding percentage between .913 and .938. In 2008, he was 19 and .952, showing some development on defense, before regressing back to 33 and .932 with Trenton in 2009. 

In 2010, however, he may have started to put it together. In 101 games at SS, he made only 10 errors and had a fielding percentage of .976. Not stellar numbers by any stretch, but maybe a sign of where his development has come from where it started. 

Eduardo has a bat that appears to be major league ready, as evidenced in his 2010 showing at the major league level. If he can continue the development on defense, he could turn into a good all-around player. It is more likely he becomes a weapon off the bench with his speed, but even there he needs some work. The last few years he has begun to improve in the problem areas, so hope is definitely there.

Expecting this kid to be the heir apparent to Derek Jeter is a lofty goal for a player that still has a lot to prove. Still only 23 years old, he has developed well over the last few years and that could be a sign of things to come. 2011 could be a very telling year for him and his development as the next Yankees shortstop.

Brought to you by Pinstripes and Pasta

The Patience Series:

Patience Part 1: Hector Noesi

Patience Part 2: David Phelps

Patience Part 3: Brandon Laird

Patience Part 4: Adam Warren

Patience Part 5: Eduardo Nunez (Above)

Patience Part 6: Gary Sanchez

Related Articles:

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

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The whole offseason drama with the Yankees was: “Who’s going to pitch for us?”

The Yankees have talented minor league pitching prospects, but they aren’t ready to pitch by Opening Day and they have free agents on their staff, with decidedly mixed results.

Where that leaves the Yankees as Spring Training 2011 begins is with a starting rotation with holes the size of fishing nets. Just how did the richest organization in sports get into this mess?

Short answer: They don’t develop pitchers. 

Since the “Core Four” came up together in 1996, the Yankees have developed exactly one starting pitcher: Phil Hughes.

For years, the Yankees relied on Andy Pettitte and a bevy of free agents: Clemens, Mussina, Wells, Pavano, Wright, Irabu, etc.

During that time, from 1996 until 2010, there were two pitchers the Yankees brought up that could have worked, but A: They traded Ted Lilly for a headcase and B: They mishandled Chien-Ming Wang’s injury and he is busted for the foreseeable future.

It’s interesting to note that the Yankees were initially reluctant to bring Wang up and showed little faith in him, despite his domination of the minor leagues. Wang only was in the rotation because free agents Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jared Wright all had catastrophic performances throughout 2005.

Wang was never supposed to have been given a chance—circumstances and desperation afforded him his opportunity.

In any event, the point is the Yankees have had no real success in developing young pitchers since 1996. Their faith has always been placed—despite much evidence to the contrary—in free agency.

Whether it was due to lack of interest or just plain old incompetence, the Yankees haven’t been able to develop a young pitcher and haven’t shown any confidence in giving one a chance.

“We’re gonna be in it every year,” says Hank Steinbrenner. “Every single year.”

Which is great news for Yankees fans, having an ownership that puts their profit back onto the field is a wonderful thing.

Ask the Pirates.

But it also means that trusting rookies to develop is going to usually be a non-starter, especially pitchers. Rookies make mistakes, need time to grow.

Check out Randy Johnson’s first couple of years, or Johan Santana’s or Tom Glavine’s. It takes a bit of time before pitchers find their groove.

The Yankees do not have a bit of time.

So here come the free agents—the Kei Igawas, the Kevin Browns, the Jared Wrights, the A.J. Burnetts.

Which brings us to 2011 Spring Training, with a ball club that has a $200 million dollar price tag and roughly 2.5 to 3.5 starting pitchers.

Ivan Nova will probably have a starting job, but will also have the added pressure that he has to produce immediately as a starter in the rotation. He wont be afforded the luxury of developing in the bullpen and working his way onto the staff. His growth as a pitcher is borne of panicked desperation instead of prudent development.

Our rivals to the north have in two slots of their rotation potential aces that were home-grown. Both Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz came up young, were allowed to make mistakes (Jon Lester’s WHIP his first two years was 1.648 and 1.460; Buchholz went 2-9, 6.75 ERA, 1.763 WHIP in 2008), were allowed to get sent back down to AAA to work on their stuff and generally learn and grow.

There is very little chance that the Yankees would have allowed a 2-9 performance or a 1.648 WHIP rookie on their staff. A call would have been made to Sidney Ponson or Shawn Chacon to try to save the season.

Development over.

So that is where the Yankees are in 2011: Two quality starters, one recovering starter, one journeyman starter and a rushed rookie, along with a $200 million dollar price tag and tons of hope in the minors, but most of them at least a year away.

Going forward, the prayers of Yankees fans regarding those talented minor league pitchers are A: Don’t rush them (remember 19-year-old Jose Rijo?) and B: Don’t trade them for someone like Derek Lowe or Bronson Arroyo in an attempt to catch the Red Sox in July.

I do appreciate the Yankees spending beau-coup bucks to try to win. But that mindset—of winning every single season no matter what—has placed pitcher development on the back burner, and has created a culture of distrust of young pitchers.

“Win now” has meant “No Growing Pains;” either perform like an All-Star immediately or you’re out, which is a short-sighted philosophy.

Overpaying an older, fading pitcher who may not fit your team and who will plug your payroll for years (Brown, Johnson, Wright) instead of taking a chance to develop a younger, cheaper pitcher makes no sense over the long haul.

Yet the Yankees continue to do it.

Which is how we got here.

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Courtesy of Yankees ‘n More

As you likely know by now, thanks to reports in Tuesday morning’s New York Daily News and New York Post, CC Sabathia currently holds a GIGANTIC hammer—by way of his end-of-season opt-out clause—over the heads of the entire New York Yankees organization.

What’s most interesting about this…oops…I’m sorry. Did I say interesting?

I meant what’s most damning about this whole thing is that general manager Brian Cashman is not only the one who basically forced Sabathia to hold the hammer, but also the one responsible for making it so ginormous.

When asked about Sabathia’s opt-out clause on Monday, Cashman again admitted that the whole thing was his idea. He just “threw in” the opt-out clause, he says, as a way of making sure Sabathia was “comfortable” with New York.

And remember, after Sabathia signed his deal, he said was “100% committed to New York” and that he neither asked for or even needed an opt-out clause.

It was all Cashman’s brilliant idea.

Now, sources from those previously mentioned reports say Sabathia will indeed use that opt-out clause, but not because he doesn’t like New York.

He will use it because, quite frankly, he’d have to be a moron if he didn’t use it.

At the end of this season, Sabathia will be 31 years old and have four years and a total of $94 million remaining on his current deal. Consider that Cliff Lee, who is 32, just signed a five-year, $120 million contract with the Phillies and many believe he left at least some money on the table.

So, what does Sabathia get, assuming reasonable health, when he opts out of his current deal? A conservative guess would be at least six years and $140 million. That’s a minimum of two extra years (at ages 36 and 37) and another $56 million worth of risk the Yankees will be forced assume thanks to Cashman’s opt-out idea.

And here’s the real kicker: Thanks to Cashman’s inability to provide the Yankees with any real options over the last two-plus years since Sabathia signed his deal, New York’s ace has the team completely over a barrel.

In this story from Tuesday’s Journal News, the Yankees’ current rotation was referred to as “remarkably thin.”

So short of something really dramatic, the Bombers are going to be forced to give Sabathia basically whatever he wants or go ace-less.

What we are really dealing with here is multiple levels of incompetence on the part of Cashman compounding themselves into a real problem for the Yankees.

First, Cashman gave Sabathia the hammer by volunteering the opt-out clause, then he turned it into a sledgehammer by failing to provide any other options for the franchise that provides Cashman with never-before-seen resources with which to do his job.

There is a sliver of good news for the Yankees in all of this. At almost exactly the same time Sabathia figures to be wielding his GM-provided and enhanced weapon, Cashman’s current contract will expire.

Here’s hoping Hal Steinbrenner has been paying attention to just how much Cashman’s incompetence has cost and damaged his late father’s most-prized possession. After all, not only is Cashman the one who gave Sabathia his giant hammer, he’s also the one who turned the Yankees into a $200 million underdog.

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Unless you have been living under a rock you already know the deal.

The New York Yankees main focus in this past offseason was to acquire starting pitching. Brian Cashman’s genius plan was to put the teams hopes, dreams and eggs all in one basket named Cliff Lee.

Cashman, ever the fool, believed that the Yankees could wave their bank account under the nose of Cliff Lee, sprinkle it with the pride, power and prestige of the Yankee pinstripe tradition and he would become giddy like some 14-year-old boy getting his first real kiss…and sign on the dotted line while trying not to drool.

The arrogance and short sightedness of Cashman is truly astounding. The colossal mistake the Yankees have made and continue to make has nothing to do with Cliff Lee. It has everything to do with Joba Chamberlain.

(If only the Yankees had a farm system like the other teams where they could develop their own talent…What? They do? Hmmm…)

The Yankees need for Lee was obvious as their rotation coming into the 2011 season was anchored by the ever steady C.C Sabathia, an as yet to be fully tested Phil Hughes (one season of 18 wins coming off another season in which he was banished to the pen does not instill massive confidence in a repeat performance), a disappointing A.J Burnett (Well, I am not sure Burnett was really disappointing more than he was just slightly off what he usually delivers…he is a career .500 pitcher, it’s not like he is Cy young material) and an unproven rookie named Ivan Nova.

They needed Lee, or any pitcher. It would be nice if they had someone in the fold that could step up.

(Joba Chamberlain is available…oh wait, never mind. The Yankees are pissed that he has not delivered on his talent even though their management of him is the real problem. It’s easier to blame the kid.)

Then of course, at the time, there was the Andy Pettitte “will he or won’t he” dance that has become annoyingly familiar in New York.

To make matters worse, the Yankee pen was full of holes.

If they lost out on Lee and Pettitte retired, the Yankees were seriously looking at a third or fourth place finish…no joke.

(Joba Chamberlain can start…but won’t because Brian Cashman is not qualified for the role he currently fills in New York. He is, in every sense of the word, unqualified.)

Lee ended up in Philly most likely due to the fact that A:) He knew he could not handle the pressure of New York B:)The treatment of Derek Jeter told him what to expect C:) He did not like the way his wife was treated by the Yankees fans in the Post Season D:) He looked at the Philly rotation with him in it and well, the man is not stupid.

I do not care what Lee has said, nor what people believe…I believe that those are the reasons, and all played a role, in why Lee chose to take the job in Philly. I look at Lee as a coward that did not want the pressure cooker of New York. He is a very smart, well paid coward though.

(Joba Chamberlain is in New York…under contract…in pinstripes…he can start…hello?)

Pettitte finally manned up and made a decision to retire most likely due to the fact that A:) The Roger Clemens trial would be a distraction for him and the team. Pettitte is a creature of habit and does not like his routines to be messed with. B:) Without Lee in the mix Pettitte would have a ton of pressure upon him to perform…Pettitte is a big game pitcher but he is most comfortable as the middle of the rotation guy, not the savior C:) He honestly wants to spend more time with his family.

I do not care what Pettitte has said, nor what people believe, I believe that those are the reasons, and all played a role, in why Andy has chosen to ride the recliner in Deer Park and not don the pinstripes in 2011.

(Joba Chamberlain was seen getting a ticket heading to Tampa to report to spring training as a reliever when the Yankees need starting pitching. Cashman is a genius, not.)

So the Yankees, in fear of facing a third or fourth place finish go out and bolster their bullpen by landing Pedro Feliciano and Alphonso Soriano (In what will go down as the biggest contract joke ever in the history of baseball…I mean seriously, Cashman is a fool. I have no doubt Soriano will deliver, but 35 million dollars with an option for him to opt out at anytime? Are you kidding me?) giving the Yankees arguably, on paper, the best bullpen in the game right now with or without without Chamberlain who figures to play a very minor role this season because, due to his past performance, he cannot be trusted.

(Of course the Yankees and their management of him plays no part…no, of course not. The boy failed on his own in a team sport, imagine that.)

However, they need starters. The market is thin. What is a team to do?

(Joba Chamberlain as a starter has an ERA in the low 3’s…I think he is on the Yankees Roster. Does Cashman know he is there? Someone should email Brian and let him know that Joba has started before. Let’s not forget he is still young and a serious investment into his talent and ability could pay off for a decade or more…but hey, it’s easier to just toss him into the pen where he can do minimal damage, right Brian?)

In desperation the Yankees go the low risk, hopefully huge return route of signing former starting studs Mark Prior, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia to minor league deals. There is nothing else out there, unless you consider Chamberlain, which Cashman in his infinite wisdom won’t do.

(Didn’t the Yankees have a young kid that was a “phenom” a few years ago? No not Phil Hughes…the portly big boy whose father was always in the stands. I think his name was Joba. What? He is still on the Yankee roster? Wait, wasn’t he a starter once?)

So, where does that leave the Yankees for 2011?

A starting rotation of C.C Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J Burnett, Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia is the most likely scenario at this point for 2011. Garcia was 12-6 last season and seems to have rebounded from injury. All he has to do is out pitch Sergio Mitre, which should be possible for the veteran, and he is in.

Again, the Yankees bullpen is set with the likes of Rivera, Logan, Feliciano, Soriano, Robertson, Mitre, possibly Prior and some kid named Joba Chamberlain, who has a 1.54 ERA as a reliever. I think he used to start once upon a time but hey, why quibble over small details.

Bottom line folks…the Yankees don’t need Chamberlain in the pen, they need him in the starting rotation. Yes, the debate rages on but seriously…

As a reliever Chamberlain goes against his natural talent and thinks too much on the mound. When Joba thinks on the mound bad things happen. He is a machine…adding artificial intelligence only mucks up the mechanics.

I have watched this kid, and yes, he is a kid, pitch as a starter and a reliever.

If you have watched him as well you will agree with me that when he comes on as a reliever he thinks too much. He has a starter’s mentality. When a runner gets on base he gets unnerved. He pitches from the stretch which is something a reliever should never do. 

He tries to be too fine with his pitches. He gets rattled too easily because in his mind he knows he is only out there for a few batters, maybe one inning…but he approaches it like a starter that is rushed and thus gets rocked.

When Chamberlain was “lights out as a reliever” he came in, worked quickly, did not shake off the catcher and just threw smoke. Look back when he first came up…work quick, smoke, pump fist. Check.

When he gets rocked he takes his time, throws a lot of off speed stuff and tries to be too fine…just like a starter.

When he started and did well, he worked quickly, did not shake off the catcher and threw smoke with a nasty change mixed in. As a starter he gave up slightly over three runs per game over his career starts. That is better than every starter currently in place to pitch for the team this coming season.

The Yankees, in my opinion, are making a monumental mistake of keeping Chamberlain in the pen and not working with him during the offseason to build his stamina, get him on a serious diet, work on his mechanics and pitching with runners on.

Chamberlain, when working quickly and just trusting his stuff, is a better pitcher than Burnett, equal to Hughes, blows Mitre away and has better stuff than Garcia.

Chamberlain in the bullpen is yet another example of Brian Cashman’s lack of baseball knowledge…and arrogance and ego of not wanting to look bad by committing the Kid to start. The less he is seen the less chance he screws up, right Brian?

C.C Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J Burnett, Freddy Garcia and Joba Chamberlain…it’s the Yankees best option for the coming year barring some blockbuster trade that appears unlikely to happen.

Joba gets a lot of flack from fans and media alike but the Yankees management of this kid is the real problem…it’s a disgrace actually.

Let the kid pitch…

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