MLB & New York Yankees: Brian Cashman’s Defense of AJ Burnett Is Idiotic
August 13, 2011 · darcy fournier · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Brian Cashman is in the final year of his current contract as General Manager of the New York Yankees.
Some hope he will resign.
Quite possibly, more are praying to whatever Gods they believe in that he does not.
No matter what side you are on when it comes to Cashman, one cannot easily dispute that during his tenure, which started in 1998, the Yankees have won the A.L Pennant five times and the World Series three, making Cashman the most successful GM in baseball over that particular period of time.
Regardless of your desire to want him to stay or if you’re praying for him to go, one would be hard to argue against the idea that the position of New York Yankees GM is the most high pressure, under the microscope job in all of sports.
Everything Cashman says, or fails to say, everything he does, or fails to do, every poor performance by a player and every loss the team endures is scrutinized and dissected, with Cashman’s name in the thick of it.
In fact, with that being said, it would be difficult—if being honest—for any detractor of Brian Cashman to deny that through it all he has conducted himself with poise. For the most part, he has handled himself with dignity and class under the immense pressures of such a position.
Even the most die hard Red Sox fan would find it difficult to deny what Cashman has achieved while GM of the Yankees (yes, I realize you will naturally try).
Cashman has not exactly been successful in the realm of selecting first-round draft picks, mainly given the Yankees deep seed in those picks due to where they finished during each season. But he has made stellar trades and acquisitions over that time.
When the Yankees win it all, we (the fans) rarely recognize and thank Cashman for the moves he made to make it happen. We rarely recognize these things because it is expected. We expect to win. We expect Cashman and company to do what is necessary to make it happen.
This is the Yankee way and we are their fans. It is almost like a weird, abstract birthright of sorts.
When we buy a car at a dealership we expect it to start and perform as advertised. When it does we don’t send a thank you note or call to tell them how pleased we are.
When we pull off the lot and realize the radio is broken, we want it fixed, we want it fixed now and then we want someone fired.
Same thing when you are a fan of the Yankees.
So we never thanked Cashman for bringing Chuck Knoblauch, Roger Clemens, David Justice, Aaron Boone, Orlando Hernandez, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano, C.C Sabathia, Mark Texiera or Nick Swisher to the Yankees.
We never thanked him for bringing back Andy Pettitte.
We never thanked the trade happy Yankees or Cashman for managing to keep Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter in tact as our core.
Relax, this is not a love letter to Brian Cashman, read on.
Yes, Cashman has been very successful in his role as GM of the Yankees and we never thanked him for it—because it was expected.
His success does not matter.
As with most things in life, it is a “what have you done for me lately” mentality. No where is that mentality more in force than within the Yankees fan base.
Fair or not, that is the nature of the human beast. For us, our loyalties and patience extend from title to title.
Some of the more infected of us suffer game to game.
Despite all he has done for the team, if Cashman walks after this year, most Yankee fans will rejoice.
Why, you ask?
Because the radio is broken. It has been broken for some time. We want it fixed, we want it fixed now and then we want someone fired.
This is where Cashman comes in.
You see, the Yankees organization and their fan base, of which I am a part, have a very unhealthy and unrealistic attitude. Win now at all costs and win it all, or all is lost.
Jeter can collect hit number 3,000.
C.C can win the Cy Young.
Nova can win the A.L Rookie of the Year.
Texiera can win the Home Run title and Granderson the MVP, but if the Yankees don’t win the World Series, the season was a loss.
Yes, we know it makes no sense, but it is what is is for us.
Not all of us have it that bad, but all of us are infected to some degree.
When we win, we expect it and rarely give out kudos where they are due.
When we lose…the infection goes deep into the brain and we only remember everything negative that happened.
We forget the signings mentioned above that led to World Series titles and we remember the Kevin Brown’s, Hideki Irabu’s, Carl Pavano’s, Javier Vasquez and Jeff Weaver’s that Cashman burdened us with. We remember, in our angst of losing, that we once traded away Mike Lowell and still have A.J Burnett.
When Hideki Matsui hit 21 homers and drove in 84 runs in the year after Cashman let him go, we remember that he was our 2009 World Series MVP and we replaced him with Nick Johnson, the MVP of the disabled list.
We want Cashman’s head on a pike.
Many of my fellow Yankee brethren are so afflicted with this disease that they will declare the season over before it begins and call for the head of Cashman in the offseason, simply because the Yankees failed to sign a certain player, like…oh let’s just toss a name out there…let’s say Cliff Lee.
Some fans are so infected with the WINAAC disease (Win It Now At All Costs) that they declare the season over in April, when the Yankees start off at .500 and are not in first place…kind of like the 2009 season (I wonder who won the World Series in 2009? I have to look that up).
The Yankees not in first in April?
Damn you, Cashman!
Some do not get infected until mid-season, when the Yankees are not in first place and fail to sign a player at the trade deadline. The numbers are not yet in on how many Yankee fans took their own lives when we failed to trade the farm for Ubaldo Jimenez a few weeks ago…news at 11.
Curse you BRIAN!
This is what happens when you have an organization, lead by the late George Steinbrenner, that believes in re-investing in the team every year, to put a group of men on the field that can win the World Series year in and year out.
It’s a gift and a curse. It’s the right attitude that is taken far too seriously.
Right or wrong, that is the way of the Yankees and their fans.
We know it and accept it.
Cashman does as well.
My personal problem with Cashman is not with the players he signed that failed to perform. No, it is up to the player to perform once they sign on the dotted line.
Don’t get me wrong, I do question some of the moves he made, most notably the re-signing of Javier Vasquez, letting Matsui go and the signing of Nick Johnson, but it’s a risk one takes in the game and you have to go with it.
I mean, no one expected Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia to do what they have done this year. Cashman was roasted for these signings and not being able to get Lee, but now he looks like a genius—and no one has bent over backwards to pat Cash on the back.
Why? Because no one can predict what a body will do.
If they stunk up the joint, there would be a lynch mob trying to get in his suite at the stadium, attempting to give a new meaning to the term “Seventh Inning Stretch.”
No, my problem with Cashman is, and always has been, his mouth.
Cashman fell out of favor with me for comments made during contract negotiations with Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada, as well as the disgusting way he—and the organization—handled the Derek Jeter contract negotiations—all of which are in the past and at this point moot.
In the end, Jeter remained a Yankee for life, as it should be. But in the process, Jeter was overcompensated and disrespected by the organization that he has excelled for and has been incredibly loyal to.
More recently however, it’s Cashman’s defense of A.J Burnett that has me praying to whatever God I believe in that he is done in New York.
The GM of the Yankees should be of sound mind and of reasonable intelligence. Cashman’s mouth shows that he is currently lacking in both.
Let’s be honest about A.J Burnett, something Cashman—and apparently Burnett himself—cannot bring themselves to do.
The man has nasty stuff and can certainly pitch. Yeah, we get that.
If he was on the Royals roster, the man would most likely put up 18 wins and look like a legit number two starter.
However, this is the Yankees. Expectations are higher and the pressure to perform intense.
Burnett is a career .500 pitcher that is being asked to be the number two starter, behind a workhorse like Sabathia, on a Championship Caliber, big market team. The man simply does not have the mental strength or the ability to perform at that level and in the pressure cooker that is New York.
Cashman has done nothing about this for three years.
Anyone that complains about Burnett is a fool. Look at his career record. That’s what he does and what he is delivering.
Yet Cashman states he is not pitching like a number two starter right now and that he has faith in him to perform that way again.
Hello Brian, he never was and never will be that pitcher. Get a clue.
The man is performing exactly as his career numbers advertised. He is a career .500 pitcher with an ERA consistently near 4.00.
He is being asked to deliver more than his talent will allow and the pressure to do so is making matters worse.
Burnett is an average pitcher…period, end of story. I don’t blame A.J for his performance, I blame him for thinking he is going to do better than he has over his entire career as he gets older.
That simply is not happening.
Cashman has put him in a position to fail and has left him there for three years
Cashman needs to recognize it, own it and fix it.
He needs to stop defending it to the media, giving Burnett a false sense of ability that never translates on the field…and making himself look like an ass.
The problem here is Cashman being unable to develop or acquire a legit rotation over the last three seasons, one that would put A.J in a comfort zone in New York.
That is his job, to field or develop the best team possible—not to defend his mistakes to the press.
Cashman knew what A.J was bringing to the table and has seen the results for three seasons, yet still has the guts to come out in defense of Burnett with a thinly veiled argument to keep him in the rotation down the stretch?
The Yankees currently have a six man rotation with the first four spots going to C.C Sabathia, Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova and Bartolo Colon. They have to decide who gets the fifth spot between Burnett and Phil Hughes, with the loser going to the pen.
The logical choice here is Hughes, given his youth, control and lack of innings this year on the arm. Burnett, with his experience and usual early inning success, should be out of the pen.
However, even that scenario is risky because Burnett loses his focus when runners get on. Yes, this is a pickle.
Yet, due to Cashman’s unrealistic and irresponsible defense of Burnett, claiming that he can still pitch, can still be effective, he has not been given run support, we should not be so hard on him for his performance because of the salary he makes, blah, blah, blah. It’s not only irresponsible and laughable, it’s borderline insane.
Burnett has squandered leads. When runners get on he becomes unhinged. He is our new Jeff Weaver.
Hello? Quite frankly, A.J Burnett is an embarrassment.
Recently in a game against the Angels, Burnett was spotted 13 runs. He managed to last only 4 2/3 innings giving up seven runs, blowing the easy win and acting like a child when Girardi came out to take him off the mound.
That’s typical and not to be defended by anyone, let alone the GM.
Now, because of Cashman and his illogical and irresponsible interference, Burnett will most likely remain in the starting rotation and the Yankees’ post season is in jeopardy.
Can you imagine being in the post season with a 13 run lead over the Red Sox…with Burnett on the mound?
I’m scared, how about you?
Anyone doubt that the always ass-kissing, politically correct, never say boo Yankees Manager Joe Girardi, if plied with a few beers, would not voice his overwhelming desire to have A.J removed from the rotation?
Cashman, in his idiotic defense of Burnett—much like Burnett himself—has lost the mental capacity to handle the pressure of his job and he needs to not seek a new contract.
Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina were both very vocal and honest about their ability and their limitations. Neither Andy or Mike wanted to be looked at as a savior, as a number one starter, simply because they new their limitations.
Burnett? He stinks up the joint and offers the same low key response after ever poor start. “Yeah, I had a bad inning. I am not going to beat myself up over it. I am better than what I did today and eventually I will get on a roll.”
Burnett is taking the old saying of “I think, therefore I am” a little too far. He clearly thinks of himself as having more ability than God gave him and it’s only matter of time before it reveals itself. We have waited three years. Burnett has waited his entire career.
It ain’t happening.
He should try “I stink, therefore I am.”
Cashman comes out in defense of his performance? Yes, that’s just what Burnett needs.
Burnett is in denial about his ability and Cashman is his enabler.
Girardi needs to man up and speak his mind, not simply toe the company line.
Have you ever seen his reactions when A.J pitches? Girardi does not want this man in his rotation.
I don’t want him in the rotation.
I need to get Girardi drunk.
However, after watching Burnett pitch and hearing his boss defend Burnett’s performance, he probably does not need my help getting saucy.
Hopefully both Cashman and Burnett will be out of New York when their respective contracts expire so we can get onto the business of winning. And if not, at least having new people to blame for the lack of doing so will be somewhat refreshing.
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