SI ranks MacPhail the 12th best GM in MLB (but 4th in AL East)

[Shopay]

Not taking anything away from Cashman and Theo, but until/unless there is a salary cap in place, in other words a level playing field for all the GMs, I don't read a lot into these rankings.

[Pedro Cerrano]

So what level of success would be necessary for Cashman to be deemed a success? 105 wins a year? 110? 120? Winning the Series every single year?

He can't really be judged as a success because of what he has to work with. But he can definitely fail. Such is the life of the New York Yankees' GM. In terms of his actual ability to be a GM, I'm less than impressed.

[Pedro Cerrano]

"Jason Giambi is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Mike Mussina is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Hideki Matsui is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Gary Sheffield is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Kevin Brown is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Alex Rodriguez is an FA?....let's sign him, wait let's trade for him and sign him!"

"Carl Pavano is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Jaret Wright is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Johnny Damon is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"Mark Teixeira is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"CC Sabathia is an FA?....let's sign him!"

"AJ Burnett is an FA?....let's sign him!"

BTW in all these examples the players listed were generally considered to be at or near the top of their FA class so it's not like he went out and found some diamonds in the rough.

Is he even responsible for the home grown core of Pettitte, Jeter, Bernie, Posada, etc or did that happen under someone else's watch? I'm pretty sure Bob Watson put that core together.

[DrungoHazewood]

Yes, and the fact that they failed is a testament to his abilities as a GM.

Again, he gets away with this stuff because his team is successful. And his team is successful, in my humble opinion, because he has the luxury of working in an environment where anything less than 90 wins is a catastrophe and therefore resources know no maximum.

I don't think you understand. He signed Carl Pavano knowing there was a decent chance he'd fail. But he also knew there was a pretty good chance he'd be really good. Other teams knew this, too, and discounted what they offered him to account for the risk. To the Yanks the risk didn't matter nearly as much, so they won the bidding.

The Orioles wined and dined Pavano. They brought him to OPACY, they put his face on the scoreboard with an O's cap. Other teams did exactly the same thing in their stadiums. The Yanks got him because their risk calculation is different than everyone else's, as it should be with their payroll. How does this make Cashman a failure?

I think a lot of people are using Cashman and the Yank's money as a proxy for baseball's screwed up economic system. You should go yell about Bud and his cronies who let the system exist, not call Brian Cashman a failure and bad GM because his teams are only dominant, but not sport-cripplingly dominant.

[DrungoHazewood]

He can't really be judged as a success because of what he has to work with. But he can definitely fail. Such is the life of the New York Yankees' GM. In terms of his actual ability to be a GM, I'm less than impressed.

Ok, just so we know what forms the basis of your opinion. This is a poll where the answers are "No" and "Hell No".

[JTrea81]

That sounds about right for MacPhail.

He is one of the best in the game for trades, but his ability to sign premium FAs is extremely poor.

And his creativity in deals is pretty average.

Cashman and Epstein both score high marks in all categories with trading, FA, and creativity...

[Pedro Cerrano]

Let me ask you, other than simply spitting out the fact that the Yankees win all these games and that's why he's so great, give me specific examples of things Cashman has done, specific moves that he's made that make you say "You know, a lesser GM wouldn't have done that."

And there better be a whole laundry list. After all, he's better than 27 of his colleagues...

[Sports Guy]

Bashing Cashman really shows poor knowledge and understanding of what he has accomplished and what he values.

If it were up to him, he wouldn't be spending the crazy money...He believes in what we are doing and what TB did...He wants more of a MiL system and things like that.

But he has more pressures than most and needs to win all the time.

Cashman is a wonderful GM.

[Hank Scorpio]

I guess I just have significant disdain for the inefficiency with which the Yankees operate, outbidding the closest competitor by $40MM for Sabathia, handing AJ Burnett a ludicrous contract for his injury history & age, etc... etc... etc...

Bravo...

I don't think Cashman is a failure or anything, I'm just not impressed by the way the Yankees go about their business.

[ShaneDawg85]

BTW in all these examples the players listed were generally considered to be at or near the top of their FA class so it's not like he went out and found some diamonds in the rough.

Is he even responsible for the home grown core of Pettitte, Jeter, Bernie, Posada, etc or did that happen under someone else's watch? I'm pretty sure Bob Watson put that core together.

A good part of the core of those teams was drafted and developed under the regimes of Gene Michael and Bob Watson. Most of the guys you mentioned were drafted by Michael, and he also traded for Paul O'Neill. Watson was GM when the Yankees won the title in 1996.

[waroriole]

He can't really be judged as a success because of what he has to work with. But he can definitely fail. Such is the life of the New York Yankees' GM. In terms of his actual ability to be a GM, I'm less than impressed.

I think the point is that we don't know what kind of GM he is b/c he doesn't have to play by the same rules as everyone else. If he were the GM of the O's, maybe he doesn't take the risk of signing Pavano or Wright, or whomever. However, I agree that ranking him #3 is a joke, b/c his grade is incomplete.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Bashing Cashman really shows poor knowledge and understanding of what he has accomplished and what he values.

If it were up to him, he wouldn't be spending the crazy money...He believes in what we are doing and what TB did...He wants more of a MiL system and things like that.

But he has more pressures than most and needs to win all the time.

Cashman is a wonderful GM.

So he's "wonderful" because he wants to build a team like TB did.

I think TB's job building was great too and I'd emulate it if I was a GM. Does that mean I'd be a great GM?

[Sports Guy]

So he's "wonderful" because he wants to build a team like TB did.

I think TB's job building was great too and I'd emulate it if I was a GM. Does that mean I'd be a great GM?

No, he is a good GM because he wins and understands what it takes to win and is an intelligent baseball mind.

Blame the system, not the GM..it doesn't take away from his abilities and knowledge.

[Mackus]

Why does everyone love Cashman? The amount of awful contracts he has given out over the years is masked by the fact that the Yankees can actually afford those mistakes. Can you imagine what the Carl Pavano deal would have done to a team like Pittsburgh?

He's not a great evaluator of talent, hence holding on to guys like Ian Kennedy for far too long when there was actually a market for him.

Esptein isn't all that better, IMO. Awful deals for JD Drew and trading away Hanley Ramirez are the tip of the iceberg.

The job of a GM is to win games, make playoffs, and win rings using the resources you have available. Efficiency is a non-factor. Use what you have to accomplish your goals. Cashman does a great job of getting the Yankees to the playoffs and getting them rings. Epstein does an even better job, since he has more rings more recently.

It depends on how you look at things. Sure, Cashman has an easier job due to his resources, but that doesn't mean his success is any less tangible. Those rings count the same as a ring a $80M payroll would get. I don't know if he could do it with less resources like Beane and Friedman have to do, but he doesn't have to try and do it with less resources.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Ok, just so we know what forms the basis of your opinion. This is a poll where the answers are "No" and "Hell No".

Lol whatever. What forms the basis of my opinion are the payrolls he's afforded and the fact that anyone who casually follows baseball knows that signing Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia is a good move.

As far as I can tell, he's done what anyone playing "MLB The Show" would have done. Get a list of FAs, target the ones at the top and beat the computer by offering more money than they do.

Bravo!