Cashman: 'I'm staying to change the story'
'If I left, I was not going to like the story that was going to be written'
 | Brian Cashman agreed Tuesday to a three-year contract to remain general manager, a deal that runs through 2011. |
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NEW YORK - One day after re-signing with the Yankees, general manager Brian Cashman sat down behind a microphone and immediately was asked if he gave any serious thought to leaving.
Indeed, he did.
So then, what made him stay after New York missed the playoffs this year for the first time since 1993?
“If I left, I was not going to like the story that was going to be written,” Cashman said firmly during a 40-minute news conference Wednesday at soon-to-be empty Yankee Stadium.
“The only way for me to change that is to change the story. So I’m staying to change the story.”
Cashman agreed Tuesday to a three-year contract to remain general manager, a deal that runs through 2011. He was promoted to GM in 1997 and his current deal was set to expire at the end of October.
“I’m extremely excited that Brian has decided to come back,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said in a statement. “I feel we have a tremendous relationship. Brian said he believes there is unfinished business here, and I couldn’t agree with him more.”
Cashman was expected to re-sign, especially after co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told him earlier this season that the team wanted him back. But there had been rumblings that Cashman might be interested in running another club — perhaps one without such a vocal, hands-on ownership group.
“I care about my name and I care about how I’m perceived and I care about this franchise,” Cashman said. “There’s a story I want to have written here and the only way to make sure it’s written is to suck it up and win.”
He has plenty of work to do. Beset by injuries, a mediocre pitching staff and a disappointing offense, New York (89-73) finished third in the AL East this season, six games out of playoff position.
The GM was criticized for turning down a deal that could have brought ace Johan Santana to the Yankees last winter. He chose instead to keep several youngsters, but that backfired this season when pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy combined to go 0-8 and failed to stay healthy.
“We made a long-term bet on obviously keeping that inventory, and the first six months of that process isn’t going to change that,” Cashman said. “I don’t think you can judge it yet.”
He’s determined to stick with his plan of valuing young players.
“I don’t necessarily see that this has gone awry,” Cashman said. “Because of some of the work we’ve already done, we are in a better position than we had been.
“I do believe that we have a much stronger farm system today and because of that a much brighter future,” he added. “The focus has been we’ve got to get back to rebuilding this thing and getting younger — because an extended period of darkness would befall us, essentially. That was my opinion.”
New York is expected to make a strong push for several stars who can become free agents, including lefty CC Sabathia. First baseman Mark Teixeira and pitchers Ben Sheets, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe could be targets, too.
Sabathia, who pitched Milwaukee into the playoffs after a July 7 trade from Cleveland, is thought to prefer playing closer to home in California and staying in the National League.
“I would not have high expectations on certain guys,” Cashman said. “Just because you put them on the top of your list doesn’t mean you’re the top of their list.”
The free-spending Yankees could have nearly $90 million in salaries coming off the books. Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Ivan Rodriguez are unsigned for next season. Center field and first base are uncertain.
Like many GMs, Cashman has a mixed record. Among his best moves this decade: signing Mussina, trading for Abreu, drafting Joba Chamberlain, promoting Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Cano from the minors. Among the busts: signing Kei Igawa, Jaret Wright and Carl Pavano, trading for Jeff Weaver and Kevin Brown.
“We just have to make better decisions, I guess,” Cashman said. “You need to be right more than you’re wrong.”
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