The Yankees Are Still Losing
The FanHouse asks a question today -- whose fault is it that the Yankees are the new Devil Rays? The fans blame the players. Steinbrenner blames Torre. And nobody blames Brian Cashman, even though he's a giant dork.
But really, who to blame? Cashman has made a litany of terrible moves since the Yankees last won a championship. Torre juggles the batting order and overuses the bullpen. The players choke in big spots.
Ultimately, it's on Cashman. Torre overuses the bullpen because his starting pitching is awful. His starting pitching is awful because Cashman has no idea how to spend $200 million. He juggles the batting order because he's got a group of big-hitters, none of whom could hit consistently. It may be cliche when Derek Jeter insists that Torre isn't the one in the field or on the mound, but it's true. He can only do so much with the talent given him.
Brian Cashman has fallen in love with the Dolan way of building New York teams, without noticing how poorly it's worked for the Knicks and Rangers all of these years. And like the Knicks and Rangers, the Yankees won't win until they give up the stubbon belief that their way of building a team is the right one. As long as Steinbrenner has faith in Cashman, Yankees fans might have to get used to mediocrity.
