deal.
Good news that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has followed Joe Torre and decided to stay on in the Bronx, by signing on for a further 3 years.
Would suggest he’s been given some assurances that he’ll have to suffer less interference from the Tampa Bay lot, which would undoubtedly help the club, that you feel if he hadn’t got would have led to him leaving for one of the clubs that showed interest in his services (Philadelphia and Arizona).
Everything goes through me. With the chain of command, I think everyone involved wants it that way. We’ve all suffered this year in different ways because of the splintering. I think everyone involved wants it to be streamlined. Brian Cashman
Of course there’s no guarantee that any in the Tampa part of the organisation giving their 2 pennies worth to “The Boss”.
Now that this deal has been settled the club can really get on with the rest of the offseason dealings for players and coaching staff. It started with Larry Bowa getting the 3rd base coaching job, a deal that was dependant on Cashman still being at the club.
Next up should be a pitching coach with Ron Guidry, Don Cooper & Lee Mazzilli being names in the hat after Mazzone decided to join the Orioles. On the playing side the re-signing of Matsui will probably be the first order of business followed by what to do about the CF position and the bullpen.
Well it has to be said the best team in the World Series won it, but in a way that wasn’t hard. Congrats to the White Sox but the Astros weren’t that great during the 4 game sweep.
It has to be said Astros manager Phil Garner deserves great praise for getting the franchise to their first WS, especially after that 15-30 start and getting past the Cardinals in the NLCS but some of his choices in the WS were baffling. Leaving Oswalt in during that 5th inning meltdown with no one throwing in the pen, not switching the hitless Taveras in game 3 with a player who was batting .500 against El Duque. But the manager wasn’t helped by the lack of hitting, 2 players batting over .300 the only two actually over .250, so when they had quality starts from Pettitte and Backe nobody was there to cash in. And I don’t suppose he expected closer Brad “Lights Out” Lidge to give up game winners like that, greatest closer in the game please stand up Mr. Mariano Rivera.
Added to all that most of the things went the Sox way during the games but they deserve them the way they played, doing what had to be done to get that ring. Yeah you may not like things said or done by the likes of Podsednik, Pierzynski, Everett & Ozzie Guillen but when they needed it someone stood up and was counted.
I was a bit surprised Jermaine Dye won the MVP award, I’d have gone for Crede myself. Yeah Dye had 7 hits, an average of .438 but Crede matched him with 3 RBIs, had one more HR, yes a lower .294 av but some outstanding defensive plays throughout the 4 games. And when all the games were very tight – two 1 run games and two 2 run – those grabs at 3rd could have been the difference. The number of base hits he snatched from the Astros not only prevented guys getting on base, runs being scored but must have helped demoralise the opposition, helping drain any confidence they had.
So that’s one more year and one more curse that’s bitten the dust, a couple more to go though of course I’m hoping the “Curse of Donnie Baseball” goes before the “Curse Of The Goat“