THE YANKEE WAY

An in-depth look at Brian Cashman’s stewardship of the New York Yankees.

In 2022, notes sportswriter and SNY analyst Martino, Cashman “quietly achieved a significant milestone…he passed Ed Barrow as the longest-tenured general manager in the history of the world’s most iconic sports franchise.” That was no small accomplishment, given former owner George Steinbrenner’s volatility. It hasn’t helped that over the years, Cashman had to deal with both Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, who figure here as prima donnas. Cashman isn’t well known to general fans outside the Yankees orbit, though he’s central to the club. As Martino relates, although Billy Beane is likely the best known of all GMs thanks to Michael Lewis’ Moneyball, Beane himself has said that “Cashman is the best to ever do the job,” calling him “the Tom Brady of GMs.” Apart from the ups and downs of Cashman’s career, which didn’t always hit Steinbrenner’s metric of success (namely, winning the World Series), Martino is very good at detailing the many things that a general manager does, from hand-holding players who need a little extra attention to kicking dirt on umpires’ shoes à la Billy Martin. It’s clear from his account that Cashman paid attention to his peers and predecessors in how he evaluated players not just by numbers but also by intangibles like character, where numerous championship-level players come up short. Cashman’s player acquisitions, though sometimes at odds with the owners’ wishes, have tended to be right, though they’ve entailed battles along the way—e.g., the decision not to re-sign Rodriguez, the fight to keep superstar Aaron Judge (“their icon, their marketable Ruth/DiMaggio/Mantle/Jeter”) on the roster, and so forth—recounted in Martino’s memorable set pieces.

A must-read for Yankees fans, and even those who hate the Yankees will learn a thing or two about the game.