Monday’s Bunts and Boots–Torre and Cashman

On Sunday, two major league managers stepped aside, one deciding to call it quits and the other on the wrong end of a firing. If George Steinbrenner has any of his old gumption left, and I have major questions about whether he does, he’ll soon make it three.

I’ve long been a defender of both Joe Torre and Brian Cashman; the former is a Hall of Famer and the latter contributed mightily to three World Championship teams. Yet, both men have failed so miserably at their appointed rounds this season that it’s time to move on. Torre has badly mismanaged the pitching staff, principally by overusing the bullpen; inexplicably used the punchless Miguel Cairo as his everyday first baseman; refused to bench an injured Johnny Damon; and generally shown little aptitude for making strategic in-game decisions. Barring a miraculous turnaround that somehow puts the Yankees in the playoffs on the way to an improbable World Series berth, Torre will be fired at season’s end anyway. So why not get a head start on making the transition to the new manager, especially if it turns out to be the inexperienced Don Mattingly? Torre’s accomplishments will eventually put him in the Hall of Fame, but a change to a more energetic, tougher manager is needed now to spark this lifeless, listless team.

An assessment of Cashman’s situation is a bit more complicated. I generally felt the Yankee GM planned well this past winter, signing Andy Pettitte to a reasonable contract while parting ways with expensive veterans like Gary Sheffield and Jaret Wright. As a general manager, however, you have to make adjustments on the fly, and Cashman has shown no ability to do so this spring and summer. When things begin to go wrong, such as injuries to Jason Giambi and several key starting pitchers, you have to make efforts to strengthen other areas of the team. For example, with Giambi out and Damon hobbled, you can no longer afford to treat first base as a defense-first position. When Wil Nieves shows himself incapable of hitting or catching, you have to find a competent backup catcher. When the bullpen pitches to the point of oblivion, you have to promote a capable relief pitcher like Chris Britton from Triple-A. Cashman has done none of those things, and that has only contributed to a first-half mess that should embarrass the entire Yankee organization.

Instead, Cashman has reacted to the Yankees’ recent woes by collecting utility infielders. Up until Sunday, he had three light-hitting infield backups on his 25-man roster (Cairo, Andy Phillips and the now-demoted Chris Basak, who accumulated one plate appearance in a month), but no legitimate first baseman and no backup outfielder of any hitting pedigree. That kind of roster construction is baffling—and speaks to a larger problem. Since 2001, Cashman has run an ill-conceived, two-tiered system, in which he invests heavily in a star-filled lineup but then treats the bench like an afterthought. That strategy has finally caught up to him. When some of your stars start to show age or start spending most of their time on the disabled list, there is no one competent to call upon to fill the gap. The result is a lineup that has too many Nieves, Cairos, and Kevin Thompsons, players that are barely major league caliber. With the kind of resources at Cashman’s disposal, that is simply inexcusable. And that, more than any reason, is why it’s time for Cashman to go.

So what should the Yankees do to replace Torre and Cashman? I’d hire Joe Girardi as Torre’s successor; he’s light years more qualified than Donnie Baseball. I’d then see if Gene Michael would be willing to take over the GM job on an interim basis, until a younger, fulltime replacement can be found. That way, Michael can begin the process of rebuilding, a process that needs to be expedited because of the 2007 failures of Joe Torre and Brian Cashman…

As with most of the baseball world, I’m at a loss to explain Mike Hargrove’s sudden resignation in Seattle. I can’t remember a manager giving up the job while being the mid-season favorite to win the Manager of the Year Award. One of the theories making the rounds involves Ichiro’s alleged threat to leave the team if Hargrove remained as manager past this year. But why would Hargrove give in to such pressure right now, given the team’s success this season? Plus, there’s more to Hargrove’s resignation. Although he’s still relatively young, he has indicated that he will likely not manage again. Strange… In contrast, the firing of Jerry Narron by the Reds did not surprise many. The sorry state of the Reds’ bullpen, which is no better off this year than it was last year, was a major factor in forcing the change, which some Reds observers felt was unjustified. Unless GM Wayne Krivsky does something tangible to improve the bullpen, the Reds’ fortunes won’t improve drastically under hard-working baseball lifer Pete Mackanin. Krivsky needs to move either Adam Dunn or Ken Griffey, Jr. (especially while their trade value remains high) for either one or two quality relievers…

Should the Braves be preparing to move Bob "The Wicker Man" Wickman out of the closer’s role? The answer is yes. Wickman pitched so badly on Saturday that Bobby Cox pulled him out of a save situation in the ninth inning. Wickman then allowed a game-winning home run to Miguel Olivo on Sunday. It’s not as if the Braves don’t have options. Set-up man Rafael Soriano is more than capable of closing. And then there’s former Met Tyler Yates, who relieved Wickman on Saturday and closed out the victory over the Marlins. Yates touches 97 miles per hour on the radar gun and has a decent slider, making him another late-inning option for Cox and company.