CASH TO ‘STICK’ WITH IT
Yankee GM won’t stray from Michael blueprint
THE YANKEES’ offense pulled a disappearing act this postseason, but don’t expect Brian Cashman to change his approach as he puts the roster together for 2013.
Cashman made that clear after the Yankees’ Game 4 loss in Detroit Thursday, saying the philosophy he learned from Gene (Stick) Michael that he’s followed for 15 years will continue to be the blueprint for the organization.
“If you have a philosophy you believe in, that’s been tested, I have no problem with people asking about it, clearly trying to challenge it, trying to dissect it and tear it apart,” Cashman said. “But I am not going to turn myself into the Bronx Bunters because all of a sudden we didn’t hit for this week in October.
“That’s not our DNA. That’s not what makes us successful and that’s certainly not what’s getting us in the postseason every year but one year since I got here.”
The Yankees scored 804 runs this season, second only to the Rangers’ 808 among the 30 major league clubs. They have key decisions to make at several positions this winter, including right field, catcher and possibly more depending on what they decide to do with Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez.
But that same offense that averaged nearly five runs per game over the course of the 162game season managed only 22 runs over nine playoff games, less than 2.5 per game.
“Is that something that will all of a sudden define what they really are or what this offense really is?” Cashman said. “No, it’s not going to. Not from my perspective.”
The Yankees have hit 200 or more home runs 14 times, 13 of them since Cashman took over as general manager in 1998. Twelve of those teams won at least 94 games and qualified for the postseason, including five that reached the World Series and three that won it all.
The approach has been the same in each of those seasons: assemble a lineup filled with disciplined power hitters who have the ability to get on base. Or “big hairy monsters,” as Cashman calls them. “If you believe in something strong enough, it should stand up to every challenge,” Cashman said. “Does that mean you’re going to win every year with it? It doesn’t mean that, but you should be very competitive.”
The Yankees hit seven home runs in nine games against the Orioles and Tigers, three of them by Raul Ibanez in the ninth inning or later. Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez combined for 148 home runs during the regular season. In the playoffs? One, a solo shot by Granderson in Game 5 against the Orioles.
“A lot of guys did go cold,” Cashman said. “They’re better hitters than that. You know that, I know that. We’ve seen that. That’s a fact. There’s no dispute, I don’t care who wants to argue what to me.”
It’s easy to say that homer-hitting teams are prone to struggles in the postseason, as they face better pitching staffs, which are unlikely to give up many longballs. But the 2009 Yankees hit 244 home runs, only one less than this year’s total. They belted 20 home runs in 15 postseason games that fall, as seven different players went deep, six of them more than once.
That’s what makes Cashman confident that if his players perform to their abilities, a powerful lineup can succeed in October.
“It’s almost like you put together a 162game season with an offense that does what it does and then you want to turn yourself into something that never would have gotten you into the postseason when you get there,” Cashman said. “That makes no sense for me.”
Swisher and Ichiro Suzuki are free agents, while the Yankees are expected to pick up the $15 million options on Cano and Granderson. Cashman wasn’t prepared to discuss any of those situations after watching his team get eliminated, but the pro scouting meetings will take place soon enough and a plan will be formed. It will probably look a lot like the ones Cashman has executed for several years.
“You’ve got to get away from the emotions, the anger, the disappointment,” Cashman said. “Step back, assess what you have, gravitate and wrap your arms around the ones you want to keep, try to pursue the ones you want to retain that are free agents and then see what else is out there. We’re going to be back at this again.”