Reading Cash's Presser Between The Lines

(HELLOOOOOOOOO!!)

As always, Brian Cashman was dynamite on the mic today during his press conference, touching on a multitude of topics and delivering more than his fair share of killer lines.  It is in between those lines, however, where the real meaning to what Cash is saying lies.  I'll translate.

What He Said: "I don't have any health concerns with Alex.  His is a timing issue." (on The Horse's health)

What He Meant: "I don't have any health concerns with Alex because I've accepted the fact that he's a rapidly-breaking down older player no longer on HGH when he needs it the most.  I have concerns about how all these constant trips to the DL affect his timing at the plate over the course of the season and leave him stuck in so many slumps where he looks terrible."

What He Said: "I would not look at him as a reliever.  If he's with us, without a doubt he's in the rotation." (in regards to A.J. Burnett)

What He Meant: "A.J. really sucks.  But we can't waste a bullpen spot on him.  If the Steinbrenners would let me, I would trade A.J. for a 12-pack of hot dogs and some glove oil just to make sure he's not in our 2012 rotation."

What He Said: “I think he can be catching for us or he can obviously be DHing for us or a lethal bat off the bench for us. All of the above.” (in regards to Jesus Montero's position next year)

What He Meant: "Look, we're going to bring back Russell Martin, so it really makes the most sense to utilize Jesus' greatest skill as much as possible at the DH position.   Unfortunately, there are going to be days where A-Rod or Jeter or Teix has to DH and we probably will let Jesus rot on the bench during those games because we don't fully trust him as a catcher."

What He Said: “I’m not opposed to any of those guys coming back, I just can’t tell you what’s going to happen.” (in regards to Chavez, Garcia, and Colon coming back in 2012)

What He Meant: "We are not actively pursuing bringing any of these guys back next year.  But if it comes to that, we wouldn't mind having them back next year."

What He Said: "I think like with anything else, you learn over time… I think we’re more prepared today (to evaluate Japanese talent) than we have been in the past." (on scouting Yu Darvish)

What He Meant: "We fired every scout who looked at Kei Igawa from the organization and brought in all new people to scout Japan.  We're pretty sure we can't fuck up any worse with Darvish than we did with Igawa."

What He Said: "He is full bore, ready to go as a catcher. There are no issues there." (on Francisco Cervelli)

What He Meant: "Cervelli is VERY available.  Someone make us an offer for the guy so we can dump him and not have to carry 3 catchers next year."

I'm already on record as loving any press conference where Cash talks, and this one was no different.  But I appreciate how he changed things up here, went with more subtlety and subtext than usual.  Dude is just the master, and that's why it's great that he's going to be back for 3 more years.

(All quotes via Chad Jennings at LoHud)

Yankees Make It Official With Cash

From the Yankees press release:

"The New York Yankees today announced that the club has re-signed Brian Cashman to a three-year contract to serve as the organization’s Senior Vice President and General Manager."

No details on the money, but we can safely assume it's a significant boost from his previous deal (3 years/$ 6 mil).  The Yankees are making great progress plowing through their offseason to-do list.  Makes me think they already have a plan in place for who they're going to target and wanted to be damn sure they got all their internal stuff tied up quickly

CC Completely Ruined My Original Post Idea (In The Best Way Possible)

($122 million will buy a lot of parachute pants.)

So here's the deal.  I was at home after work, putting a post together for today to comment on the whole "CC opting out" storyline and how I hoped it didn't play out in a long, drawn out fashion.  And then I went to meet a buddy of mine for a few beers and some food at a bar that's pretty close to my apartment (we went to Hooters, don't judge).  While I was there, it seemed like video clips of Sabathia were popping up way too much on ESPN so I finally had to go over and check it out.  What I saw was breaking news that Sabathia had agreed to a contract extension and would not be opting out.  While that basically killed the whole plot of my post, I still think it's relevant to discuss what I would have said and all the positives that now come out of that worst case scenario not playing out.  Here's what I was going to say today about the negotiations:

CC Sabathia is and always was going to opt out of his contract.  That's fine.  Anybody who expected him to not opt out is delusional.  Why would he and his agent work to get that clause included in his deal back when he signed if they weren't planning on using it?  It was a smart move on their part to be able to build in some extra wiggle room if it turned out he didn't enjoy pitching in New York or to earn himself some more money if he pitched well, which he has.  And there's really nothing wrong with that.  Last time I checked this was still America and CC still has the right to go out and try to get himself as much money as he can.  I know if I had the opportunity to make more money at the place I worked, I'd use that opportunity to my advantage without even thinking about; anybody would.  And for that reason, Yankee fans should not be thinking or talking negatively about CC as he goes through this process.

What could inspire some negative press and negative sentiment from the Yankee fanbase, however, would be if Sabathia decides to let this process of signing a new deal drag on into the next couple weeks or even months.  The Yankees have made it very clear to both Sabathia and their fanbase that re-signing CC is Priority Number 1 and 2 for them this offseason as part of their plan to upgrade the rotation for 2012.  And they have followed through with that prioritization by meeting in Tampa last week to start working on a new contract offer for CC and then presenting it to him over the weekend.