Cash Says Soriano Trade Was Ownership's Call

("We're paying him HOW MUCH in 2014?"  Courtesy of USATSI)

In a story earlier today for The Post, Joel Sherman reported that the decision to trade for Alfonso Soriano was ultimately ownership's decision and one that GM Brian Cashman did not endorse.  Sherman cites 2 non-Yankee executives who said Cash believed the Yankees' cash and prospect assets could be better spent than on Soriano.  While not directly confirming the report, Cash's lengthy statement to The Post in response was telling:

“I would say we are in a desperate time. Ownership wants to go for it. I didn’t want to give up a young arm. But I understand the desperate need we have for offense. And Soriano will help us. The bottom line is this guy makes us better. Did ownership want him? Absolutely, yes. Does he make us better? Absolutely, yes. This is what Hal wants, and this is why we are doing it.”

It's cleverly stated so that he's not saying anything negative about Soriano or being dishonest about the Yankees' position, and kudos for that.  But that last statement tells the whole story and it's one that continues to be told about the Yankee front office this year.

Sherman Reports What Any Smart Person Already Knew About The Ichiro Deal

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

In a blog post yesterday discussing the Yankees' outfield situation, Joel Sherman dropped this juicy little note about the decision to re-sign Ichiro Suzuki this past offseason:

"There was not unanimity in the Yankees front office about bringing back Ichiro Suzuki, specifically on a two-year contract. In fact, there were executives who would have preferred to see that money (two years at $12 million) directed to Russell Martin instead."

Sherman also wrote that the "top of the Yankees hierarchy" demanded that Ichiro be re-signed after his strong finish to last season, and if you start to put those pieces together it starts to look like this was another "Cashman vs. Ownership" front office battle in which Cash came out on the losing side.

More after the jump.

Give It Up, Hal

Maybe you should consider not talking when reporters put a recorder in front of your face, guy:

“All I can assure the fans is, we’re always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year.”

Yeah, you keep assuring us, Hal.  We totally believe you when you say that because your actions this offseason have totally been in line with your words.

You know what?  It's not even worth re-hashing this type of stuff from Hal.  I've said my piece on it before.  I just wish he'd shut the fuck up.

Hal Steinbrenner Does Not Compute

 ("I have more money than you.")

Hal Steinbrenner is not nearly as active in talking to the media as his old man was, and more and more it's starting to look like that's for the best because it seems like whenever he opens his mouth there's nothing good coming out of it.  I don't know if Hal thinks all the Yankee fans out there are as clueless about baseball as he is or if he thinks we're all just stupid, but the comments he made yesterday at the quarterly owners' meetings didn't make a whole lot of sense.  Some of what he said was downright offensive to me as a Yankee fan and someone who considers himself pretty knowledgeable about the sport of baseball.  Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal had the most comprehensive collection of Hal's quotes and after the jump are my takes on some of the highlights.

Yankees For Sale?

I'm sure the Steinbrenners are happy to see the team put 2 consecutive wins together after this recent rough stretch of games, but I wasn't expecting to wake up this morning and read about them being interested in selling the team.

The Daily News ran a piece this morning speaking to exactly that, and they quoted multiple sources.  Both Randy Levine and Hal Steinbrenner were quick to shoot down the details of the story, but with what the Dodgers were able to fetch in their sale it's understandable for the Steinbrenners to at least be interested in seeing what they could get for the most decorated franchise in American sports history.

I don't expect to hear a lot more about this potential story given how emphatically Levine and Hal denied the report, but it's worth keeping on mental back burner for the next few days.