Posts tagged BrianCashman at Sports Blog - The FanHouse

"To me, Cashman is the problem," Zimmer said yesterday without going into detail.

"Four or five years ago, we were in the coaches' room and talking about the club and he said, 'Anybody can manage this team.' Well, let him manage that team now with all those injuries."

Isn't he just saying that Joe Torre manages well when his players are healthy and struggles when they're hurt? Isn't that why Torre is on the hot seat in the first place? In any case, Zimmer apparently thinks anyone can do Cashman's job, second-guessing the GM's decision not to extend Torre or Mariano Rivera before the season:

"The Yankees should show a lot of class and extend Joe Torre and Mariano Rivera for a year," said Zimmer, who left the Yankees ticked at George Steinbrenner and works for the Devil Rays.

"They are two of the classiest Yankees in the past 12 years. Why should Mo be in [a free-agent] situation? They give millions of dollars to guys who don't pitch and this guy has been there every day for the past 12 years.

They should take care of the good people."

The good news for Torre? , an April game which now seems really important, thanks to Torre's vulnerability.

Whether or not the Yanks lose today, and whether or not they lose again tomorrow, it's hard for me to see the sense in letting Torre go.

Managers, for the most part, k. Torre's main strengths come from navigating an incredibly demanding front office and a chomping-at-the-bit media corps, while at the same time keeping his sanity and keeping the well-oiled Yankees machine running.

The problem is, at least so far, is that the Yanks aren't so well-oiled this year.

The offense has been good-to-above average, as usual, but the pitching has been so scattershot it's been nearly impossible for the Yankees to defend a lead. As much as we like to focus on the manager as the centerpiece of the team, sorry; that's not Torre's fault. That can be blamed on injuries, and on the lack of talent in the Yanks' farm system.

How is that Torre's fault again?

Just got off the phone with Brian Cashman. He said that Mike Mussina was at the stadium in Oakland today to receive treatment on his hamstring.

He has not been placed on the disabled list.

Cashman believes that Mussina will likely miss only one start then return to the rotation.

This is significant news in that Cashman almost always takes the doomsday scenario when it comes to injuries.

The good news is that Johnny Damon returned to action as a defensive replacement on Saturday and Sunday and even had enough time to pick up a couple of hits. Kevin Thompson was called up from Triple-A Scranton to take Matsui's place, but I'm guessing the guys in the clubhouse probably regret not having Bernie Williams around to pick up the slack. Even so, the front office has no intention of bringing the venerable veteran back.

From the :

All three Yankees starters in the outfield (including right fielder Bobby Abreu, who strained his oblique in spring training) have gone down with some sort of injury so far. Bernie Williams, who played for the Yankees for 16 years, opted not to accept the team's invitation to spring training because he wanted a guaranteed contract. If Williams had decided to attend spring training, it is much more likely that he would be on the roster.

Nevertheless, Cashman has made it clear that Williams is not an option to join the team and chose to go with the team's farm system to fill Matsui's spot in the outfield.