Be thankful Cashman is still in NY

Not only am I happy Brian Cashman decided to stay on as Yankees senior vice president and general manager, he manned up to all the adversity, perception, meddling and belly-aching he deals with about 1,000 times more than the average working citizen. My favorite Cash quote from his Wednesday press conference was this:

"For a long time we've been old and everybody knows that, right? Now when you start to fix it, people are like, 'Oh my God! You missed the playoffs! Off with his head.' I accept it and I'm not running from it, I'm not going to let that story off with the head stay. I plan on making it different, and if I don't I'll say I'm sorry in the end if I'm not right."

Perceptions change instantly, and in this town a nanosecond. If the Yankees are winning, Cashman is a genius. If they struggle, like they did many times this past season, he's a moron. It was amazing how many people took to YES' message boards with calls for Cashman's and Joe Girardi's heads. Was this a disappointing season? Absolutely. Was it a terrible season. No. The Yankees won 89 games, which more than half the teams in Major League Baseball will kill for. Furthermore, the Yankees haven't made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2004 — and that year they blew an 0-3 ALCS lead to, of all teams, the Red Sox. Cashman has his list of hits and misses, and more than ever it's critical he's right far more often than he's wrong. That means no more Carl Pavanos and Kei Igawas.

Many decisions made in sports, i.e. Cashman not trading for Johan Santana, take years to fully and fairly evaluate. Take the time you need, but once you settle on your opinion, stick with it. Don't fluctuate with the ebb and flow and think that firing people is always the answer. Nothing is a guarantee, but I still believe years from now Phil Hughes will be a frontline starter, and I can almost assure you Santana's days as an elite starter will be numbered.

Cashman's vision is building a program, not go all in, maybe win it all and then deal with years of living in the dark ages. He's the right man for the job and Yankees fans better learn to appreciate him. Just try and comprehend the level of chaos in the Yanks' front office if Cashman decided to say, "The hell with you" and begin anew.

Instead, he's determined to write an entirely new story.