Hour 3: Cashman's Job Security, Lindor Rumors & Craig's Hall of Fame Drama

**Chris McMonigle** (0:30)
It's not funny.

**Craig Carton** (0:32)
By the way, would you rather be the Yankees or the Mets?

**Chris McMonigle** (0:35)
Well, of course, and that's an easy answer.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:37)
Why don't we keep that in context?

**Chris McMonigle** (0:38)
But someone said, I was listening, driving in, and someone said something, and I thought along those lines, someone said, what does Brian Cashman have to do to get fired? And I thought, because everyone's just, he's got a lifetime contract, what the hell does Brian Cashman have to do to get fired? And I thought to myself, have a season like David Sterns just did?

**Craig Carton** (0:57)
That'd be one way.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:00)
Spent 370 and being a barrister.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:02)
In the last 30 years, if he had a season like David Sterns just had where he spent 370 million and was dead in July, maybe that would get him fired.

**Craig Carton** (1:10)
By the way, you also, I think not you, people forget the fact, the Steinbrenner's love Brian Cashman.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:17)
Love him.

**Craig Carton** (1:17)
Randy Levine, Lon Trost, the guys that run the Yankees, they love Brian Cashman. And I think there are times they get offended by the criticisms of Brian because they will remind you, and I'm with them on this. I agree with them to a point on this. Whereas show me another general manager that has had the track record of success that Brian Cashman has had. And that they don't define success, and maybe this is the rub here, as solely winning a World Series.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:47)
Now we're talking.

**Craig Carton** (1:48)
They will tell you there's not another general manager in all of baseball that for 25 consecutive years has had a winning record. There's not another general manager in baseball that has had the success from a standpoint of we never missed a playoffs but once in his tenure, right?

**Chris McMonigle** (2:08)
Well, it's more than that. A couple of seasons.

**Craig Carton** (2:11)
So the reality is that he does his bidding at the pleasure of the owner, yes, and the owner is ultimately the one in charge. But if there was someone out there that the Yankees thought collectively would come in here and do a better job, that they would hire that guy. And I think when they look at the landscape of executives that are well thought of, especially the young and up and comers, because that would be the next breed of GMs that take over baseball. The next Yankee GM is not going to be a 60 year old, he's going to be a 30 year old most likely, right?
That if they thought that human being existed today, they would fire Brian Cashman. But I don't think they view the landscape as there's someone out there that we can say tangibly would do a better job.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:01)
Yeah, well, a couple of things.

**Craig Carton** (3:03)
You may not want to hear that, but...

**Chris McMonigle** (3:04)
No, I get you. And a couple of things, because I can give you responses from the fan base being a Cashman defender for as long as I've been and aligning with that thought process to a level.
One, first off about firing him, this is the last year's four year contract. So Brian Cashman's contract ends at the end of the season. So they wouldn't have to fire necessarily. They just wouldn't have to give him another contract. And I'm curious to see what happens if Brian Cashman just wants to step away. But what I would say, what I hear a lot in response to that is, what other general manager has 20 years without a championship?

**Craig Carton** (3:35)
And there's no answer to that answer.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:36)
What other general manager has been given the leeway to go this long without bringing home a title?

**Craig Carton** (3:41)
Well, then here's the question for you on that.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:42)
Now, he does have four titles.

**Craig Carton** (3:44)
Here's my question for you on that statement. And the question is this. Is it the general manager's job, in your opinion, to create a team good enough to get to the playoffs and then it's the players' and managers' responsibility to win?

**Chris McMonigle** (3:59)
I think, I think it's-

**Craig Carton** (4:01)
That's a fair argument people make.

**Chris McMonigle** (4:02)
I think it is fair to say, and I've been saying it for a long time, I think it is fair to say all you can do is build a team for the 162 that can win as many games as possible and then hope they perform well in the postseason. I don't know what you can do other than glaring holes, like say your team, like the Yankees tried in 2020 2019, they get to the ALCS, they get beat again by the Astros, and they say to themselves, what's the one thing we're short on? Sure, we didn't hit as well that series we would have liked, but ultimately they didn't have an ace. So they literally stole the ace from the Astros and brought them to the Yankees in 2020, and Garret Cole.