Santana's not coming

Santana's not coming

http://blog.nj.com/yankees/2008/01/santanas_not_coming.html


Can we just put the Santana thing to bed now? The latest story surrounding the Yankees' interest in lefty ace is that the team is ready to pass on him. Speaking alongside Theo Epstein as the two participated in William Paterson's Distinguished Lecture Series, Cashman was careful not to discuss another team's player as he said, "My strong recommendation is to keep our young starting staff."

The Post's Mike Puma describes the topics discussed in detail. Cashman candidly talked about how Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu showed up out of shape last spring (Yankees.com tells us the OFs are all currently getting ready to return to camp), how he didn't want to bring Bernie Williams back because he feared not being able to give Bernie a proper sendoff if Williams had to be released mid-season.

The Daily News covered the event as well. The way Cashman and Epstein's friendship has blossomed amid such a heated rivalry simply fascinates us. It's not surprising -- the two have a mutual respect for each other, and their job experiences are quite similar given the markets they work in -- but the strong bond they seem to share is certainly captivating.

Dan Graziano sheds a little more light on the pair's friendship today. Theo noted he's still waiting to hear back from Cashman on the Shea Hillenbrand-for-Nick Johnson deal Epstein proposed during his first season on the job.

In other news...
# The reason Cashman can afford to go with the young starting staff is that his boss(es) are supporting the idea. Hank told the AP that he will be patient with the young kids... to a point. Here's the exact quote, which made us laugh just a bit:

"I will be patient with the young pitchers and players. There's no question about that because I know how these players develop. But as far as missing the playoffs - if we miss the playoffs by the end of this year, I don't know how patient I'll be. But it won't be against the players. It won't be a matter of that. It will be a matter of maybe certain people in the organization could have done something else."

So if the kids don't perform, heads may roll. Just not the players' heads. And it likely won't be Girardi's. Which leaves Mr. Cashman, doesn't it? We can try and (rightly or wrongly) read between the lines: If Hank wanted Santana but instead he listens to Cash and keeps the kids, and the kids disappoint, Cashman will be held accountable.

# Kat O'Brien caught up with Joe Girardi as the new manager and his wife made their way to New York to get (re)acquainted with their new surroundings and search for a home. Girardi is obviously happy the Yanks will have Cano on board for a long time. We can't help but wonder if Girardi will still be manager when Cano's deal runs out. Something tells us he won't be... six years is a long time for a manager to be in one place these days, and Girardi has a brief history that indicates he can agitate his superiors.

# Tyler Kepner reports that Cano and the team have agreed to a deal that could be worth a total of $55 million over six years. Lisa Kennelly and Dan Graziano put the total at "up to $56 million if the Yankees pick up his two club options." Bob Klapisch calls locking up Cano a smart move by the Yanks (you have to scroll down a bit to find the blurb).

# We're late on this, but Phil Hughes held a contest and gave away a signed, game-used ball from Game 3 of last year's ALDS. He asked readers to guess his favorite quote from his favorite show, The Office. The winning quote? It comes from Michael (played by Steve Carell, if you've never seen the show), who said, "I'm an early bird and a night owl. So I'm wise and I have worms." Believe it or not, Bryan Hoch actually covered this story for Yankees.com.

# Greg over at Sliding Into Home has posted a few new snapshots of the new Stadium.

Blunt Brian

[Bernie] Williams had a “terrible season” in 2005

“I thought our guys weren’t mentally tough enough to get through it,” Cashman [said about the midge incident]

Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein appeared together on Friday, and the above quotes are some of the choicest from the Yankees' GM. If only we had this kind of candor more often, and in more timely fashion. We know there is a lot of politics in being a GM, but it's refreshing to hear Cash speak this way about the players and not sugarcoat everything for ego's sake.