Brian Cashman said Wednesday he is finalizing a new deal to remain the New York Yankees' general manager, keeping the same front-office voice in place after nearly two decades at the job. Cashman, who has held the role since 1998, said, "We're locked and loaded."
That is why the question around Cashman is back on the table now. Buster Olney reported on Oct. 8 that the signs were pointing toward the return of both Cashman and Aaron Boone, and the latest update confirms the expectation that the Yankees will stay with their current leadership rather than make a clean break.
The move comes with the Yankees coming off a third straight 90-win season and a ninth trip to the playoffs in 10 years. By any regular-season measure, that is a strong record. By the standard the Yankees still live under, it is not enough on its own. The club has won only one World Series title since its dynastic run from the 1990s into the early 2000s ended, and that title came in 2009.
That gap between steady results and the final prize has shaped the way Cashman is judged. Under Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees have taken a more patient, measured approach than the one associated with George Steinbrenner, and this decision fits that pattern. It also lands at a moment when the market is unsettled, with the battle over a new collective bargaining agreement leaving all 30 teams in a holding pattern and Tarik Skubal the only marquee star hitting the market this winter.
The remaining unknown is not whether Cashman stays, but what the new agreement looks like and when it becomes official. The terms and length have not been disclosed, and the formal announcement or signing date has not been confirmed. For now, the Yankees are moving ahead with the GM who has run the operation since 1998 and said, in effect, that the club is ready for what comes next.
