Friday, February 3, 2012

Ugly story not a huge distraction for Cashman


Brian Cashman’s messy personal drama does not seem to have had an impact on his ability to function as general manager of the New York Yankees.

Yesterday’s news that Cashman was allegedly being blackmailed and stalked by a woman he may have had an affair with was shocking. Rumors of Cashman’s alleged infidelity have circulated for some time so that was not the part that was surprising. But the shocker was that the story deteriorated into such a nasty situation that the police had to become involved.

The story is making headlines because it’s Cashman and anything remotely having to do with the Yankees is front-page news, even during Super Bowl week. But if it weren’t for the criminal charges, it would be just a personal matter that would probably have gone unreported by the mainstream media. Cashman’s romantic dalliances are not nearly as interesting to the media as those of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

But the ugly story does not seem to be a huge distraction for Cashman from a baseball perspective, at least not yet. The Yankees general manager somehow managed to pull off a surprising and solid trade for Michael Pineda despite his personal predicament. He avoided potentially nasty arbitration fights with all his eligible players. Cashman put together a roster that is almost ready for spring training despite the drama in his personal life.

Of course, Cashman will continue to be asked about the situation, although he will likely decline to answer questions given the criminal case. It is a situation that I imagine will cause him a lot of stress, particularly because of the embarrassment it will cause his family. But I doubt it’s going to impede his ability to do his job, which, quite frankly, is the only thing Yankee fans really care about. 


No comments:

Post a Comment