| Andrew Perna. 23rd April, 2009 - 11:15 pm
 Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and ESPN analyst Peter Gammons graced the campus of Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday night, the latest in a long line of heralded speakers in the school's Distinguished Lecture Series.
The discussion was entitled "The Yankees and the Business of Baseball" and while the pair of tremendous baseball minds did discuss the state of Major League Baseball and some of the game's most important moments and statistics, the most revealing comments had to do with New York's most recent offseason spending spree.
Cashman, who had no qualms about admitting that the team has no choice but to spend as much as possible each season, spoke rather candidly about how first baseman Mark Teixeira became a member of the Yankees last December.
Following the team's first postseason-less fall since Bill Clinton was our president, the New York front office was very focused on improving what had been an average pitching staff. From the start of the offseason, Cashman said that he asked for the OK to pursue Teixeira, but other members of the team's executive branch were focused solely on adding arms.
The Yankees' GM felt as though they had to court CC Sabathia heavily before the Angels, from the pitcher's home state, made an offer within the same ballpark of New York's.
Cashman also felt as though the Angels, who were focused heavily on Teixeira, would make a strong play for Sabathia if the first baseman happened to sign elsewhere. Therefore, New York rightly zoned in on CC, while allowing Los Angeles to continue believing they would land Teixeira, a guy Cashman admitted on Wednesday night that he didn't feel the Halos would eventually re-sign.
The Yankees' pseudo battle with the Angels, however, was nothing compared to the chess match they'd have with the rival Red Sox for the switch-hitting, middle-of-the-order hitter.
After signing Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, Cashman found himself looking for a powerful first baseman. Jason Giambi's gigantic contract had expired, Nick Swisher was acquired as insurance and New York was looking for a solid glove with tremendous hitting prowess. Luckily for Cashman, Teixeira was still on the market.
He received word that a handful of representatives from the Red Sox were heading down to Texas to meet with Teixeira, who was expected to then agree to terms with the team on a lucrative, long-term contract.
Attempting to prevent Boston from getting better, while also improving as well, Cashman called his fellow New York big-wigs and made one final play for pursing Teixeira.
For whatever reason -- whether it was the chance to top the Red Sox or not -- the Yankee brass (Cashman didn't specify, but I'm assuming Hal and Hank Steinbrenner and Randy Levine) gave him the blessing needed to call agent Scott Boras about Teixeira.
Before he could actually approach Boras, however, Cashman had to wait for Boston's meeting to end. When it did, and Teixeira wasn't officially a member of the Red Sox, Cashman pounced.
He called Boras and made an offer for the former member of the Rangers, Braves and Angels.
Cashman, who throughout the talk emphasized the social, people-to-people aspect of baseball, then met with Teixeira (one-on-one) to discuss why he felt as though the first baseman and the pinstripes were a proper pairing.
Shortly after the offer and meeting, Boras called Cashman to ask about some minor contractual details, suites on the road for example. After hanging up with Boras, Cashman talked with the rest of the Yankee executives and expressed his excitement over the fact that they might actually steal Teixeira away from the rival Sox.
He wondered -- why would Boras ask about some minor details if Teixeira wasn't seriously considering New York's offer?
Then, on December 23, 2008, the Yankees "swooped in" and signed Teixeira to an eight-year deal worth $180 million.
After Cashman explained the events that led to Tex in pinstripes, Gammons chimed in with some of the things Boston did wrong in their courting of the first baseman.
Keeping with the overall theme of the evening, people skills and face-to-face communication, Gammons cited the impersonal meeting Teixeira had with the Red Sox. Boston general manager Theo Epstein wasn't the only one who met with the hitter in Texas, as a few members of the team's ownership group joining in as well.
Teixeira, according to Gammons, wasn't a fan of the sizable contingency and was rubbed the wrong way by some conflicting stances among Boston's ownership.
Ultimately, the details don't matter. Teixeira is a member of the Yankees, and will travel to Fenway Park as a visitor this weekend. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see just exactly how things played out last December. If only we knew just how each and every major free-agent signing came about...
Then again, there would be a lot less jobs for guys like myself.
Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com and co-host of RealGM?s Radio Show. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
