The New York Yankees have announced that they have reached an agreement with their Senior Vice President/General Manager Brian Cashman on a three-year extension through the 2017 season. The extension will end weeks of speculation that Cashman was going to lose his job. Cashman is one of the longest tenured general managers in the game as only Billy Beane and Brian Sabean have been in their positions longer.
Cashman, was promoted to GM to replace Bob Watson in February 1998. Watson built much of the 1990's teams, which lead many to believe that Cashman was handed the success and he did not add much to it. However, Cashman’s Yankees have made the playoffs in 14 of the last 17 seasons, winning 4 World Series Championships during that time. However, the Yankees have also missed the playoffs for 2 years in a row, which is something that they have not done for 20 years.
Many fans were calling for Cashman's job as he spent $438 million to sign four costless agents Jacoby Ellsbury, Mashario Tanaka, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann and failed to make the postseason. To be fair to Cashman the Yankees have come of 2 injury - plagued seasons and that most likely contributed to their short comings.
With Cashman officially coming back the organization can now focus on its off-season plans. This will be no easy task for Cashman with the retirement of Derek Jeter and the many injuries to Yankee pitchers Cashman has a lot of work to do. These next few seasons may be the most challenging yet for the Yankees' general manager.