About a week ago, the Yankees signed Rafael Soriano to a three-year, $35 million contract, the magnitude of which caught a lot of people off guard. There were rumblings at the time that the front office was split on the decision, and on Wednesday, general manager Brian Cashman confirmed to the press that this wasn’t really something he wanted to do.
Rafael Soriano Contract Not Brian Cashman’s Idea; Situation Awkward
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman admitted he was overruled by ownership, which signed reliever Rafael Soriano over his objection.
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Cashman felt that he could better allocate the club’s resources elsewhere, and that he could improve the bullpen by other means, if necessary.
Cashman did say that he feels the Yankees are better with Soriano than without him, which keeps him from sounding too negative, and front offices throughout baseball seldom share a unanimous opinion on anything anyway. At the same time, though, perhaps the day of Rafael Soriano’s formal introduction at Yankee Stadium is the wrong day for Cashman to publicly declare that Soriano’s acquisition didn’t have his support.
Soriano: I’m happy to be a Yankee and to be pitching in front of the greatest closer of all time
Cashman: And we’re happy that you’re a Yankee too, although I’d personally be happier with other players instead
And just for good measure, Cashman dropped another, unrelated nugget a little later on:
Cashman admitted that he engaged Carl Pavano’s agent, but nothing came of their discussions.
For Brian Cashman, Make Everyone Around You Uncomfortable Day has been a resounding success.
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