I’ve been struggling how to categorize these, and I’ve decided to put them
in three categories: 1) “Cashman All The Way” (ideas that he conceived and
executed); 2) “His Player, Not His Price” (for times when ownership paid a
higher fee than Cashman desired on a player that Cashman liked); and 3) “He Might as Well Have Been at the Atlantis with his Family,” for transactions that were essentially performed with him as an outside observer.

Cashman All The Way: Bobby Abreu, Alfredo Aceves, Armando Benitez, Wilson Betemit, Kevin Brown, Brian Bruney, Shawn Chacon, Tony Clark, Roger Clemens (both times) Johnny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth, Glenallen Hill, Kei Igawa, David Justice, Al Leiter, Cory Lidle, Hideki Matsui (re-signing in November 2005), Damaso Marte, Tino Martinez (his return), Jose Molina, Mike Mussina (re-signing in November 2006), Xavier Nady, Denny Neagle, Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte (his return), Sidney Ponson (both times), Darrell Rasner, Mariano Rivera (re-signing in November 2007), Alex Rodriguez (the 2004 trade), Ivan Rodriguez, Javier Vazquez, Robin Ventura, Jose Vizcaino, Bernie Williams (re-signing in December 2005), Jeff Weaver

His Player, Not His Price: Jason Giambi, Sterling Hitchcock (re-signing in December 2001), Steve Karsay, Jorge Posada (re-signing in November 2007), Rondell White, Bernie Williams (re-signing in November 1998)

He Might As Well Have Been at the Atlantis With His Family: Aaron Boone, Jose Contreras, Dwight Gooden (return in 2000), Chris Hammond, Orlando Hernandez, Randy Johnson, Travis Lee, Jim Leyritz (re-signing in November 1999), Jon Lieber, Esteban Loaiza, Kenny Lofton, Raul Mondesi, Alex Rodriguez (re-signing in November 2007), Gary Sheffield, Ruben Sierra (return in June 2003), Darryl Strawberry (his re-signing in November 1998), David Wells (return in December 2001), Jaret Wright.

And although it’s easy to say that you can’t win with young pitching, I believe the Twins and the Rays might like to argue with you. It’s obviously true that the Yankees’ young pitchers let them down this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll let them down next year.

I do want to mention the comparison between the 2006 Red Sox and 2008 Yankees. My first thought was that they weren’t comparable at all. I’d thought that the Red Sox were simply unlucky in 2006, that they had all the pieces in place.
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That’s mind-blowing, don’t you think? After winning 95 games in 2005, the well-heeled, brilliantly run Boston Red Sox were outscored in 2006. Hey, it happens. The next year they won the World Series.

No question, the Yankees have a lot of work to do this winter. But I hardly think we’ve seen the last of them.

The Yankees want to get the word out with hopes that it will deter anyone from deciding to try to steal a plate, chair back, toilet bowl seat or anything else.

On May 22, 1963, in the 11th inning of a game against the Kansas City Athletics, Mantle drilled a fastball off Bill Fischer that hit the copper frieze, commonly known as the facade, at the top of the stadium in right field. A few feet higher and the ball would have left the ballpark completely. It is estimated the ball would have traveled over 700 feet if the facade were not there. No major-leaguer has ever hit a fair ball out of Yankee Stadium.

Mantle called it the “hardest ball I ever hit.” He hit the facade at least two other times in his career. This famous photograph shows the ball’s trajectory, how far the facade was from home plate, and how high it was.

In order to fully understand and appreciate long-distance hitting, a frame of reference should be established. Any drive over 400 feet is noteworthy. A blow of 450 feet shows exceptional power, as the majority of major league players are unable to hit a ball that far. Anything in the 500-foot range is genuinely historic. For perspective, consider the computerized measuring system implemented by IBM in most major league cities in 1982. By 1995, the sponsorship had changed, but the program had been expanded to include every big league ballpark.
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It should be noted that those regular references over the years to 500- and 600-foot home runs were born out of scientific ignorance, misinformation, or even deliberate exaggeration. The most common cause for overstatement has been the basic misconception about the flight of a batted ball once it has reached its apex. Seeing great drives land atop distant upper-deck roof, sportswriters observing the occurrence from a press box would resort to their limited skills in mathematics without any regard for the laws of physics. Perhaps the ball had already flown over 400 feet, whereupon it was interrupted in midflight at a height of 70 feet above field level. Awed by such a demonstration of power, the writers would then describe the event for posterity as a 500-and-some-foot home run. With the guidance of our scientific brethren, we know that once a batted ball has reached its highest point and lost most of its velocity, it falls in a rapidly declining trajectory. The aforementioned fictional home run could have been reported at 550 feet in a prominent newspaper, and re-created at that length by historians for years thereafter, when in fact it traveled about 100 feet less. Hyperbole has always been part of the phenomenon of long-distance home runs, and this factor must also be considered.
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By his own account [Mantle] hit the longest home run of his career on May 22, 1963 at Yankee Stadium. The ball struck the facade on the right-field roof approximately 370 feet from home plate and 115 feet above field level. Almost everyone in attendance believed that the ball was still rising when it was interrupted in midflight by the roof structure. Based upon that belief, this drive has commonly been estimated at about 620 feet if left unimpeded. However, the reality is that the ball was already on its way down, and those reporting the trajectory were victimized by a common optical illusion.