Valentine, Cashman, and Gillick in Seattle?
By Mike Silva ~ September 8th, 2008. Filed under: Mike Silva.
Joel Sherman at his Hardball blog at the NY Post outlines some interesting scenarios that may bring Bobby Valentine, Brian Cashman, and Pat Gillick together in Seattle.
We all know about Brian Cashman’s contractual status here in New York, but what I didn’t know was that Bobby Valentine may be having a fall out with the Chibe Lotte Marines ownership group. It will be interesting to see if they will allow Bobby V to manage as a lame duck on the final year of his contract.
It wouldn’t be the first time Bobby V had to manage with little wiggle room. If you remember, he went into the 2000 season having only one year left on his deal. After the Mets went to the World Series, both Valentine and Steve Phillips received contract extensions. Valentine is known to thrive on pressure situations. Knowing how much he loves Japan it will be interesting to see this situation develop.
I do know, when I interviewed the creators of “The Zen of Bobby V” back in April, they had discussed how intrigued Bobby was with the Tampa organization. The sticking point, from what I hear, for Valentine is autonomy with any job he receives. He obviously doesn’t want to go through a power struggle like he did with Phillips during his Mets tenure.
One thing is for sure, a team of GillIck, Valentine, and Cashman would certainly be a progressive thinking group. Knowing that Cashman is a fan of Valentine makes this even more believable. It would be too bad if Cashman took the fall for the Yankees not making the playoffs. Sometimes you don’t know what you have until its gone. For Cashman, I could see the grass being greener after dealing with the pressures of New York for over a decade.
Tip to Steve Lombardi of Was Watching for first bringing this to my attention.
If you want to hear my interview with the creators of “The Zen of Bobby V” back when I was with Gotham Sports Radio – CLICK HERE.
