People to Blame for the Yankees Missing the Playoffs - Part 2: Brian Cashman

This is Part two in my series of People to Blame for the Yankees Missing the Playoffs.  In Part 1, I explained why Manager Joe Girardi was most at fault, but he is not alone.  Second on the list is General Manager Brian Cashman.

2. Brian Cashman

Cashman's first mistake was not acquiring pitcher Johan Santana in the offseason.  In my season preview back on March 26, I wrote:

"The return of the '90s philosophy of nurturing home-grown talent and not trading away top prospects is refreshing, but the Yankees might have taken it too far by passing on an opportunity to get Johan Santana.

The 29-year-old lefty is not some former ace at the end of his career like Randy Johnson or Kevin Brown. Santana is the best pitcher in baseball in his prime, so trading some young talent for him may have been justified.

"Not making the move for Santana leaves the pinstripes with some question marks in their starting rotation. Chien-Ming Wang is a possible 20-game winner, but after him lies inexperienced youngsters and veterans with baggage."

Entering Saturday, Santana leads the National League with a 2.64 ERA, while Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes (two prospects the Yankees could've traded for Santana while their stock was high) combined to go 0-8 with a 7.45 ERA.

As the Yankees got off to a 14-16 start, it was apparent that starting pitching was a major problem, but Cashman was one of the executives who waited until June 3 to bring Joba Chamberlain out of the bullpen.  The team went 8-4 in his 12 starts.  Imagine where they'd be if he was in the rotation in April rather than Kennedy or Hughes.  Probably in the playoffs.

Cashman's final blunder came at the trade deadline.  He did a tremendous job acquiring Xavier Nady from the Pittsburgh Pirates and I was thrilled when the general manager orchestrated the Ivan Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth deal with the Detroit Tigers (although that trade turned out to be a dud), but Cashman failed to meet New York's most pressing need—starting pitching.

He missed out on acquiring aces CC Sabathia and Rich Harden and then passed on lower-tier starters Paul Byrd, Jarrod Washburn and Brian Bannister.  Cashman felt that sticking with the guys they had (Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner) would be the best way to make the postseason.

The general manager once again passed on Byrd when he had a chance to claim the pitcher off waivers, which allowed the Boston Red Sox to pick him up instead.  Since July 21, Byrd is 8-2 with a 3.46 ERA.  Over that same time, Rasner is 0-3 with a 5.89 ERA and Ponson is 3-4 with a 6.79 ERA.

Cashman made a big mistake passing on Byrd.  He made a bigger error missing out on Santana.  But nothing would be more disastrous to the Yankees than if he resigned Jason Giambi.

Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report's New York Yankees Community Leader. His book "Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man"is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and authorhouse.com. Jordan can be reached at [e-mail]