Brian Cashman has done an elite job at constructing championship rosters for the New York Yankees since 1998, but all good things must come to an end at some point.
Cashman is under contract through 2026, but rumblings are already surfacing about his potential replacement. Cashman recently came out and revealed his thoughts on where his head is at regarding the future of his front office career, per SNY’s Andy Martino:
“The way I have always looked at it, I don’t know what is going to happen a few years from now or 10 years from now. I could get let go during the deal,” Cashman admitted.
Yankees: Brian Cashman’s illustrious resume will be hard to replace when he walks away from GM role
The four-time World Series Champion is not likely to be let go prematurely. That’s not just off of his hardware, but also the heavy lifting he did in the winter of 2023-24 and last spring to form the Yankees juggernaut that now owns the third-best record (52-29) in baseball thus far. The Yankees are dominating in 2024, yet are still talked about as needing one or two more ancillary deals to eliminate doubt about their chances to capture their first World Series since 2009 this year.
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Afterward though, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner will need to have a contingency plan in the event that Cashman, 56, opts to retire or take on a scaled-back role in the front office. Thus, SNY’s Andy Martino unearthed the two candidates who may have the strongest chance to inherit Cashman’s seat when that time comes, saying:
“But if he were to step away after the ’26 season, or begin a transition process sooner, there is a widespread belief throughout the organization that Vice President of Player Development Kevin Reese is the current frontrunner to succeed Cashman. I heard this from no fewer than five well-placed sources,” Martino reported.
“‘He is the hot name,’ one of the sources said.”
Yankees have two home-bred options to take Cashman’s place when the time comes
Reese, a Yankee in his playing career from 2005-06 and his post-playing career, has put in work to develop some of the Yankees’ best talent since being hired in his current role in 2017. This includes RF Aaron Judge’s rise to the 2022 AL MVP, RHP Luis Gil’s emergence in 2024, and closer Clay Holmes’ ascent to becoming an elite reliever in the Majors. Not to mention, a star-studded farming system has been cultivated during his tenure, headlined by CF Jasson Dominguez’s stellar play in the big leagues and the minors.
Reese knows the Yankees’ system in and out and could take the torch from Cashman, along with Yankees assistant general manager Michael Fishman, who has helped New York native pull off timely trades and lucrative offseason signings through valued quantitative analysis, keeping the team competitive in multiple roles since 2005.
As Martino also unveiled, Cashman is all in on endorsing Reese as his successor. It is too early to tell, but whispers suggest that the Yankees may keep the position in-house, though the next two-plus years could see top-shelf brass around the league become available for Steinbrenner and the Yankees to look at next to their own. It will be a tall task to find another GM that can pull off a 26-year stretch without a losing season or win three consecutive World Series in their first three years in the role, but the Yankees’ name brand, roster, and due diligence will likely yield the best possible candidate when needed.