Yankees GM on rebuild: What goes on with the Cubs and Astros - that's not going to happen here
The New York Yankees will continue to address their needs by opening their wallets.
With the ink not yet dry on his new three-year contract extension, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Friday quashed any thought that the team might attempt to rebuild after missing the playoffs for a second straight season.
From the Star Ledger:
Everything is more short-termed oriented. Our decision-making process, which is geared from above, we're always in win-now mode. I don't think that's ever going to change.
I've had enough conversations with the (Steinbrenner) family to know that next year's goal is to be the last team standing. So playing on the margins of building the perfect beast over time - like what you see that goes on with the Cubs and Astros - that's not going to happen here, where 'you're willing to lose a ton of games and get a ton of draft picks and live to fight another day, trade off players on a team at the deadline when your team might not look good enough so you go ahead and speed up the rebuilding process by trading veteran pieces to get young prospects so you can utilize in your seasons going forward.
That stuff is not part of the playbook here.
After missing the playoffs in 2013, Cashman responded by inking Brian McCann (five years, $85 million), Masahiro Tanaka (seven years, $155 million), Carlos Beltran (three years, $45 million) and Jacoby Ellsbury (seven years, $153 million), while also re-signing Hiroki Kuroda (one year, $16 million) in the offseason.
The moves resulted in the Yankees finishing with one less win in 2014 than they did the year before.