Sights set on next championship, Cashman chats Yanks, 2,500th win as GM

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently reached a significant milestone -- 2,500 regular-season victories at the helm. He discussed that and other topics recently in a phone interview with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson.

MLB.com: On March 29 of this year, you won your 2,500th game as a general manager after the Yankees defeated the Brewers, 20-9. Who was the first person you thought of?

Cashman: I didn’t think of anything. I was completely off guard. … I was trying to play catch-up. First, is this real? Second, I didn’t know where that number stood, connected with. To this day, I don’t really follow the media. I don’t know where that sits. It’s obviously something I’m proud to be associated with and [have] the shared wins that we all have. Past that, it’s been a long run so far. Any true general manager focuses on the losses and lets go of the wins rather quickly. My memory lane happens to be the ones that got away. Whatever that number is, that’s the one that actually hurts and is the most memorable.

MLB.com: Are you a Hall of Famer and why?

Cashman: I would say there are a number of people that I would point to that are Hall of Famers ahead of me. I know people who are going to be and should be ahead of me, including my owner, George Steinbrenner. He belongs in the Hall of Fame. It’s a crime he is not there yet. That’s the way I would leave it.

MLB.com: What’s amazing is that you started as an intern. What did you expect when you started in that role?

Cashman: I didn’t expect anything. … You do everything you possibly can to serve your bosses. I was happy to be there to serve and do what I was told to the best of my ability so they can do their jobs better. I wasn’t playing the long game of having the vision of being a general manager one day. I said I’ll do this for a year or two. … I could tell my family and kids in the future, never expecting I would get a career out of it. Baseball is my passion, but back then there was little room for non-former players in the baseball hierarchy.

MLB.com: Who taught you the nuances of baseball?

Cashman: I had many mentors I had a chance to work with. Buck Showalter and Gene Michael were probably the most impactful. Bill Livesey and Brian Sabean -- those guys taught me everything I needed to know in the amateur world. And then George Steinbrenner. I learned a ton from all of these people in a different way. They taught me how to fight the good fight, and I’m still trying to fight it.

MLB.com: What was the biggest thing you learned from all of those people?

Cashman: They taught me how the game will humble you. You can’t take anything for granted. The biggest thing from George Steinbrenner was, you always need to find a way to improve. … I don’t have a magic bullet I can provide other than be yourself, honest and direct. Don’t lie, don’t manipulate the press, the people you are working with or working for. Just be a straight shooter. Attack things headed that way. It will serve you well and it has certainly served me well.

MLB.com: We know you have won five World Series titles as a GM. But what regular-season victory stands out?

Cashman: Maybe the first victory [in 1998] is the one I remember the most because we started the season 0-3 and George Steinbrenner was getting ready to fire me. We got swept by Anaheim that year and then I got pulled off the road. We lost the game in Oakland and then we won the next day and [manager] Joe Torre FedEx’d the lineup card with his signature and the coaching staff’s signatures on it. My nickname was Crash at the time. It said, “Crash, The first of many.” That year, we won 125 games [including the postseason] and lost only 50. I almost got whacked out of the gate. My understanding is that Gene Michael talked the boss out of replacing me. He asked Gene Michael if he would step in and he said, “Give him time. He’ll be fine.”

MLB.com: From the first victory to the 2,500th, how much has the game changed since you have been at the helm?

Cashman: Significantly. That might be one of the reasons I’m still standing. I’m open minded to change. I’m not stuck in my ways. … To best serve the owners is to make sure that we are cutting edge and use every tool in the toolbox. So if someone is doing something better, it’s my job and our job to figure that out, adapt and adjust.

Obviously, analytics was loosely a part of the game [when I started], but now, it’s a major component. It’s not the only component, so there is a window where a lot of organizations ... were left behind to play catchup. I’m proud the Yankees didn’t have to do that. … The torpedo bat is another example of being cutting edge and ahead of things. Performance, technology, analytics -- all these things have contributed significantly to debunk things that we thought were truisms in the past and find higher ground about how to train players better and determine future success better, determine present value of players. … The reason I’m still standing is because we have been open minded to adjusting and staying ahead of the curve.

MLB.com: How do you feel the current team is going?

Cashman: Honestly, we are finding our way. We have a lot of talent, and we’ll see how it measures up with the season under way. We have some injuries we have to overcome like everybody else. … We are starting to see the emergence of some of our young core players like Ben Rice, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, and Jasson Domínguez. Clarke Schmidt is coming back from injury. Will Warren has taken a turn in the rotation. These young guys are being asked to contribute significantly and allow us to excel. They are doing a great job, so far, getting out of the gate and I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes us.

MLB.com: The way Aaron Judge is going there seems to be plenty more victories for you and the Yankees. What impresses you the most about Judge?

Cashman: He is a once-in-a-generation-type player. Damon Oppenheimer selected him in the amateur Draft on our behalf and what an impactful difference-making selection. He is a big reason why we are contending for a World Series title. As our captain, he is a rarified air. What he is doing on the field -- performance wise -- he earned the right to be the first captain since Derek Jeter. Just special stuff.

MLB.com: What’s ahead for Brian Cashman? Are there 2,500 more wins in the tank?

Cashman: The only thing that matters is to get another World Series title.