For Cashman, art imitates life in MLB Front Office Manager

2008-11-15T20:37:46-05:00

2008-11-12T17:15:18-05:00

2008-11-15T20:37:46-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/891/39/thumb/316.jpg 2 NJ

jacobmrley

Ramsey 89439

7 cashman didn't build the team that won 4 rings - stick michael did - he built the useless bunch of the last 8 years... 3350013

2008-11-14T12:57:50-05:00

addrake

Hoboken 135468

6 Sito, do you realize that not even the Yankees would add THAT MUCH salary? CC (my guess is $150 million), Texiera ($200 million) and Manny ($80 million) would add probably about $400 million+ to their next several years of salary. 3339847

2008-11-13T07:51:31-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/595/855/thumb/LogoLeones.gif 205 FL

Sito45

Fort Walton Beach 596495

4 if the yankees sign Man-ram and Tex...along with CC, I see a three peat in the near future. 3324739

2008-11-13T10:20:36-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/567/146/thumb/AlbertF.gif 15 CT

DDDGator

Ledyard 567626

if the yankees sign Man-ram and Tex...along with CC, I see a three peat in the near future.

5 I think comment #4 would not be allowed by the game, lol 3326086

2008-11-13T07:51:31-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/595/855/thumb/LogoLeones.gif 205 FL

Sito45

Fort Walton Beach 596495

4 if the yankees sign Man-ram and Tex...along with CC, I see a three peat in the near future. 3324739

2008-11-12T21:38:35-05:00

scooty

Waitsfield 440202

3 ya, but the recent history has been terrible. we need to stop living in the past. 3323369

2008-11-12T20:39:55-05:00

redsoxh8r4life

Rancho Cucamonga 606575

2 And hwhy would you say that? 4 rings baybee 3322997

2008-11-12T19:46:35-05:00

Muhammad

Flushing 606622

1 Cashman is the worst G.M.. Period. 3322689

<div class="photo_container image_center"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/mlbfrontoffice1.jpg" alt="Mlbfrontoffice1" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">2K Sports </div> </div> Brian Cashman sat in the back of a New York City bar last week as 2K Sports unveiled MLB Front Office Manager, the virtual world's latest attempt at making a professional's job seem doable for any willing know-it-all. For the general manager of the New York Yankees, it must have been like seeing his life flash before his eyes.  Designed to give users the true experience of running a professional baseball team, Front Office Manager allows gamers to take on the everyday duties of Cashman and his cohorts, from investing the millions upon millions on the A-Rods of the game to responding to players' constant whines and moans. The game will be released in January for XBOX 360, PS3 and PC gaming platforms. "It's not like a layup -- you can't make lopsided deals because the artificial intelligence will not allow you to do it," says Cashman, who has worked for the Yankees since 1986 and been the GM since ‘98. "You have a chance to throw out different ideas, think outside the box. Every aspect a general manager has to deal with comes before you in this game."  Well ... almost. Those pesky baseball writers won't be hounding you all day and your shortstop's love life won't be splattered on the gossip pages every day.  But everything else, from reading traditional scouting reports to evaluating the quantitative Sabermetric tools via Bill James' friends at Baseball Info Solutions, is represented in the game. Other features include online fantasy leagues and regular advice from Celebrity GM Billy Beane of the Oakland A's and Moneyball fame.  "Just like in real life, the general managers get older and stressed out over time," says Cashman. "They get gray hair, they can get fat, they can look haggard as the season unwinds. I got a kick out of that, because that's true."  Not all woes of a GM are forgotten in Front Office Manager. See, they may not have the tabloids breathing down their neck, but the pressure is certainly there. There's pressure to successfully adapt to injuries. "All of a sudden as your season may be going around and your shortstop could blow his hamstring," says Cashman. "Do you pursue trades? Do you have a good farm system to support those injuries?"  There's pressure to make your Beane-sized budget work while Steinbrenner & Co. swim in money. "You have to choose how to invest internationally and on the amateur side," says Cashman.  There's pressure to keep up with deadlines -- "It's real-time so the free-agency periods are the same dates, the Rule 5 draft, the Amateur Draft is in June."  There's pressure to quickly comb through heaps of e-mails about your right fielder's groin injury and your first baseman's aching wrist. Luckily, the game does not come equipped with a BlackBerry.  But the real pressure comes from the race to win it all, to leave the other clubs questioning their every move throughout the season while you bask in the glory of a World Series title.  "All 30 GMs are in this to be the champion, and there's only going to be one," Cashman says, flashing one of his finger-breaking, diamond-encrusted World Series Championship rings. "And the other 29, no matter how close they got, they fail to meet the goal." -- Nicki Jhabvala

The SI Staff

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