2022 MLB front office rankings: The American League East
By Bill Felber
Brian Cashman, New York Yankees
Impact: +9.1 games
Division ranking: first
MLB ranking: second
Completing a quarter-century as head of perhaps the game’s flagship front office, Cashman enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career. Statistically, only his 2002 (+9.5) and 2009 (+9.2) seasons were more productive.
The Yankee front office chief’s moves affected 43 members of the team’s MLB roster, of which a striking 27 had a positive impact on Yankee fortunes. At least twice he made headlines at the trade market.
The first time came in March when he shipped third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Gary Sanchez to Minnesota for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and minor leaguer Ben Rortvedt. Then at the August 2 trade deadline, Cashman packaged pitcher Jordan Montgomery to St. Louis in a straight-up swap for outfielder Harrison Bader.
Although both trades drew harsh criticism, Cashman’s trade and free agent moves generally were productive. Nine of them involved players who produced at least 1.0 games of value as measured by WAA for the acquiring team, an exceptional percentage of highly impactful personnel moves. Six of those nine highly impactful decisions worked out to the benefit of the Yankees.
Here are the most impactful personnel decisions made by Cashman this season.
May 26: Signing free agent Matt Carpenter. He batted .305 in 47 games and produced +1.9 WAA for New York.
March 13: Trading third baseman Gio Urshela to Minnesota. He produced -1.3 WAA for the Twins.
July 14; Acquiring infielder Tyler Wade in a trade with the Angels. Wade generated -1.3 WAA for New York before being released at season’s end.
March 13: Acquiring shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the trade with Minnesota. Kiner-Falefa produced +1.2 WAA for New York.
April 2: Acquiring catcher Jose Trevino from Texas for Albert Abreu and a minor leaguer. Trevino became the team’s regular catcher and produced a +1.1 WAA.
August 17: Promoting outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera from the team’s minor league system. In 44 games, Cabrera generated +1.1 WAA.
The totality of Cashman’s trades netted the equivalent of +4.5 games of WAA to the side of the Yankees. That ranked second among the 30 major league front offices for impact in deals with other teams in 2022. In his dealings with free agents, Cashman added 4.2 games of value to New York’s cause, the third-best performance by an MLB front office. He ranked seventh for farm system impact.