Recap: How the front office rating works
This is one in a series of assessments of the performances of front offices for the 2024 season. Each front office is given a score based on the total Wins Above Average of the players they either traded for, signed via free agency or extension, or promoted from their farm system, since the conclusion of the 2023 postseason.
A front office’s score also includes the total Wins Above Average of players traded away or lost to free agency since the end of the 2023 postseason. The front offices are being presented in order of their total value from No. 30 (worst) all the way to No. 1 (best).
These ratings do not necessarily reflect the final standings. Front offices are measured based only on the talent they acquired or lost during the past 12 months. Players on multi-year contracts, or already under team control, don’t count toward this rating.
10. New York Yankees, Brian Cashman, senior vice president and general manager, +3.0
Cashman is the dean of major league front office executives, having been Yankees GM since 1998. A striking amount of what he did to impact Yankee fortunes this past season came down to the Juan Soto trade.
As a refresher, that trade brought Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yanks in exchange for five players, Michael King chief among them. Statistically, this was almost certainly the single most consequential GM-to-GM deal of the season. Soto alone brought +5.8 games worth of value to New York, although the 2.6 WAA value King brought to San Diego significantly offset that.
Still, it is an easy argument to make that Soto was the difference in the Yankees reaching the World Series, and Cashman deserves credit for that. Perhaps coincidentally, his final +3.0 overall score almost exactly represents the difference between Soto arriving and King leaving.
Five most impactful Cashman moves
Transaction | Net Impact (Wins Above Average) |
|---|---|
Acquired Juan Soto from San Diego | +5.8 |
Traded Michael King to San Diego | -2.6 |
Released Isiah Kiner-Falefa | -2.0 |
Promoted rookie Luis Gil | +1.8 |
Traded Jake Bauers to Milwaukee | -1.5 |
Cashman’s moves since the conclusion of the 2023 postseason impacted 65 major league players, 29 of them positive, 30 negative and six neutral.
Beyond acquiring Soto, Cashman’s decision to promote rookie Luis Gil as part of the Opening Day roster proved to be inspired. Gil went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 29 starts, covering for Gerrit Cole’s injury while filling 152 innings on his way to winning Rookie of the Year honors.
Unanticipated events forced the Yankees to rely more than they intended on rookie Austin Wells behind the plate. His offense — a .229/.322/.395 slash line — was unremarkable. But a strong defensive performance still translated to +1.2 Wins Above Average.
Cashman had less luck when he fell back on veterans to flesh out the Yankee roster. He traded for Alex Verdugo, re-signed Anthony Rizzo, and signed Marcus Stroman, and all three of those veterans hampered New York’s pennant run to a cumulative -3.0 game impact.
The Yankees also benefitted greatly from the team’s returning cast. That cast of players under 2024 contract prior to the 2023 postseason kicked in +10.7 games of value to the team’s success, although the vast majority of that value came from AL MVP Aaron Judge (+8.6).
Cashman is having a fascinating offseason this time around, having lost Juan Soto to the Mets while bringing in Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams and others to fill his place.
Previous Rankings
10. New York Yankees, Brian Cashman, senior vice president and general manager, +3.0
Next: 9. Milwaukee Brewers, Matt Arnold, senior vice president and general manager, +3.2