Yankees Hope To Retain GM Brian Cashman Beyond This Season

The Yankees want Brian Cashman "to remain as the team's general manager beyond this year," according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN N.Y. Yankees President Randy Levine said, "Clearly, we want him back." Cashman is in the "final year of a three-year contract, with a reported total value of around $6 million." Pursuant to team policy, the two sides are "waiting until the offseason before talking about a new agreement." Cashman said yesterday, "I work for a great owner, but we really haven't talked about the future." Marchand noted Cashman "could have options," and possible interest could come from the Cubs, Orioles "or other clubs that might have openings" (ESPNNY.com, 9/26).

VETO POWER: A Mets spokesperson yesterday confirmed that the team has blocked the temporary move of the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate to Newark, and "would only say the decision was within the team's rights." In Newark, Jerry Izenberg notes the Yankees wanted to move the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees while the team's PNC Field was being renovated next year. But under MLB rules, the "exclusivity of the Yankees and Mets territory is shared." The Yankees "called the Mets and asked permission to put their Triple-A team in Newark for only a single year." The Yankees said that if the Mets "agreed for just that one season they would offer an evergreen matching proposal." But the Mets "declined, saying their organization would only do something like that with mutual and immediate reciprocity." One of the "concerns that influenced the Mets was their belief that a minor league team in Newark might have weaned potential Mets fans away from the affluent New Jersey suburbs" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/27).