Former Yankees manager Casey Stengel was photographed holding a baseball and gazing at it, as if it were a crystal ball, right after he was hired in 1949. Many Yankee staffers winced when they saw the pictures, but whatever he saw, it must have been good, because not only did he win the World Series his first year on the job, but he won the next four after that.
Stengel would win a total of seven World Series titles in his 12 years with the Yankees.
If it worked for Stengel then it could work for Brian Cashman now, who is about to embark upon what could be the most tumultuous offseason he has ever experienced. Three of the core four Yankees have expiring contracts, and Cashman must decide for how long and how much he is going to bring them back for, while keeping in mind that all three of them growing older by the day. He also has a manager to re-sign.
After the in-house duties are done, he must turn his attention to improving his team in the free agent and trade market, where Cy Young award winners Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke both await, along with Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn, Adrain Beltre and Jayson Werth.
After all of that, he has some more tough decisions to make regarding the starting catching job, with Jorge Posada, Francisco Cervelli and Jesus Montero all viable candidates.
He certainly has a lot on his plate and after gazing into a crystal ball, this is what he should see happen in the coming months.
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