Brian Cashman

He did it. I never thought it was possible, but he did it. He vanquished George Steinbrenner and is running the entire operation his way. How else can you explain the Sheffield and Wright trades? Both of those guys were pretty much signed by George's Tampa faction, and Cashman just shipped them both out of town for four pretty decent young pitchers. Maybe none of these guys end up making a huge contribution at the major league level, but if having a starter like Humberto Sanchez around in June prevents someone like Sidney Ponson, Jose Lima, or Jason Johnson making multiple starts... well, then that's a good thing.

It seems like most Yankee fans approve of these deals, and I can't say that I blame them. If Cashman can continue to make reasoned, common sense moves like this (and yes, I'll admit, I was wrong about what they could get for Sheffield) and avoid signing contracts like the Wright and Pavano deals going forward (which I think he can), then the rest of the AL is in trouble. It remains to be seen how he fills in the rest of the rotation, but this is a pretty good start to the off-season, enough to move the Yanks to the top of the power rankings.

Now I just hope the Matsuzaka to the Red Sox rumors are true...