Is it on now? We have a tape delay and they’re showing informercials right now.

I do think that it was important that one of the Steinbrenner sons (whichever one) made sure that they stepped up and made it clear that there was an active occupation of the owners seat once they took over for their dad. That said, Hank does need to learn when to step back and resist the urge to speak at times. He’s definitely like his old man in that regard.

The big positive is that Hal holds the pursestrings and brings balance to the table. He’s a good liaison between the respective methods of Cashman and Hank, who both obviously want to improve the team – they just aren’t necessarily the same animal in the way they want to do it. We should be thankful that BOTH of the Steinbrenner sons are involved because of this. I do think that for all of his overeagerness to be in the press, Hank does have better restraint than his father traditionally had.

As for Cashman, I think the consensual reaction has been to overstate his “loss of control” a bit. Cashman is no idiot – he knows that regardless of the increase in power he has been handed the last couple of years, he still has a boss (or bosses, in this case). He’s not going to have complete control – no GM EVER will. I think he’s fully aware of the fact that he’s not always going to have things go the way he wants them to. As long as he still has his wish of having control over player drafting and development, and the organization as a whole shows respect for it (doesn’t trade away all of their best prospects) – he can call his job a success. He can’t keep every good prospect – and he has even said himself that you don’t draft and develop talent simply to keep it all. Some of it is going to be used in trade negotiations. I think the important thing though is that you don’t make a habit of trading your BEST prospects. In this case, with Phil Hughes having been the first huge prospect the Yankees had emerge in years, there’s a lot of justifiable reluctance to let him go. Sure, Joba has passed him up on the “lists”, but he was still the first guy we were all able to sincerely get amped about in a long time. I don’t think that Cashman’s admission regarding the shift in his job description is a signal that he is on his way out, but rather an acknowledgement of changes within the organization with the transition from father to sons. Let’s wait and see how at least the first half of the year plays out before we panic about Cash being on his way out the door.

And again – bravo, Mr Faded Glory.

Exactly. Unless anyone here has an incredible BS meter or is an expert in reading body language.