What went wrong with the Yankees in 2008

While some will say the Yanks' lack of hits with runners in scoring position was their downfall this year, and they're right, there was also some bad decisions on the part of Brian Cashman and others who were involved in evaluating personnel. We had heard over and over that the Yankees were not going to rush Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain and other pitchers through the minors. Yet that's exactly what they did in 2007, and 2008. While Chamberlain has made the leap, Hughes and Kennedy have not. Clearly, they were not ready this year, and both could have used this year as a full season in Triple A. As a general manager who wanted control over the baseball operation, and got it, Cashman has to take responsibility for these decisions. A skilled talent evaluator knows when young players are ready for the big leagues. There are others who weren't ready, such as Ross Oldendorf and David Robertson, yet they were brought up and allowed to be hammered around. Add the lousy free agent signings that Cashman has made in recent years - Latroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth, Carl Pavano, and Kei Igawa, among others - and it's easy to see how the Yankees were not able to compete for a playoff spot this year. Cashman also missed on the team's bench players. Wilson Betemit and Morgan Ensberg contributed virtually nothing. It's the GM's job to build a bench that will support the starters, and Cashman failed at this. The Yankees still have the nucleus of a playoff team, but in this offseason they're going to have to do a better job of finding the right pieces to the puzzle. If that means hiring a new general manager, so be it.