Cashman. D'Oh!

BOSTON.com-Yankees GM Brian Cashman was asked if the Red Sox are better on paper today than the Yankees. "'I would agree because they have a deeper starting rotation. I’m not saying they’re going to beat us. We’re not conceding anything. But if somebody asked me right now, they might be a finished product."'

So, Brian Cashman is not only saying that the Red Sox are the better team on paper, but he is also admitting defeat this off-season. For a guy who seems to be always in hot water with the Steinbrenners because of their constant (and justified) thirst to win, this is possibly one of the dumbest things he could've said. In an off-season where the Yankees have basically failed on all fronts to improve (save the signing of Rafael Soriano), Cashman couldn't have picked a worse time to say the worst thing; that the Red Sox, on paper, are poised to pass the Yankees.

But on paper means absolutely nothing. Look at the Red Sox rotation last year. On paper, phenomenal. However, with the exception of Jon Lester and Clay Buccholz, the rotation failed to produce what was projected on paper (see; Lackey, Beckett.) I am not getting my hopes up over Cashman's statements, because to assume that the Red Sox will fufill their on-paper expectations makes an ass out of you and me.

Still, to have a top-level GM concede that his biggest rival is the better team is unheard of in sports. Cashman basically told the whole Yankees organization that he failed to deliver this off-season AND that his team isn't as talented as their hated rivals. Of all the dumb moves (or non-moves) made by Cashman this past off-season, this is one takes the cake.