Brian Cashman On What It Takes To Run A Winning Franchise

"Essentially, the decision-maker needs to have a very successful management team that exposes him to all sides," Cashman says. "I think you have to have a team that scouts, because the bottom line is players with big tools win championships. Statistical analysis comes into play in defining the reality of the performance. Trends that show risk, injury, regression -- maybe you can catch that earlier because it's definable … But I don't think you need a former player or an Ivy Leaguer. You need someone with a high degree of common sense that surrounds himself with a strong team to run an efficient business. You have to have a blend, and he'll gravitate toward the best possible solutions."

- Brian Cashman

We pride ourselves on not being a link-aggregating blog, but every once in a while, an article comes around that demands to be linked to. The above quote was by Brian Cashman, speaking about the "baseball revolution" led by Billy Beane, and presented to the world in Michael Lewis' book, Moneyball. Howard Bryant of ESPN.com concocts a wonderful story that chronicles the rise of Billy Beane (and Moneyball) as well as the struggles the Moneyball movie is having getting off the ground.

We link to it here because Brian Cashman, Yankees General Manager is a voice of reason throughout the article, dropping awesome one-liners such as "The higher up the tree the monkey climbs, the more of his ass you can see."

Whether you are a "stat guy" or an "old baseball guy," you will definitely enjoy this article. Do yourself a favor and check it out.