Rich
10-30-03, 01:22 AM
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1067496878138920.xml
<b><font size=4>Yankees: Boss takes aim at front office
Bowden may replace Blakeley</b></font>
Thursday, October 30, 2003
BY DAN GRAZIANO AND LAWRENCE ROCCA
Star-Ledger Staff
One day it's the coaching staff. The next day it's the front office. It appears nobody is safe from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's wrath as he evaluates his team in the wake of its World Series loss to the Florida Marlins.
The organizational meetings Steinbrenner convened in Tampa this week broke up early yesterday, and GM Brian Cashman headed home to New York. But Steinbrenner is still stewing, and more changes could be on the way.
According to a person with knowledge of the content of the meeting, Steinbrenner spent much of yesterday going through his front-office roster and evaluating each executive's individual status. It appears Cashman is safe, but the same cannot be said for VP of Baseball Operations Gordon Blakeley.
Disappointed in the performance of the minor-league system, Steinbrenner is considering stripping Blakeley of his responsibilities and reassigning him to a different post. Oddly, such a move would be similar to the falling-out Steinbrenner had last winter with Mark Newman, who occupied the same post and ceded it to Blakeley after Steinbrenner demoted him.
If Blakeley is stripped of his responsibilities as minor-league director, a prime candidate to replace him would be Jim Bowden, who was fired in July as the GM of the Cincinnati Reds.
Hiring Bowden could further widen the rift between the Tampa and New York arms of the Yankee hierarchy. Bowden shared a Yankee Stadium office with Cashman when he worked for the Yankees in 1989, and it was Cashman's job to escort Bowden from the premises when Steinbrenner fired Bowden.
<b><font size=4>Yankees: Boss takes aim at front office
Bowden may replace Blakeley</b></font>
Thursday, October 30, 2003
BY DAN GRAZIANO AND LAWRENCE ROCCA
Star-Ledger Staff
One day it's the coaching staff. The next day it's the front office. It appears nobody is safe from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's wrath as he evaluates his team in the wake of its World Series loss to the Florida Marlins.
The organizational meetings Steinbrenner convened in Tampa this week broke up early yesterday, and GM Brian Cashman headed home to New York. But Steinbrenner is still stewing, and more changes could be on the way.
According to a person with knowledge of the content of the meeting, Steinbrenner spent much of yesterday going through his front-office roster and evaluating each executive's individual status. It appears Cashman is safe, but the same cannot be said for VP of Baseball Operations Gordon Blakeley.
Disappointed in the performance of the minor-league system, Steinbrenner is considering stripping Blakeley of his responsibilities and reassigning him to a different post. Oddly, such a move would be similar to the falling-out Steinbrenner had last winter with Mark Newman, who occupied the same post and ceded it to Blakeley after Steinbrenner demoted him.
If Blakeley is stripped of his responsibilities as minor-league director, a prime candidate to replace him would be Jim Bowden, who was fired in July as the GM of the Cincinnati Reds.
Hiring Bowden could further widen the rift between the Tampa and New York arms of the Yankee hierarchy. Bowden shared a Yankee Stadium office with Cashman when he worked for the Yankees in 1989, and it was Cashman's job to escort Bowden from the premises when Steinbrenner fired Bowden.