Apparently, Brian Cashman was pretty upfront with Derek Jeter a few years ago in regards to not wanting him to play shortstop
It pretty much goes without saying that, in recent years, it was hard to picture anyone other than Derek Jeter playing shortstop for the New York Yankees. Of course, with his retirement off to a start, we see what that’s like now, but to actually have him replaced? That was something that was pretty unthinkable to some over the course of the past few years.
There was one man that wanted to see it happen, though, and he just so happens to be one of the most prominent men in the Yankees’ front office.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman admitted that, in 2010 before Jeter signed his three-year extension, he had no issue in telling Jeter that he wanted someone else to play the position in the field, and he specifically wanted the services of Troy Tulowitzki. At the time, Tulowitzki was still an up-and-coming star with the Colorado Rockies.
"“Who would you rather have playing shortstop this year than me?” Jeter asked Cashman.“Do you really want me to answer that?” Cashman replied. Jeter told him to go ahead, and he listed Tulowitzki, then the Rockies’ shortstop who was in the midst of his first All-Star campaign. “We’re not paying extra money for popularity,” he added, “We’re paying for performance.”"
While the casual fan couldn’t picture anyone other than Jeter playing shortstop for the Yankees, it was no secret back then that the Yankees wanted to get Tulowitzki on the roster to eventually replace one of the greatest Yankees of all time. For years, while nothing ever came to fruition in that department, you’d hear whispers from time to time about the Yankees making a run for the youngster.
So, to hear that Cashman felt like this really isn’t much of a surprise at all.
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