Cashman: Sox struggles 'won't last long'

NEW YORK -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, whose team clinched its 14th postseason berth in 15 seasons since he became GM prior to the 1998 season, suggested that he was "proud" of his team's consistent record of reaching the playoffs but that simply securing a postseason berth offered little fulfillment.

"Bottom line is we have bigger and loftier goals, which is world champions, whatever it takes," said Cashman. "You have to be in it to win it. We're making sure we're in it enough, but we want to be able to run the table if we can more than we have."

The Yankees' consistency becomes all the more impressive in light of the fact that the Red Sox, despite ranking second to the Yankees in payroll for each of the last three years, have fallen short of the postseason in each of those seasons, including this season's 69-90 derailment that has resulted in the Sox' first 90-loss season since 1966. Cashman said that he couldn't have envisioned anything along the lines of what's happened this year in Boston prior to the season. 

"Especially with the team they had on paper going in, they had a lot of talent. But they had a lot of injuries and a lot of stuff happened that was unexpected. That, unfortunately, can happen in baseball," said Cashman. "But there's a lot of talent on this roster. I've got a lot of respect for those guys -- who they are, what they've been and still what they're capable of. 

"I'm surprised by what's happened in Boston. But they've got smart people running that franchise, so it won't last long, unfortunately."

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