Longtime Yankee blogger quits, says Yankee front office has drained him of will to continue, will still be Yankee fan

11/1/11, "Closing Time," Steve Lombardi, proprietor, WasWatching.com

• "As mentioned previously, this is it for me." Steve replies to one of his commenters:

"Cashman was granted “full autonomy” before the 2006 season. And, I am convinced, if he gets another deal that the Yankees future will be the same as the last six seasons. Bad starting pitching decisions/deals. Teams that beat the crap out of bad pitching. Making the playoffs and then getting bounced – unless a doctor is sticking a needle in someone’s ass. Plus, with the age on A-Rod and Jeter, Tex’s decline, CC’s opt out and weight, and Mo getting older, it’s just going to get worse. And, that’s not even mentioning Burnett.

I’m not going to waste my time spending another year, or more, bitching about Cashman. And, without question, no one wants to read/hear me doing that.

• I’ll still root for the team. But, I’m done writing about them – unless Cashman goes and then it’s interesting again."

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10/14/11, "2,385 Days & Out," Steve Lombardi, proprietor, WasWatching.com

• "I think the time has come for me to shut it down. ...I expect this to be my last month writing here – and October 31st will be it for me.

Why? I don’t have the will to deal with more years of the Yankees Front Office.

• Hal Steinbrenner is a paper tiger and shell of what his father was – and nothing like him on the inside.

Hank Steinbrenner is the ‘Gob’ Bluth of the Steinbrenner family. Those two, like the rest of the Steinbrenner kids and their spouses, just care about the team making tons of money – and they’re fine with allowing Randy Levine, Lonn Trost and Brian Cashman run the show.

• Ah, Levine, Trost and Cashman…

Where to start with those three? Heck, I’ll just cut to the chase and say that these three are the kings of “CYA” and ensuring that they insulate themselves more and more to the point where no one can touch them. If Levine, Trost and Cashman were dropped into a tank with nine Great White Sharks, I would not wager a dime on the fish. Levine would talk three of them to death. Trost would bore three of them death. And, Cashman would sign the last three to $40 million five-year contracts to pitch in Double-A, in exchange for letting him live.

• Now, I know that the Steinbrenner kids aren’t going anywhere. Also, Levine and Trost will always have jobs with the Yankees as long as the Steinbrenner family owns the team. So, there’s not much hope for a change there.

To be candid, and this should not be a surprise to anyone who has been reading this blog for a while, I had hoped that this would be the last year for Brian Cashman. However, it looks like he will get a new deal with the team – after his current contract expires on October 31st.

• In a word: Ugh.

Don’t get me wrong. I am still a Yankees fan. I will watch and attend the games. I will root for the team to win. And, I will be upset when they lose.

It’s just that I cannot see myself wanting to write about them anymore – since their Front Office is the same old story…for the last five years…or maybe longer.

Hey, it’s been a great ride. And, my many, many, thanks to all those who have read this blog and shared great comments and feedback, etc. I will sincerely miss interacting with you....

But, unless the Yankees make a change – and the only one that can happen now is Brian Cashman – I don’t see anything giving me the juice to go for another season on writing about the Yankees. In the meantime, the next two weeks should be it for me."

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