No More Captains? Yankees GM Thinks Honor Should End With Jeter
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Brian Cashman can't see anybody else with a 'C' on their jersey.
After saying during a radio show that the "captaincy should be retired" with Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees general manager told reporters Thursday that -- though it's not up to him -- he wouldn't recommend giving the distinction to another pinstriped player "anytime soon."
"From my chair, it's not something I think we have to fill," Cashman said after New York's 2-1 spring training win over Pittsburgh, according to MLB.com. "From another chair, it might be a different opinion, but I think we have leaders here now. We have a number of different people that are very strong leaders and high-quality individuals. That doesn't mean you have to put a 'C' on it."
Jeter, who retired following the 2014 season, was named captain by late owner George Steinbrenner in 2003, the team's first since Don Mattingly hung up his cleats eight years prior.
There have been stretches between captaincies since the dawn of the live-ball era, none longer than between Lou Gehrig's retirement in 1939 and Thurman Munson receiving the honor in 1976.
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Cashman said the void "will fill on its own, naturally."
"Leadership steps up in different forms and fashions, whether you're on the team plane, in the clubhouse, on the field of play, in the bullpen or in the manager's office," he said.
Manager Joe Girardi agreed, saying he has enough veteran voices that he hopes will speak up when necessary.
"I think (Jeter) always led by example, the way he played the game and the way he was prepared every day. He was great at that," Girardi said, according to MLB.com. "I think it evolves in the clubhouse, no matter what."
A future Hall of Famer, Jeter retired last year with five World Series titles, a Yankees record 3,465 career hits and 14 All-Star Game appearances.
