Lure Brian Cashman from the Yankees? Why it could be Steve Cohen's first move as Mets owner

On the Baseball Tonight podcast the other day, I asked Karl Ravech about Steve Cohen's purchase of the New York Mets and about what advice he would give to Cohen -- and really, what I aimed for was some sense of direction in the Mets' player personnel.

In other words: Would the best suggestion be an immediate deep dive into free agents, such as J.T. Realmuto and/or Trevor Bauer? Or perhaps a buy-low opportunity in the trade market, like offering the Rockies a chance to unload the contract of Nolan Arenado? Or maybe work off the model of the Dodgers' Andrew Friedman and invest resources in player development, while looking for opportunity buys in trades and free agents -- like Mookie Betts.

But Ravech surprised me with an interesting idea: He said he would suggest to Cohen that he go all-out in the pursuit of a general manager already proven in New York -- the Yankees' Brian Cashman.

.@karlravechespn has interesting advice for new Mets owner Steve Cohen: Call up Brian Cashman. Plus, he and @Buster_ESPN discuss the playoff bubble and the new postseason strategies. Later, @SlangsOnSports plays The Numbers Game #BBTNpod https://t.co/zWpOCm5JjA pic.twitter.com/JU8AaVokhq

— ESPN Podcasts (@espnpodcasts) September 16, 2020

My first instinct was that it really couldn't happen, because Cashman is in the middle of a five-year, $25 million deal that won't expire until 2022. But there is a potential loophole in this situation.

Cashman had been an assistant general manager of the Yankees when George Steinbrenner offered him the GM job in the weeks leading up to spring training in 1998. Although the Yankees have had a winning season every year since, won four World Series and seen a change in leadership, with Hal Steinbrenner following his late father as the club's owner, Cashman's title has never changed.

The standard operating procedure in Major League Baseball is that teams will allow their employees to interview for jobs with other clubs if the change represents a promotion of some kind. In theory, Cohen (or any other owner) could pursue Cashman by dangling a club presidency or vice presidency as part of the pitch.

Whether or not Cashman would be interested in that kind of overture remains to be seen, given that the Yankees are the only major league team he's ever worked for. But the possible allure of Cashman for the Mets would be obvious: He is highly regarded among his peers for the way he has handled the inherent challenges of being a Yankees executive -- the constant pressure to win and the outsized media inquiries while working for the Steinbrenners, most notably George, with whom Cashman frequently sparred.

And through Cashman's years with the team, the Yankees' front office has evolved in its practices, shifting from player development in the early '90s to more star-driven pursuits in the late '90s to a reinvestment in the farm system in the mid-'00s to now, when the team is considered to be among the best in the application of analytics. Like the Dodgers, the Yankees have spent big but also found and fostered undervalued assets, such as Luke Voit, Mike Tauchman and Gio Urshela.