Hardball Talk points to this Danny Knobler article about the developing rift in the Yankees front office. The part I found most interesting, however, was the motive for Cashman not wanting Soriano:

Some people who know him believe it’s because Cashman wants people in the game to say he makes smart baseball moves, rather than just spend the most money. They point to his friendship with A’s general manager Billy Beane.

“He wants to be the guy the book is written about,” one baseball official who knows Cashman well said Wednesday.

So this is about Cashman’s ego? He never seemed very egotistical to me. He certainly comes in for a lot of criticism, either for poor pitching acquisitions or as someone who doesn’t need to work hard due to all the money he gets to spend. I could see him resenting those accusations and wanting to prove he’s a smart GM.