Brian Cashman takes great pains to explain Yankees' predicament
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman looks on before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Within hours of Brian Cashman’s “don’t count us out” plea for patience regarding his injury-ravaged roster, the Yankees lost two more players Wednesday night, and yet somehow still beat the Guardians, 4-3, in 10 innings.
Both Harrison Bader and Oswald Peraza were hurt during a freaky ninth, and their status remained uncertain following the Yankees’ second win in six games. Bader was just activated Tuesday after a seven-week stay on the IL and was forced to leave the game due to a horrific collision with Isiah Kiner-Falefa as both made a do-or-die effort on Oscar Gonzalez’s go-ahead bloop RBI single.
“Just perfectly placed, a free-for-all,” IKF said.
The diving Bader smacked his head into the side of the sliding Kiner-Falefa and the centerfielder was undergoing tests late Wednesday night. As for Peraza, he rolled his ankle with an awkward stumble into second base after entering as a pinch-runner that same inning.
Just incredible. Before the game, Cashman’s only solution for the Yankees’ health-related malaise was to preach hope that the dozen players already on the IL would make speedy recoveries. Then two more wind up on the IL’s doorstep shortly afterward as Jose Trevino — the last remaining player on the bench — delivers the pinch-hit RBI single for the walk-off victory.
Cashman found himself in an unfamiliar spot Wednesday afternoon, seated on a dugout bench, trying to offer vague solutions to what seem to be unsolvable problems with his severely-depleted roster.
His impromptu media session went on for roughly 26 minutes, but closer toward the end, after being peppered with an uncomfortable number of health-related questions, Cashman finally blurted out the message he probably wanted to deliver from the jump. As a reporter started to ask about Luis Severino’s rehab, the GM turned away and spoke directly into the TV cameras.
Cashman had another topic in mind. Something the GM evidently believed the citizens of a restless Yankee Universe needed to hear.
“Don’t give up on us — that’s all I can tell you,” Cashman said. “Don’t count us out. We’ve got a good group of people. Player-wise, staff-wise, support-staff wise. It’s a championship-caliber operation from that perspective. But we’re not currently flying at the level we would have expected because we’re missing some really important pieces, which I think anybody would acknowledge.”
Duly noted. That last part is undeniable. The Yankees currently have a dozen players on the IL — tied with the Mets for the most in the majors — at a combined cost of $152.8 million. That accounts for more than half of their $293 million payroll, meaning these Yankees obviously are not the team Cashman assembled during the winter.
So whose fault is that? Well, ultimately that responsibility falls to the GM, and Cashman didn’t shy away from the blame Wednesday. Of course that’s easier to do when you have Cashman’s seniority. He’s in his 26th season as GM, with a dynasty on his resume, and has served under two generations of Steinbrenners. Hal essentially refers to him as part of the family.
That probably has something to do with Hal entrusting Cashman with his checkbook, but the financial investments in this year’s top-heavy team aren’t working out too well. We don’t know if Steinbrenner is getting antsy with the meager return on his money to this point, but don’t expect Cashman’s job to be in jeopardy. He just a signed a four-year extension this winter, and even if Hal had the volatile temper of his dad — which he clearly doesn’t — the owner wouldn’t abruptly jettison his lifelong baseball advisor.
Nor should he. Not for a 17-15 start with a fractured roster. It’s terrible optics that the Yankees sat in the AL East cellar before Wednesday’s game, but the Guardians
— their opponent — is second in the pitiful Central despite being three games under .500 (14-17). Once Cashman does get his big expensive pieces back, however, they need to perform to expectations. Because if these Yankees somehow stumble badly enough to miss the playoffs — it would be only the fifth time in the past 27 years — then the scrutiny on the GM would truly go nuclear.
“If you want to convict somebody, convict me,” Cashman said.
If this blizzard of injuries is truly the result of some terrible luck, as Cashman insists, then the GM better pray for a massive reversal of fortune in the coming months. Whether that’s a plausible outcome here is another matter. Cashman has put his faith in players with sketchy medical histories, and what’s killing the Yankees now is that they all went down at the same time. It’s a catastrophe partly due to his own design, but the maladies aren’t fatal to the Yankees’ season. Not yet.
“We’re going to compete with who we have here,” Cashman said. “And we look forward to getting who we need back at a later date.”
Again, that’s a lot of hope baked into these Yankees, a team with the second-highest payroll in the sport. But Cashman wasn’t just preaching it Wednesday. He’s got his fingers crossed, too.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
