In case New York Yankees fans weren't frustrated enough after hearing owner Hal Steinbrenner give a whole bunch of nothing during Tuesday's press conference, here comes Brian Cashman, and he's carrying a steel chair looking to bludgeon those who dare be critical of him.
Cashman has caught the ire of the fanbase and has received his fair share from those in the media for his decision-making in recent years that resulted in them not making it to the World Series and in the case of this past season, miss the playoffs altogether. Instead of showing a sense of understanding of those fans who aren't pleased with the product, Cashman chose to instead throw verbal haymakers defending how his operation is run.
One that stands out, he says he feels the team is "pretty f***ing good."
Brian Cashman goes on ballistic tirade against his critics in tone-deaf Yankees press conference
"I think we have good baseball people, whether they're pro scouts, whether they're coaches, whether they're managers, whether they're the general manager, whether they're analytics guys, I think we have good people," said Cashman. "I'm getting permission requests all over the place. We just lost our bench coach to the Mets as a manager. I've got analytics guys trying to be poached to other clubs right now. Our player development program, no different than other places. But again, reinforcement that we got good people. I'm proud of our people and I'm proud of our process. It doesn't mean we're firing on all cylinders. Doesn't mean we're the best in class, but I think we're pretty f***ing good, personally."
There is so much more to dive into, because Cashman went on the defensive. Standing arms crossed and looking at every reporter circling him in the eyes to say why the Yankees are running things the right way.
When asked about if there was anything he feels needs to be changed this offseason, Cashman went on a rant about those who called the Yankees "analytically driven." Cashman accused those of not "doing their deep dives" and that they were only "throwing bulls***."
Now, onto the topic of those moves that he made in recent years that haven't panned out. Outfielder Joey Gallo and starting pitcher Sonny Gray were brought up, as they were two notorious Yankees acquisitions that failed to pan out in the Bronx.
Cashman said that he "got a kick out of" those who called the trades for Gallo and Gray bad. Cashman brings up that both players were wanted and acquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins and that they have succeeded on those teams. Most notably that both were on the Twins team that made it to the Division Series this past season. Cashman says that it was a "matter of winning and losing," and that they lost too many games this past season, and that's on him.
Cashman then went onto claim earlier that the team was being "victimized" for "trying to go for it." He brought up that the team tried to go after Luis Castillo and pivoted to Frankie Montas after the Cincinnati Reds traded him to the Seattle Mariners. But he said that the medical reports before trading for Montas, and that he went to three different doctors for a right shoulder injury which he claims didn't need surgery. Of course, Montas did have to undergo surgery, and missed the majority of the 2023 season, only making a start at the end of the campaign.
In case you thought things couldn't get even more tense, Cashman got into a back-and-forth debate with New York Post insider Joel Sherman over the Yankees' player development.
Oh, and Cashman called out those who don't like that the Yankees use injuries as an excuse. He said, "It's a fact" that injuries derailed the season.
Additionally, Cashman wouldn't tell reporters what was said in the private meetings in the offseason in which everyone in the organization evaluated how the team was being run.
In case anyone was curious about Cashman's job security, it appears to be rock solid given how bombastic and defensive he was about how the organization operates. It certainly won't win over fans that were expecting Cashman to be more humbled and figure out better ways to improve the team.
Instead, they saw the Yankees general manager throw a temper tantrum and say, "We're right and you're wrong. Don't like it? Too bad."
We'll see how this goes over with Yankees fans and if it will have any impact for next season (i.e. attendance, season ticket sales).
