The Yankees Need to Get with the Times

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This team will not win a championship as long as Brian Cashman is the General Manager. I do not care if this is an overreaction but I am tired of the lack of accountability, negligence to analytics and overused excuses he brings to this team.

Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner both answered questions from the media. While for the most part I really liked what I heard from Hal Steinbrenner, it is clear to me that Brian Cashman is not evolving with the game as he brags about having one of the smallest analytical departments in the MLB. 

Analytics is a huge part of the game, and gloating about your lack of analytics shows that Cashman is not the person an organization should have in charge. How do you think teams with low pay rolls are able to be competitive? While there are instances to steer away from analytics, such as knowing when to pull a starter, it still plays such a crucial role in today’s game.

But apparently this team is “really f***ing good.” A team that went 82-80 and had one of the worst offenses in the entire league last year. A team filled with overpaid players way past their prime. Guys like Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo are all clearly declining, but Cashman will continue to try to tell us that they are integral parts to a world series roster. Does he think we are stupid?

He refuses to take blame for anything and finds any kind of lousy justification for his decisions. Leave it to Cashman to defend the Joey Gallo trade by bringing up his stint with the Dodgers. How does that have anything to do with him in New York? 

The perspective of the fans and the front office in general is very different. While the fanbase is itching for another World Series win, Cashman is praised by executives league wide for consistently being above .500. While that is great and all, who cares? This is the New York Yankees: the most successful franchise in American sports and one of the biggest payrolls in baseball. Why are we settling for consistently over .500? This team has not won a World Series since 2009 and the SAME people from that team are still running the show.  Is that not the main goal, especially for a historic franchise like the New York Yankees.

Hal Steinbrenner’s interview was slightly more hopeful. His demeanor was completely different from Cashman’s. He emphasized how the 2023 Yankees was a failure and there are big changes to come; however, actions speak louder than words and given Hal’s track record, I am not getting my hopes up about imminent changes.

The problem with the Yankees is they are too old-fashioned. They hate change. You see it with something as simple as the jerseys they wear and the policies they have. They have no problem rostering guys like Aroldis Chapman, but you better not have a beard because it is against “tradition.” The front office is riddled with individuals that are not equipped to be running a baseball team in 2023. The reason they will never get rid of them is because they do enough. They make the playoffs most of the time. They finish over .500 every year, however they can not put together a championship winning roster. If they were serious about getting there, there would have been change in the front office by now. They won’t even fire Aaron Boone because of how much the Yankees are afraid of change.

At the end of the day, baseball is a continuously evolving sport just like every other game. Basketball has developed into a fast-paced three point game, the NFL is more passing heavy than ever. Baseball has evolved too; it is centered around home runs and an analytically constructed rotation and bullpen. You can not ignore this fact and expect to repeat success from years ago.

Cashman is an incredibly accomplished General Manager and is a large contributor in crafting the dynasty the Yankees were in the late 90s and early 00s. However, other than the one World Series in 2009, he has not done much since. The Yankees are holding on to him because of his success from over 20 years ago, which is not a winning formula in 2023. It is time to move on. I know it, the fans know it, make your move Yankees.

One response to “The Yankees Need to Get with the Times”

  1. Andres Brown Avatar
    Andres Brown

    Totally agree. Cashman needs to go. This team needs a fresh view and a new way of growing as an organization.

    Like

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