The 2023 season has undoubtedly been a disappointing one for the Yankees. They snapped a nine-game losing streak yesterday but lost again today, bringing their record to 61-66. That has them last in the American League East, 6.5 games back of the fourth place Red Sox. They are 10 games away from the final Wild Card spot in the American League and FanGraphs pegged their playoff odds at 0.3% coming into today’s action. For a club that came into the season aimed at contending and ran up one of the league’s highest payrolls, it’s obviously not an ideal outcome.
General manager Brian Cashman spoke to the media yesterday, acknowledging the obvious, with Brendan Kuty of The Athletic among those to relay some of the specifics. “It’s been a disaster of a season,” Cashman said. “We’re embarrassed by it.” He also made it clear he was aware of the disappointed fans who wanted him fired but also defended his claim on continuing in his job. “I think we’ve got a pretty good track record here,” he said. “We’ve had a real good run of success. But this, at the same time, is not an easy sport. Nothing is guaranteed.”
The overall track record is indeed strong, when looking back to Cashman becoming the general manager in February of 1998. The Yanks have never finished below .500 since then, with their last losing season coming back in 1992. Since 1995, they’ve only missed the postseason four times and have won the World Series five times.
For some fans, that’s not enough, or it’s been too long since the most dominant stretch of the Cashman era. Four of those five titles came from 1996 to 2000 with the last one in 2009. Though the Yankees have made the playoffs in each of the six previous years, they haven’t made it past the ALCS in over a decade and have a chance to break their 30-year streak of winning seasons here in 2023. Whether that track record is enough to keep him in his current position remains to be seen and Cashman himself provided little clarity, saying that it would be “somebody else’s decision that’s above me,” presumably in reference to chairman Hal Steinbrenner.
How much blame Cashman deserves for the struggles of the 2023 club is a matter that could be debated, and certainly is in certain circles. Injuries have been a significant factor in their results, as various players who were hoped to be key contributors have missed significant time. The starting rotation has been without Frankie Montas all year while Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón have each bounced on and off the injured list while posting diminished results when on the field. On the offensive side of things, players like Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and others have dealt with significant injuries issues that led to absences or downturns in performance or both.
Defenders of Cashman could point to that litany of injuries as evidence that a strong on-paper roster was cursed by the baseball gods, but detractors could highlight the fact that all clubs deal with injuries and part of the job is building a roster than can succeed over an entire season as player health ebbs and flows.
Regardless of the reasons, it seems like all manner of possible changes will be considered in the coming months. “I think we’re all going to be evaluated,” Cashman said, referring to himself and manager Aaron Boone. “You’re going to see look at every aspect of the operation because that’s what you have to do under these circumstances, and then that takes us where it takes us. Nobody’s happy here. We’re better than this, but it’s not played better than this, and we’ll see. Stay tuned.”
How the franchise responds to this down year will be an interesting thread to follow over the coming weeks and months. The Yankees are usually one the most reliably aggressive teams when it comes to competing and spending. Before the offseason has even begun, their 2024 payroll is at $186MM while their competitive balance tax figure is at $197MM, per Roster Resource. Those figures don’t include arbitration salaries for players like Cortes, Gleyber Torres, Clay Holmes and more. Factoring in raises for those players will put the Yanks in the vicinity of next year’s base luxury tax threshold of $237MM before even making any offseason additions.
Assuming the Yanks look to compete again next year, there would be plenty on the to-do list this winter. The rotation theoretically has a strong front three, with Gerrit Cole followed by Rodón and Cortes, though that’s dependant on the health of the latter two. Even if they are healthy and Clarke Schmidt takes a back-end spot, there would be room for another pitcher in there, keeping Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez as minor league depth.
The lineup has many question marks, as the team has collectively hit .229/.304/.400 this year for a wRC+ of 94. Some of that can be explained by the aforementioned injury struggles of Judge and Rizzo, but the club has also received poor performances from veterans like DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton. The 35-year-old LeMahieu has hit .239/.316/.370 this year, 91 wRC+, and still has three years and $45MM left on his contract after this one. The 33-year-old Stanton has a line of .193/.277/.423 this season for wRC+ of 88 while still being owed $128MM over the next four years. The Yanks could try to move on from those players but their respective contracts and ages will make it very difficult.
There will also be fresh holes made in that lineup, with Harrison Bader and Isiah Kiner-Falefa set to reach free agency. Neither played is having an outstanding season at the plate but Bader at least provides speed and excellent center field defense while Kiner-Falefa also has speed and can provide cover at multiple positions. Josh Donaldson is likely to depart for the open market as well, as his deal has a mutual option that is unlikely to be picked up.
There are many questions for the Yankees to answer between now and 2024, but it seems they will start by using the remainder of the current campaign to get a look at some younger players. Earlier this week, they promoted youngsters Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza to get some reps in what’s left of the schedule. That group could soon be joined by Austin Wells, as Kuty reports the catching prospect is likely to join the club when rosters expand from 26 to 28 in September.
Wells, 24, was selected in the first round of the 2020 draft, with the Yanks taking him 28th overall. He has since climbed the minor league ladder and is considered by many outlets to be a top 100 prospect, with Baseball America currently having him in the #83 slot. He’s considered a bat-first catcher and is hitting .241/.333/.443 in the minors this year, walking in 10.8% of his plate appearances while hitting 26 home runs.
The Yanks are without Jose Trevino for the rest of the season, as he underwent wrist surgery in July. They are currently using the duo of Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate but the expanded rosters could allow them to carry three catchers and get a look at Wells before the offseason arrives. Wells isn’t yet on the 40-man roster and would require a corresponding move to be added.
Didn’t listen and definitely won’t read about it. Let me know when he is gone and they start taking their franchise seriously again and I will start spending money again. Honestly used to spend thousands a year going to games and events and chasing down the YES network. They haven’t gotten a dime from me since before covid and won’t again until there is big change.
$240/year for YES Network and some games aren’t even available. Non-game content is also lacking. Thankfully, my folks still have cable and I use their account to stream games.
I see your username holds up well
Don’t hold your breath. He is not going anywhere.
It’s right in front of them!
Give him an extension!
Give him a running head start then light the torches.
10 feet sounds fair.
If ths Yankees are going to have a future they need to fire Cashman and Boone
Cashman has made a career inheriting an amazing team ad not doing crap. 23 seasons and ONE title. If he isn’t fired after this season he will be there another 23 seasons.
Inherit someone else’s foundation. Mix in a little nepotism. And voila! How to become GM of the New York Yankees 101
Why is it so shocking?
Went into the season with:
No LF
CF on wrong side of platoon split
Aging/declining 1B
Aging/declining 3B
Aging/declining UTIL INF
Aging/declining DH
Rookie SS
Bottom 5 offense is where they belong
But he had the 2nd highest payroll in MLB! What exactly is the problem?
And the Padres had the 3rd highest payroll.
Stay tuned here for all the juicy articles on both teams (along with the Mets) this coming off-season as they as they continue to make “The Owner Is Not Cheap And Is Willing To Spend The Money It Takes To Win” moves as they compete to hand out the next Stephen Strasburg contract.
The Yankees, Mets and Padres payrolls proves one thing; that spending foolishly, “all-in” and “winning the off-season” guarantees nothing. The Braves, Rays, Astros and Dodger’s payrolls show that always growing the farm, trading wisely, drafting well and carefully investing in players is the way to go.
“The Braves, Rays, Astros and Dodger’s payrolls”
The Braves, Astros, and Dodgers are all top 10 in payroll. The Dodgers in particular have been near the top of the league for a long while and only slid to around 5th this year to reset their luxury tax penalties. All three teams spend a ton. As far as growing the farm goes, the Astros and Braves currently have two of the worst farm systems in baseball.
Not arguing your main points, but a little context here is necessary.
The Braves farm system was ranked at the bottom last year too but somehow they got Sean Murphy out if it. It’s not the farm ranking that matters its how you use it. AA knows when to hold them and when to trade them.
More context is required since the Mets have said since Cohen bought the team that the Dodgers model was what they were going with. They also bumped the payroll up big time to try to contend immediately while they rebuilt the system. But that doesn’t fit the narrative. That and most MLBTR posters were in diapers when McCourt sold the Dodgers. Comment section has become a dumpster fire of teenagers.
The problem the Triple A O’s (aka the Yanks – formerly a triple A franchise known as the Baltimore Orioles) have is the Big League O’s.
I don’t see the triple A club being able to unseat the big league birds for several seasons (so long as Elias and Sig remain in the employ of the O’s).
Of course, if that dumb son of a motherless goat John Angelos relocates the Birds after this year, I will be done with baseball for the rest of my life.
Who needs all that, we have Billy McKinney and Franchy Cordero
We also had a taste of Calhoun-mania…
Yes Dr, I definitely think it’s about that time to call up Florial and Wells. I know I sound like a broken record. McKinney is not so bad, but shocked Cordero has made it this far truthfully. Florial or Wells would definitely be a major improvement of Franchy. Smh
McKinney is horrible, bounced around the league for 6 years.
@kevins- McKinney is an all-star compared to Cordero, that’s my point.
Firing Boone isn’t going to solve any problems just like making the hitting coach the scapegoat didn’t solve anything. Aaron Boone didn’t put together a roster of overpaid, injury prone players. Brian Cashman’s incompetence as a GM has been on full display for a while now. They were 1 game from the World Series in 2017 and instead of going all in they decided to cut payroll and take on the longterm contract of a slugger who strikes out and gets hurt like it’s his job (Stanton). Cashman refused to part with prospects who turned out to be busts (like Adams and Garcia) in trades for quality players. Then he makes trades for guys like Donaldson and Montas who did nothing but add more millions to an already disastrous payroll.
Cashman is the problem and he needs to go. If Hal Steinbrenner had any common sense he would see that. Unfortunately, the team owner also lacks accountability because he’s content with retaining a GM who has failed repeatedly. The days of the Core 4 (who were not drafted by Cashman) are over. It’s time for the Yankees to move on.
Cashman is a family member, the Steinbrenner’s can’t fire a good family man!
Okbud- that’s the same point I’ve been making. Hal’s not selling the team and he can’t fire himself. Cashman is basically family to him as you just said, so he stays. Don Mattingly would be the perfect manager at this point, and it would be great if Jeter was hired by the Yankees in some capacity. I just don’t really see it though unfortunately. Regardless it’s time for a change to shake things up.
Cap, I gotta disagree about Donnie Baseball. He’s never shown himself to be a top notch manager and there’s just no upside for him to come to the Bronx. We all love him now, but if he comes in and fails, we will have a much different opinion on him. Remember we all loved Boone until he became manager.
Not sure who would be the best fit but they need something in between Drill Instructor Girardi and Everybody’s Best Friend Boone. Terry Francona is the first that comes to mind though I know he’s not an option. Just someone like him. I don’t think Mattingly is on that level and is best suited as a bench coach.
Joe, you might be right that Mattingly might not be the guy. A Francona type of manager might be perfect. Yes it’s too bad it can’t be him, agreed! Loved Girardi but him and Cashman kept banging and butting heads constantly. I think us “Donny lovers” would just be cool seeing him in that Yankees uniform everyday truthfully. (My favorite player growing up)
I agree with Joe S, though I don’t think Tito’s health will hold out much longer unfortunately. Also don’t think Mattingly wants to manage either.
All I can say is, spot on
From 2018 to 2022 they won their Div twice, finished 2nd the other years. The 4 non Covid seasons they won 99+ games in 3 of them and 92 the other season.
As far as the payroll it stayed the same from 2017 to 2018 at $168M. Only year their payroll dipped significantly was 2019 which also happens to b the year they won the most games with 103. That’s 12 more than the 91 wins they had in 2017 which u mentioned like a high water mark. The past 2 seasons they ve also had higher team payroll than 2017 which u mentioned.
You also fail to mention the emergence of the Astros as one of the dominate teams in AL as far as playoff success and the years of losing they endured while building and attaining the players now making up their current roster.
Basically just not seeing how Cashman had been a failure prior to 2023. I don’t think he can absolved of fault for this season though. The Montas situation was an absolute failure. Same can be said of Donaldson. The risk taken on Rodon has not went well. Rizzo has been ok as has Bader and would be tolerable if they were a few of the inconsistent bats in the lineup. However nearly the entire lineup is just as inconsistent aside from Judge(when healthy).
They were 1 game from the World Series in 2017 and instead of going all in they decided to cut payroll and take on the longterm contract of a slugger
=============================
So instead of going all-in, they traded for the MVP who had 59 HRs? if trading for the MVP doesn’t qualify as “all-in”, what does?
How about firing the experienced manager who helped get you there, and bringing in an inexperienced sock puppet for Cashman. I wouldn’t call that” all in “ either. It’s not always about the money. and by the way, although not all his fault obviously, they’ve been going backwards since that time.
Everyone here complaining about Stanton was obviously complaining about what a bad trade that was THEN. Duh.
Joe, there were warning signs with Stanton as far as his health goes. I think everyone knew that contract wouldn’t age well. Even at best he was nothing more than a redundancy as the Yankees already had a big slugging right handed right fielder in Judge.
Joe says:
1) Basically every long-term contact ends up with the player being paid more than their current market value. That harp on this is their non-understanding. What they don’t understand is that the contracts are designed that way with the player being underpaid at the beginning.
2) Stanton hasn’t performed up to expectations with the Yankees, true. If anyone is going to convince me that they “knew this would happen”, they are going to have to bring A LOT of receipts. Some players exceed expectations, some meet them, some come up short. Predicting the future is hard
3) Having two right-handed sluggers seems good, not redundant.
As a fan of baseball. This season for the Yankees has been very pleasing.
Dotnet22: I absolutely love the fact that no new York team will be in the PO this year. Hmm. Who will the networks over-cover instead? First choice: The Dodgers since they play in the second biggest city in the country. What about days when LA isn’t playing? The networks will likely send their third-string broadcast team to, say, Atlanta, where the Braves should have been the top team covered even if their beloved Yankees had qualified. The Orioles, the best team in the AL and one of the best stories in BB this season, might get a look. Same thing with Arizona if the Dbacks hopefully make it. Should be interesting to watch the networks sweat, especially if the Dodgers are gone before the WS.
Too bad he didn’t discuss his imminent firing.
Yeah I really can’t see him staying(Boone) unless everyone in that front office is delusional, which is definitely possible at this point. If I was Cashman I would just step down. I just don’t see that happening. Hope I’m wrong.
No clue how this team will do in 2024
If he didn’t become general manager until 1998; it’s hard to make the argument that he was the architect of the 1996-2000 squads. He just kept what was working already together.
So essentially in 25 years, he built the Yanks one championship. (2009) And he did that with the benefit of ownership who generally approved a top 10% payroll…. Yet people think this guy is a hall of famer. C’mon.
He wasn’t. The Core 4 was a product of the late Gene Michaels. Cashman did convince Ol’ George not to trade Mo. I still think he’s a HOF GM though but it’s time for a change.
I agree with the second part of your statement, time for him to go. Hall of Famer, no way. The championships he inherited from gene Michael. if doing nothing but go with what you already inherited makes you a Hall of Famer, then I guess he’s a Hall of Famer.
How is he the least bit surprised by any of this? No one else is.
I was fascinated by the velour shirt.
If you have the highest payroll year after year for every year of your tenure, you should NEVER have a losing season. For this team to be in this shape with such a terrible outlook going forward is absolutely pathetic. Cashman has been so careless with spending. If he’s the GM next year, it just shows how out of touch ownership is.
Tell that to the Mets and Padres! The new age is building teams by finishing last for a few years and hitting on prospects, The Cubs, Astros, and O’s are good examples. The Braves have built their team by Coppolella losing his job signing many players on the Braves today. He was banned for life. The Dodgers have won, but also spend. AA to his credit has built a great team the right way, and he seems to have the midas touch. The Yankees have been solid for a long time, and now they are at a cross road,
Agreed
It’s obvious why. If you keep signing mid career players to too many monster multi year deals you get stuck with them when they’re past their prime or always hurt. And with these monster contracts where is the incentive to develop or bring in younger, better players to challenge them?
Cashman is still riding on the coattails of the 2009 championship, saying they’ve had success before, just a matter of reevaluating player performance. Dude needs to go, need some fresh eyes in that front office.
@acoss13- I agree with you 100%. Cashman is not only considered Yankee family, they look at him as a Yankees legend GM. Maybe at one he was? Put him in the hall of fame already, who really cares? We don’t, his ship has sailed he needs to move on, and step down already. Let’s hope he understands that, doubt he will though. He’s likely not going anywhere unfortunately for the next 3 years. Smh.
Stanton needs to be release and Cashman and Boone are done in NY.
Stanton isn’t getting released. I could see the Yankees paying half of his contract though, to one of the West coast teams that lose out on Ohtani though.
You are correct that Stanton isn’t getting released. But NY will have to pay more than half his salary. Stanton is now worth about 20 cents on the dollar. He is a has been that hits an occasional home run.
@Baseball dude- Getting Stanton for $13 million a year, seems pretty worth it, one thing he can still do is mash. When healthy he’s likely hitting 25-30 homers easily blindfolded every season.
Have been on here for years talking about the Yankees, White Sox, Padres, and now Cardinals as they spend money and make moves that look great on paper while their teams on the field sputter. Add the Mets to the list – that had a better and more fun / exciting / competitive team to watch in 2019 under the Wilpon’s then in 2023 after 4 years of Uncle Stevie throwing money around as if he were a one-man US Congress.
It’s really not that hard to figure. Organizations that make the players they have under contract better – in the minors to prepare to play ML ball, and in the majors to make adjustments because other teams have adjusted to the player – are the ones that contend. Being able to recognize potential productive players that their scouting / analysis departments find that can be acquired in the draft, trades, DFA’s, etc. to get said payers under contact to the team also counts – as well as understanding that players will fail far more often than succeed…but teams can ride the winners for years.
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The truly amazing thing is that those teams owners keep thinking that another outlay of cash in the form of a long-term contract for
a player or two will turn the teams fortunes around.
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But their fans keep coming to games, so who cares?
BOTTOM 7 teams in 2023 payroll:
Miami, $91,700,000<— potential wild card team/strong future
Cleveland, 89,424,629<—well run small market team
Cincinnati, $83,610,000 <—potential wild card team/strong future
Pittsburgh, $73,277,500 <—some long term potential
Tampa Bay, $73,184,811 <—potential wild card team/strong future
Baltimore, $60,722,300 <—first place team/strong future
Oakland, $56,895,000 <—do not look here.
Top 3 in payroll:
N.Y. Mets, $353,546,854 <—last place
N.Y. Yankees, $276,999,872 <—last place
San Diego, $248,995,932 <—almost out of wild card contention
It always amazes me how people think the Yankees should be in the World Series every year rather than just one of 30 who are trying to get there every year.
Yankees fans want accountability. If you have the highest payroll it is World Series or bust. If your not even making the World Series, in 13 years, something has to change. And a team with the one of the highest payrolls should never be below .500 and never miss the playoffs.
How many times have us fans been told by George, Hal, Hank, and Cashman that not winning the World Series is a failure of a season? I think he’s trying to say that Yankee fans are entitled. F yeah… I’m one of them!
@Reds- They’re are other teams out there, that actually matter?
Do you feel sorry for the yanks?I do not a payroll over 200 million and still can not win imagine what would they would do will only 100 million or so they would be a better because all.the players are laughing all thevwaybtobthe banknote all the millions they are collecting forbibebdaybinlikevtobsee these players gave a real job like cashering irbliadibg trucks for a leaving .most players could not do it bye way firecashman he nothing this year maybe keep Boone then maybe not is Billy Martin still around just kidding
What you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.
A change of scenery for 4-6 Yankees is prescribed.
How many WS rings does cash man have as GM again? Oh yeah it’s 4 !! Yeah he isn’t going anywhere!!! Get used to it yankee fans
ESPN and Sporting News, among others, predicted In late March the Yankees would win the division. So many of the sportswriters were fooled too.
Wow, no losing seasons in 30 years, that’s insane. Yankee fans have it so good.
I’d say Boone has to go first off. He’s become a sideshow and is taking way too much attention from the team with his antics. And that’s only one part of the equation.
The Minor Leaguers haven’t panned out. And trades have been abysmal. But with some of these guys coming off the books next season. Donaldson. They can shop for other replacements.
They’re the Yankees. They won’t be done for long. Probably will just sign Bichette or Guerrero once they are free agents. And Stanton is a Luxury moving forward. Doesn’t cost them much. Rizzo going down hurts though.
They will retool. Cut some of these guys in the coming seasons. A new coaching staff and be right back. Minor Leaguers though absolutely have to contribute the next few seasons.
Guerrero said he’d never join the Yankees. They probably snubbed his dad at some point and has a weird vendetta against them
Yes, they are the Yankees. They will attempt to re-stock by signing free agents to large contracts. How did Rodand Montas work out. And Stanton is a luxury? He’s actually a financial liability that only hits an occasional home run. They will continue to draft and not develop players, and the fans will continue to over hype all of the mediocre minor leaguers in their farm system. And let’s not forget the systemic lack of conditioning resulting in injuries.
He’s been the fortunate GM of someone else’s work – Gene Michael. His poor signings and bad trades along with questionable managerial hires are enough for Hank to finally go with a different, fresh vision. He’s certainly done more bad than good.
Who wrote this article….surely someone who only has read about the Yankees issues from afar…..so why pen an article that sounds as if it was written by Yankee Corporate writers!
Shouldn’t Cashman be on the hot seat? Or is it too soon?
Make some deals for lefty bats…
Nolan Gorman for 3B
Kerry Carpenter for LF
Nootbar or Carlson for CF
Sign Caratini for C
Sign a couple starting pitchers… Montgomery and Nola
All better
Cano, ARod, Melky and Pettitte were on the 2009 team. Definitely not a fair and square winner there. Not to mention Sergio Mitre (murderer), Joba (DUI conviction), but also some real classy players like Nick Swisher (Swisher released a children’s music album titled Believe on August 9, 2011. A percentage of the proceeds was to be donated to “Swish’s Wishes”, a charity started by Swisher for children who are facing health crises.)
All in all, a very complicated group.
Can everyone finally concede that the Marlins actually fleeced the Yankees now by taking the majority of that awful contract?
The Yankees have their first losing season since Bush/Quayle time and everybody wants to run the GM out of town. Such knee-jerk fan thinking!
Mike Lupica behaves the same way. Piped a column while yesterday’s getaway game was still in progress. Compares the Yankees’ situation to that of an NFL club (Dumb Sports Fan Thinking!) Rehashes past seasons like a chart freak worshipping the Hot 100. And the ruling class moans about why newspapers are dying!
Cashman won’t be launched out of The Bronx, though Aaron F#&kin’ Boone and the hallowed analytics department might.
Plenty more injury prone guys to choose from to overpay for next season. Time for a new perspective. Cash is spent and needs to retire.
This team needs to rebuild through the draft or trade. To build a strong foundation of young top prospects much like how the Reds have done in Cincinnati. All the while getting rid of their terrible overpriced veterans. It won’t be easy on the loyal fan base but it’s not much different than watching this terrible team now…
Cashman absolutely has to go. He is the 100% the man responsible for the team struggles. While yes the players have not played to the potential they have shown, the roster construct was poor from the start. There is zero reason they should have imbalanced as they were, relying on aging veterans to proceed through the season. The moves he passed on in the past are inexcusable. His time is overdue.