New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is on a mission this offseason. Could that mission involve trying to burn some bridges along the way?
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Recently, at MLB general manager meetings, Cashman had a memorable session with the media. It involved him sharing a passionate opinion about his team, with a few cuss words mixed in for good measure:
Brian Cashman thinks the Yankees are "pretty fucking good" pic.twitter.com/U3iX1NbfLX
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) November 7, 2023
As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Yankees are coming off their worst season in about three decades. New York missed the playoffs and nearly finished with a losing record (they were 82-80). Some of that had to do with injuries to important players — such as Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Carlos Rodon — but all teams have to deal with that. The Bronx Bombers are also 124-126 in their last 250 games played.
But don't tell that to Cashman — his team is pretty bleepin' good.
What about oft-injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton? It doesn't sound as if the executive is holding out much hope when it comes to seeing big things from Stanton in 2024 (according to a quote via the New York Daily News):
"We try to limit the time he's down, but I'm not gonna tell you he's gonna play every game next year because he's not. He's going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game."
As you can imagine, Stanton's agent, Joel Wolfe, didn't like hearing these comments. He was so moved by them that he publicly responded:
Giancarlo Stanton’s agent, Joel Wolfe, responds below to Yankees GM Brian Cashman saying of Stanton, “He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game.” pic.twitter.com/gZHlqy4cfY
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 14, 2023
Is Cashman trying to light a fire under Stanton heading into next year? Or is he just trying to find ways for the slugger to start packing his bags and leave town? That's up for debate. Could this impact New York's offseason plans elsewhere, though?
The Yankees have been hot on the trail of Nippon Professional Baseball ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He's set to be posted soon and could sign a contract in excess of $200 million as this winter's most desirable free agent starting pitcher. The Yankees have been linked to Yamamoto for a while and are expected to be one of the top contenders for his services.
But there's a new and interesting wrinkle. Yamamoto's agent is also Joel Wolfe.
So Stanton and Yamamoto share the same agent.. https://t.co/FSAcRGyfgz pic.twitter.com/MgWQcbKmO3
— YankeeWrld (@YankeeWRLD) November 14, 2023
One would imagine the discussions by both sides could be just a little more interesting now. But, hey — they can all be professionals, right? It wouldn't be good business for an agent to cut out a team viewed as a serious contender for his client. And it's not as if there haven't been tough player-team situations in the past while said team is trying to sign another player represented by the same agent.
What's going on between the Yankees and Stanton won't hamper New York's pursuit of Yamamoto. The optics here just aren't the best.
