Red Sox Fans Should Feel Great After Yankees GM’s Rant

The 2023 Major League Baseball season marked the first time since 2014 that the Red Sox and New York Yankees both missed the playoffs, and the message from each team’s front office varied at the beginning of the offseason.

Boston hired Craig Breslow in late October to be its new president of baseball operations. Breslow showcased his Ivy League credentials in his introductory press conference. Still, he also admitted he’d be willing to make “bold, difficult” decisions as team chairman Tom Werner also noted the Red Sox would go “full throttle” to improve a team that missed the postseason in two straight seasons.

The message from Red Sox leadership was clear: Boston must improve and live up to the championship expectations that fans demand from the club. Breslow already has hinted at potential moves, and the depth of talent is there in the free-agent market for Boston.

However, the vibes in New York were mixed. Owner Hal Steinbrenner addressed his team’s worst season in nearly three decades and promised “big changes,” which so far has consisted of the Bombers replacing their hitting coach. Steinbrenner also admitted he wasn’t completely sold on retaining Aaron Boone as manager and consulted multiple people to make the decision.

It wasn’t an inspiring message from the team’s owner, and general manager Brian Cashman didn’t help matters with a delusional take on his club at the GM meetings in Arizona this week.

“I’m proud of our people and proud of our process,” Cashman told reporters, per the New York Post’s Greg Joyce. “It doesn’t mean we’re firing on all cylinders. It doesn’t mean we’re the best in class.

“But I think we’re pretty (expletive) good, personally. I’m proud of our people and I’m also looking forward to ’24 being a better year than ’23.”

Cashman didn’t go into further detail, but his comments implied that despite New York’s 82-80 record, the club is still good. The Yankees general manager pointed toward injuries as a reason for a lackluster record. Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Trevino, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodón were among the big-name players who missed games this past season.

However, can that get better? Stanton’s dealt with injuries throughout his Yankees career. New York completely mishandled Rizzo’s health and Domingo Germán had to be cut due to a reported in-clubhouse incident.

Cashman also claimed the Yankees were “victimized” for trades that didn’t work out and defended the poor track record by stating New York was “trying to go for it.”

The more recent disaster trades include acquiring Joey Gallo and parting with prospect Ezequiel Durán, who became a key part of the Rangers’ World Series run this season. Jordan Montgomery also was huge for Texas, and the Bronx Bombers traded him for Harrison Bader, who was waived this past season. However, the career trajectory for Montgomery is tracking higher, especially with him entering the market this offseason.

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The trades for Frankie Montas and Andrew Benintendi last season also aren’t looking too great and speak largely to the Yankees’ talent evaluation. But don’t worry, as Steinbrenner wants you to know those decisions aren’t analytics-based.

“Is that a shocker to everybody?” Cashman said. “Shouldn’t be, but no one’s doing their deep dives. They’re just throwing ammunition and (expletive) and accusing us of being run analytically. Analytics is an important spoke in our wheel but it should be in everybody’s wheel and it really is. It’s an important spoke in every operation that’s having success. There’s not one team that’s not using it. We’re no different.

“But to say we are guided by analytics as a driver, it’s a lie.”

If fans can’t blame the numbers, then who should they blame? Cashman and Steinbrenner don’t seem to be taking accountability and suggest variance was why they had a poor season, which would be an analytics-based approach.

Things certainly can change in the offseason. However, comments from management suggest a splash move isn’t in the cards, and they hint at Judge playing a role in decision-making.

This should spell good news for Red Sox fans because it highlights the further dysfunction of their American League East rivals, who don’t seem to understand why they haven’t won a World Series since 2009.

Boston at least made an effort to address what went wrong the past two seasons, and strides are being made to rectify those issues and bounce back in 2024.