If you take a look at my recent article–which criticized Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman, for his aggressive comments in the early days of the off season–you would see that I had some harsh opinions about the GM’s future. Now after some impressive moves, I was proved wrong by the man himself, Brian Cashman.
Going into the offseason the Yankees had clear needs in the outfield. Statistically, the Yanks started more non-outfielders (Cabrera, Bauers, IKF) in the outfield than they did career outfielders. Cashman made comments earlier in the off season which made it seem as though the Yankees were good the way they already were. Those were the comments that I was angry with but now, Cashman has proved me wrong. At the winter meetings, Cashman brought in 3 outfielders, a great defender, a contact first right fielder, and one of the best players in the game of baseball: Juan Soto. The other two, OF Alex Verdugo and OF Trent Grisham.
Alex Verdugo will slot in as the Yankees starting right fielder with Judge shifting over to center. Grisham will be the 4th man on the bench for the outfield and the left fielder will be superstar Juan Soto. With an outfielder of 3 all stars (2 being among the best in the league) it is clear that the Yankees offense has quickly become a force to be reckoned with.
Of course, fans across BHS know that Cashman has redeemed himself. Mets fan, James Mertz, knows what a good offseason Cashman is starting. He said, “Every Yankee fan should apologize to Brian Cashman. As a Mets fan, I know that the Mets offseason has been slow but the whole MLB offseason has been slow. Other than the Yankees of course.
It is clear that the Yankees still have a lot of work to do this off season. The team only has 4 (of 5 needed) starting pitchers on the roster and a depleted bullpen. Cashman has promised fans that he will fix that problem as well. The Yankees remain the favorites to sign Japanese sensation Yoshinobo Yamamoto who will slot into the Yankees starting rotation behind the reigning Cy Young champ, Gerrit Cole. With a signing like that and another depth signing like a deal for SP Frankie Montas, the Yankees starting rotation will be right back to World Series level. For the bullpen, Cashman remains on LHP Wandy Peralta and RHP Jordan Hicks stating that they may pivot to a “supercharged bullpen.”
With the moves already made and the moves coming up it is clear that the Yankees want to regain their status as a championship caliber organization. Fans are looking forward to the exciting end to an already existing off season for the Bronx Bombers. With the moves made so far, it is clear that if BHS could send Cashman a message it would be an apology for underestimating him just a few weeks ago.
So ends my apology, despite Cashman’s dedication to improving the team this off season, there are still Yankee fans out there that disapprove of the legacy GM. Spanish teacher, Mr. Michael Barden represents this perfectly. He said, “I think that there are 2 things that Cashamn has done, and we see this all the time, he makes a big move, Alex Rodriguez’s the Jasson Giambi’s, and the fans go crazy. People forget that it is not bats that win championships, it is pitching, and he has not gotten to that point yet.”
Back to Mertz he had to sneak in an insult to the Yankees. He said “The Yankees still aren’t a contending team, they won 82 games last year there are still other issues. Even with Cashman doing a lot, they still need a lot of work.”
With fans across Bethpage reacting to the Yankees bold start to the off season, it’s clear that there are differing opinions among fans. Despite this, Cashman remains determined to add to the roster in order to bring the Bronx their 28th World Series Championship.
