Brian Cashman spoke with reporters after Monday's trade deadline passed, a deadline that many Yankee fans considered underwhelming, perhaps one of the more disappointing outcomes in Cashman's nearly three decades as general manager.
With clear needs at catcher, multiple infield spots, and in the bullpen, the Yanks walked away with just Luis Garcia Jr. and Eliot Ramos, the former a first baseman, and the latter an outfielder. While both should help a scuffling offense, fans were expecting more reinforcements to aid a team with a loosening grip on the top Wild Card spot, and one that has had one of the worst offenses in baseball since Aaron Judge's rib injury.
Catcher seemed to be the biggest need, but instead of the Yanks addressing that position, their two biggest competitors in the AL East did, with the first-place Rays landing Liam Hicks in a trade with the Marlins, and the Red Sox acquiring Adley Rutschman in a blockbuster deal with the Orioles. Cashman revealed that he had multiple discussions with the O's regarding Rutschman,
"We do believe that we have quality catching. But obviously the offensive side, which has been a struggle for our team overall, made us certainly shop in that aisle," Cashman said, via SNY. "It was a thin market of opportunity. We had many conversations with Baltimore, but were unable to meet the price. So they did their business elsewhere, and we kept grinding through it. At the end of the day, there was no opportunity that existed for us that we felt good enough about to push through on. There was very limited opportunities in the marketplace."
Cashman shared a similar sentiment for the bullpen, suggesting that he scoured the reliever market "heavily," but obviously, there were no options that intrigued Cashman enough to make a move. That decision was put to the test immediately, as the Yanks bullpen, specifically Angel Chivilli, was tagged in the eighth inning of Tuesday's loss to the Cardinals, just after a spirited rally by the Yankee offense, led by Garcia's first home run in pinstripes.
Perhaps the most ominous comments from Cashman came in the way of a Judge update. The GM did express optimism that the Yankee captain and two-time reigning MVP would return this season, but stopped well short of guaranteeing such an outcome, as New York waits to run Judge through another round of imaging on the stress fracture in his rib.
"We currently are still very optimistic that he's going to return, but there's challenges with all that too," Cashman said, via MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "There's a very high likelihood that he fits the time frame to come back and join us. That's what I'm hoping and holding onto."
The Yanks had some clear needs that went unaddressed.
The Yanks had some clear needs that went unaddressed.
