Highlights from Yankees end-of-season press conference

Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone spoke to reporters for over an hour during Wednesday's annual end-of-season press conference, one that has carried an ominous tone for 17 straight years, dating back to the organization's last championship.

Many of the questions from the press carried a similar refrain as they have in recent years, as the Yanks have suffered numerous early playoff exits in seemingly similar fashion. But the franchise's leadership brass made it clear that no big changes are coming at the top, as Brian Cashman revealed he is finalizing a new contract to remain the Yankees general manager.

"We are locked and loaded," Cashman said.

As for Boone, Steinbrenner told reporters that there has been no talk of a contract extension, which aligns with the normal operating procedure for this ownership, but the manager will be back in 2027 for the final year of his current contract, and Steinbrenner made it clear that he did not feel Boone is to blame for the team's ALDS flameout.

"I thought Boone managed a good season, especially with the pitching staff," Steinbrenner said. "He got us to the playoffs, and the bottom line is, the players didn't live up to their end of the bargain in the playoffs. So I thought he had a good season."

As for his belief in Cashman, Steinbrenner echoed many of the same sentiments he has in recent years when it comes to the GM's future.

"Cash is great every season," Steinbrenner said. "I think the roster he put together and the team we rolled out of spring training with was as good as any in baseball, in my opinion. We had a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but the team was fantastic. It was a world championship caliber team.

"That is absolutely what we expect...yes, we failed at the goal this year, but that is always our goal, which is why we put so much effort and resources into the roster every offseason, to field a team that can accomplish that. I certainly felt we had that team this year. It just didn't pan out."

Steinbrenner confirmed that he is "confident in this leadership group," pointing to player performance, particularly with the offense, as the reason why the Yankees once again fell short of their ultimate goal. He also pointed to Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton missing the bulk of the season with injuries, and the two combining for just one postseason at-bat.

"We had some serious setbacks," Steinbrenner said. "The team we left spring training left, I believed had a very good chance of winning a championship. It was a tremendous team, a well put together team, a fairly balanced team. You lose two big right-handed bats, that's a lot of home runs. that hurt us. Some might see that as making excuses, but it's a fact. It certainly didn't make the mission any easier.

Steinbrenner was asked about Aaron Judge's comments after game three, when the captain called on ownership to go "all in" this offseason and push to end the Yankees' title drought, to which Steinbrenner said he had no issue with.

"Was I upset about it? No," Steinbrenner said. "If I was a player, I would have expectations that my ownership group would do everything in their power every offseason to win a championship...we did that this offseason We had the highest payroll in the history of our organization...I definitely think we went all in this season. I definitely think we had a team that was every bit capable of winning a championship. It did not work out."

As for Cashman, he was asked about the several former Yankees who have publicly called out the team for their current culture, expectations, strategy, etcetera. Cashman revealed he has spoken to several of those former players, and that all of the conversations were productive, ending with a mutual understanding that any of the concerns did not have a real impact on how the season ended.

"The dialogue is good. I'll always have that dialogue," Cashman said. "My conversations were good, strong, healthy, but also agreeing with members on the calls that these may be things on the margins, but not necessarily something that actually impacts the outcome of the game when it comes to pitcher versus hitter, converting balls on defense, baserunning, those issues aren't why we're losing those games. They're not affecting our aspect of our game."

One of the other questions that always arises during the final press conference of the season is that of accountability, another issue that former players bring up nearly every time the Yankees season comes to an end. Steinbrenner explained that he doesn't feel public accountability, something his father had no issue deploying during his time as owner, is productive with the modern player. Cashman echoed that sentiment.

"I don't disagree with Hal. I feel like there is a built-in accountability to the extreme that is around us every day," Cashman said. "To contribute to that by publicly putting even further pressure...as they're trying to get out of a slump or stop making errors or poor baserunning circumstances that have happened every now and then or more than they should, it's just inviting more likely outcome of not getting what you want."

One of the unquestioned leaders in Cashman's clubhouse is Stanton, though he continues to age and was nearly lost for the entire season with lower leg injuries. With one year left on his deal, Cashman sounded as if he did not have plans to try and move or dump Stanton this offseason, and will instead hope that his oft-injured slugger can put together a healthy campaign in 2027.

"He finished the season healthy, so he enters the winter healthy," Cashman said. "We know what he's capable of when he's healthy. We look forward to seeing if we can deploy a healthy version of him next year, but obviously, that DH spot is up for grabs as well for other people that can benefit from it at the same time, and we'll have those conversations."

As for Boone, he addressed what was Steinbrenner's big gripe in the struggles of the offense, particularly in October. Many fans feel that has become a yearly occurrence in the Boone era, and even dating back to the mid 2000s except for the 2009 championship team. But Boone does not see the team's weak hitting in the ALDS as a continuation of a trend.

"I hear that a lot, that we haven't hit in the postseason," Boone said. "We hit a ton against the Red Sox, what was a really good pitching staff, too...our run to the World Series in 2024, we hit really well. I remember going through a Cleveland bullpen that was this daunted, historic bullpen, and we hit our way to a World Series. I don't think offense was the big issue that year. You're always trying to have a more perfect club, you're always trying to have guys at their very best when it matters most. So yeah, I think we have a lot of the right players and right hitters. But this year, more than some others, offense at times this year was a challenge for us, and that showed up in the postseason where we were really good for one series and struggled in the next."

When it came to one of the biggest criticisms of Boone's managing style after nine years, accountability, he made it clear that the calls from fans to be more willing to hold players accountable in a public manner will not be answered, as he does not believe it to be an effective method of managing.

"To me, that's not leadership," Boone said. "That's me giving red meat to people that want to be upset with somebody. When we have issues as a club or with an individual player...I address those things, we address those things man to man. Sometimes if we have to address something within the group, we do that. I don't think it's leadership coming up here and wanting to hear us beat down a player. I know how hard it is to play this game every single day. I know how hard it is to walk out there every single day in a game of failure."