The sky is falling in the Bronx, so much so, that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had to deliver a rare speech to the team on the road in Buffalo on Tuesday.
Cashman, who watched his bullpen blow yet another game on Monday – this time a four-run lead in a 10-run implosion in the sixth inning against the Blue Jays – decided it was time he speak to the team collectively.
The GM provided insight into his conversation with the team on a Zoom call Tuesday with reporters, explaining that his general message to the team was to remind them who they are and that he still believes in them.
“I put this club together with my staff and everybody is in that room is here for a reason,” Cashman said. “They all were acquired for various reasons to come together as a group, as a team with high expectations. … I think making sure they know and remind them where they got to get back to and who they are and I’ve taken the opportunity to do that from time to time and see if it helps. The bottom line is we’re on our own. There’s no help coming from anywhere. The challenge is to find a way to get through this storm.”
It has been quite the storm and one no one saw coming.
The Yankees have gone 5-14 in their last 19 games, which includes six games in which the bullpen has blown a lead in the sixth inning or later.
They have fallen to 21-20 heading into Tuesday’s matchup and are two games behind the Blue Jays for second place in the AL East and sit in the eighth and final seed in the new playoff format.
“Baseball can be really humbling, no doubt about that, and we’ve been humbled,” Cashman said. “As the storm’s upon us – if you’re out at sea, the Coast Guard is not coming to save us. We’ve gotta find a way to swim to shore to thrive and survive and that’s what this is all about.”
The Yankees do have their best power hitters – Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton – on the IL, but a return date for either of them is still a long time away.
Cashman also did not make any upgrades at the trade deadline on Aug. 31, but he has no regrets about that.
“The way it played out the opportunities didn’t exist,” he said. “The players we tried to certainly import potentially could have been impactful for us didn’t get traded elsewhere. The price tags would have taken away some people that are positively impacting this team right now – it wasn’t just singular, it was multiples. I think if we did those deals we’d be worse off than better off.”
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