Carlos Correa was mercilessly booed by Yankees fans in May as one of the faces of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.
But will the fans do a 180 if he dons pinstripes in April?
According to Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media, Cashman told reporters on Wednesday at the GM Meetings that fan reaction to Correa’s involvement in the Astros’ cheating scandal is not something he’s concerned about now.
“Bottom line is, is he a great player? The answer to that is yes,” Cashman said. “He’s a free agent, so my job is to assess him and act accordingly.”
Cashman said he’s spoken to “most, but not all” agents of the free agent shortstop class and former GM Jim Bowden reported earlier this week that agents for Correa (and Corey Seager) are two that he has indeed had conversations with already.
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But the fans’ reaction is probably not as important as how the players on the Yankees would feel.
Several players on the Yankees, most notably Aaron Judge, have been critical of the Astros and their sign-stealing scandal, with both him and Stanton saying Houston should have had its World Series title stripped.
Judge’s comments at the time: “I was pretty mad, pretty upset to know we were probably cheated out of a chance at the World Series. … To hear that you got cheated out of that opportunity, that’s tough to kinda let go.”
Stanton: “If I knew what was coming in ’17, I probably would have hit 80-plus home runs. … We know that [the Astros] don’t really care to give an apology or explain their side, and it showed by their response. As players, we know that. You know the repercussions of doing something like that, and you’re only really sorry because you got caught.”
Correa has been among the most vocal when addressing the scandal, admitting to wrongdoing but also took shots at players who criticized them, particularly Cody Bellinger.
The 27-year-old Gold Glove winner has also seemed to embrace the hate driven his and the Astros’ way over the last two seasons, especially when he seemingly bragged about making the postseason last year as a sub-.500 team in a pandemic-shortened season although they did reach Game 7 of the ALCS), irking former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia in a profanity-laced rant.
Of course, Cashman probably knows better than to bring aboard someone that would ruffle the feathers of his star players and leaders in the clubhouse.
In December 2017, he had a deal in place to trade for Stanton but before finalizing the trade he gave Judge a call to get the slugger’s opinion of bringing in someone who played the same position as him.
So, while the fan reaction is not a concern of his, there is certainly a chemistry aspect Cashman must consider as he assesses whether or not Correa is a fit for the Yankees.
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