The Yankees have been highly criticized for their lack of balance in the lineup, relying on a righty-heavy starting group that some saw as easy to navigate given the right matchup.
General manager Brian Cashman and the Bombers certainly addressed that at the trade deadline, making deals for lefty sluggers Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo, giving the lineup an entirely new look in a span of 24 hours.
But Cashman wants it to be known that those deals were not an on-the-fly adjustment based on this season’s struggles. It was a completion of an objective that has always been on the team’s radar, even before the season began.
“I was never anti-balance, it’s just acquisitions,” Cashman told Carton and Roberts on Tuesday. “When we got Gallo at the deadline, we tried to get Gallo in February and March, and we were getting close to a deal for him…there’s other left handers we tried to acquire, including players that didn’t work out elsewhere, got released, and we offered them a chance to come here and they took a different spot…we’ve always tried to get guys. For instance, this spring, if we didn’t get Gallo, it would have been not too far after that we got Odor, who is left handed.
“You get those false narratives that run around out there. We’ve always said that balance is important, but not at the expense of getting a lesser player to replace a better player.”
Cashman believes there are several “false narratives” that swirl around the Bronx, another being the idea that manager Aaron Boone trots out a lineup that is previously selected by “stat geeks,” “analytics guys,” or whatever the word of the day happens to be. The Yanks have new options for the lineup with the additions of Gallo and Rizzo, but like always, Cashman says it is Boone deciding who plays where that day.
“This is a question that’s been asked so many times, so the answer will be the same,” Cashman said. “I don’t think Aaron Boone takes the job or joe Girardi before him…if they didn’t have power of the lineup, or power of who to play. Our job is to provide the best roster we possibly can, try to hire people of like minds that gravitate to good decision making.
“There is also essentially a managerial aspect to it. Aaron Boone can do his deep dive. Tonight’s starter happens to be Wells I believe. What’s his strengths, his weaknesses, how is the personnel we currently have active on the 26-man roster line up against him? What’s the optimal lineup to produce? I’d say more likely than not, he doesn’t follow the optimal, recommended, pure analytical lineup, really ever. It probably doesn’t line up that way ever. Why? There’s personalities in play, and it’s never operated that way. But that’s a starting point to peel the onion on, then you walk through it.”
Another common uproar, often heard around the trade deadline, is the team’s reluctance to go over the luxury tax, which the team has been criticized for in years past, especially while teams like the 2018 Red Sox and 2020 Dodgers flex their financial might to win World Series titles. The Dodgers, looking to repeat, just splurged for All-Stars Max Scherzer and Trea Turner at the deadline, and Cashman said if that deal was able to be made for the Yankees, the luxury tax likely would not have stood in the way.
“I would say it was a preference, a stated preference if possible, but it wasn’t a mandate,” Cashman said of the luxury tax threshold. “If we had some opportunities to land for instance a collaboration of what went to the Dodgers, like for instance the Trea Turner/Max Scherzer combination, and it pushed us over the tax but we could line up with a match that we were comfortable doing, Hal Steinbrenner would have been more than happy considering going over.
“He never said ‘you can’t do this.’ He just always said privately and publicly that ‘I prefer that, but if we have to, we’ll do it. We’ll do what’s best for our fanbase.’ And he’s always been that way. To me, we’re lucky to have that opportunity.”
Another common complaint, one more supported in fact, is the team’s susceptibility to strikeouts. Currently, the Yanks are striking out 24.6 percent of the time, which is ninth most in the majors. But Cashman doesn’t see that as the reason for the Yankees’ disappointing season so far.
“Again, when you start peeling the onion on stuff like that, you see the team sitting in the American League East driver’s seat right now in the Tampa Bay Rays, the defending American League champions, they strike out a hell of a lot more than we do,” Boone said, which is accurate based on Tampa’s league-high 26.1 percent strikeout rate. “Spinning the numbers game when you want it to fit, it’s gonna fit, just like anything else…I would say it bothers me that if somebody pushed false narratives that don’t fit, so again, so it’s good enough for the Rays to strike out a hell of a lot, but what’s the difference? They’re winning and in first place, so it doesn’t matter. Because we’re not winning as much as we currently hope to be at this point and we’re not in first place, it does matter.”
Cashman and the Yanks have taken plenty of heat this season, and for good reason given the expectations and the roster heading into the 2021 campaign. But explanations for the team’s inability to bring home a championship in recent years are unfair ones, according to Cashman, especially when it comes to lineup balance, strikeouts and luxury tax hesitancy. But one aspect that isn’t debatable are the results, especially this season. So far, those results haven’t been inspiring.
“When you’re doing well, they love you, and when you’re not doing well, they think you’re dumb,” Cashman said. “There’s no in between. There’s no black or white. That’s part of the territory of the sports world. We’re obviously thankful to have such a strong, passionate fanbase, because if you had no fanbase, nobody would really care, so it’s just an example of people caring.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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