Brian Cashman stuck by Aaron Boone once again when talking with reporters earlier this week, and on Thursday, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner stuck by them both, reiterating a new era in the Bronx that almost never includes in-season changes.
“Am I mad at what I see? Absolutely,” Steinbrenner said. “I’m aggravated, frustrated, angry, but that’s not gonna push me in to a knee-jerk reaction to get rid of somebody that I believe the players respect, want to play for, want to win for, and overall has done a good job keeping the clubhouse together through a difficult three months.”
Despite being in fourth place and near the .500 mark after blowing a four-run lead in the ninth on Wednesday, Steinbrenner is sticking by his coaching staff and general manager as the Yankees desperately search for a spark to help them avoid their first postseason absence since 2016. But Steinbrener is looking at the players on the field when assessing most of the blame for the team’s disappointing season so far.
“Myself, Cashman, Boone, the coaches, we’re responsible,” Steinbrenner said. “We’re in charge, so on some level, we’re responsible for what’s going on. But make no mistake about it. My opinion, the majority of the responsibility, whether it’s the responsibility of inconsistent offense or bad baserunning that responsibility lies with the players. They’re the ones on the field.
“They need to fix the problem, because everyone, including our fanbase, rightfully so, has had enough, quite frankly. It’s enough. They’ve had enough. You’re seeing them say that. They’re taking it seriously…we can share the blame, but the majority of the blame lies with them.”
Steinbrenner said there was a “fiery” team meeting earlier this week, which he hopes will get the team going, but while the offense has awoken in recent nights, it hasn’t resulted in consistent wins and didn’t avoid an epic collapse on Wednesday.
“They just haven’t played to their potential that I believe they still have…these aren’t aging players,” Steinbrenner said. “These guys are in their prime. They just haven’t played to their potential, and that’s been the big problem. At least they haven’t done it consistently.”
Under Boone, the Yanks have now been near the .500 mark over the past two seasons, and Cashman hasn’t helped bring a title to New York since 2009, as the Yankees continue one of the longest World Series droughts in franchise history. But Steinbrenner doubled down on his support of the people he has in place to lead the Yankees, even as the losses accumulate.
“Everybody on the coaching staff has dealt with these players in the past,” Steinbrenner said. “We’ve had some great offenses and some great teams. Nobody is working harder than these coaches. The most important thing to me always, any given year, is that the players respect the coaches and believe in the coaches, and that’s absolutely the case here.”
So, any Yankee fans wanting a change to shake up the team and the season, it’s likely not coming from ownership, though Steinbrenner said he always assesses job performance at the end of every season, regardless if that employee is still under contract or not.
“Doing a knee-jerk reaction to appease this person or that person in the middle of the year, when I really don’t think there’s a problem, that’s certainly something I’m not gonna do,” Steinbrenner said.
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