As you probably know by now, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner talked to the media on Tuesday and reiterated that the 2023 season was “awful,” and the organization as a whole is trying to come up with a way to improve with the future in mind.
Well, later on Tuesday, it was Brian Cashman’s turn to take the microphone. The general manager went on an epic tirade and was defiant, even angry, at critics. He said the Yankees are “pretty [freaking] good” and showed unusual anger and resentment.
One of his targets was former Yankees minor leaguer Ben Ruta, who had blasted the organization in mid-August, saying, among many other things, that “there’s no baseball being taught there anymore. No baserunning, moving runners, fundamentals, etc.”
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Cashman didn’t hold back on former Yankees minor league outfielder
During the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona, Cashman referred to Ruta (who was in the Yankees organization from 2016 to 2020), as a “bitter boy”.
“Ben Ruta, you guys gave him a platform, this organizational player that’s ripping away on what’s wrong with our player development department as he flushed out with us and ended up in another organization,” Cashman said, via Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media. “San Diego, I think was next. He wasn’t even as good there as he was with us. But he’s getting a platform and everybody sings about what ails the Yankees and it’s like, how is this even happening? It’s embarrassing to have stuff like that play out.”
Ruta had praised the Yankees for offering the hitting coach job to James Rowson. However, after Cashman’s remarks on Tuesday, he went to social media to fire back.
“Headline: “Bitter Boy” Brian Cashman doesn’t know how many current players in his own org (and former Yankees players now in other orgs) reached out in support of Ben Ruta following his @FoulTerritoryTV
clips. Embarrassing that he doesn’t have a pulse on his own organization,” Ruta tweeted.
The Yankees seem torn between going full analytics or completely embracing an old-school approach. Until they solve that internal debate, the future looks murky for them.