The Yankees‘ roster is currently bursting at the seams with inadequacy and failure. Having extracted just a singular win over three games against the New York Mets, the Yankees are now preparing to take on the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday evening.
The Mariners are five games above .500 and will feature a familiar face on the mound, Justus Sheffield, against the Yankees in the first game of the series. Sheffield has a 5.88 ERA this season, allowing 91 hits and 13 homers over 72 innings pitched. Considering how poor Jameson Taillon has performed, the Yankees’ starter for the matchup, he has allowed 17 fewer hits over a very similar sample size.
With contempt and confusion beginning to overwhelm the Bombers, general manager Brian Cashman must devise a plan of action. With ownership wanting to stay below the $210 million luxury tax threshold, they may have no choice but to push past if they want to have any chance at making the postseason. Currently, the Yankees are 10.5 games out of first place in the AL East and 5.5 back from the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card race.
There’s no question the team has plenty of time to turn things around, but a shift in momentum would require a major surge in starting pitching efficiency and run production with RISP.
As of late, fans have indicated their frustration, raining down boo’s on skipper Aaron Boone and Cashman. However, the vision of the team is built through Cashman’s eyes, and the question is, should they move on from him after the 2021 season?
Buster Olney of ESPN gave a fantastic justification for the retention of Brian Cashman from the perspective of Hal Steinbrenner:
A reason to keep Cashman: He has never had a losing season. Ever. Twenty-four seasons as GM and the Yankees have always won — not as much in the postseason since the 1996-2001 dynasty, but the organization’s last losing record was in 1992. Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner basically grew up in the business together, have known each other for decades, and Hal knows about Cashman the same thing that his father knew about Gene Michael: Cashman’s decisions are always about what he thinks is best for the franchise. Some of the choices might turn out badly, but there is a simple motivating factor behind them. And if Hal fires Cashman, he would have to find somebody else who could handle the incendiary New York market as deftly as Cashman, who draws raves from his peers for this particular skill.
Based on this logic, Hal will likely refrain from letting Cashman walk, considering their close relationship. It is true, Cashman has built a squad that hasn’t had a losing record in over a decade, and making a significant change could be far worse than the reality fans are experiencing right now.
If anything, they need to focus more on contact hitters and adding more diversity to the batting order with lefty options. In addition, taking considerable risks with the starting pitching rotation should not be a strategy any longer. Focusing on health history might be a good move in the future.