The New York Yankees have endured a challenging end to the season with General Manager Brian Cashman under fire. Great MLB catcher and all-time beloved Yankees star Jorge Posada added more criticism to the franchise after the ALDS elimination. Posada felt the team had culture issues and revealed that he feels unwelcome as a legend. This created a conversation over whether the Yankees do enough to have their legends around helping the new core.
Cashman revealed his stance today at the GM Meetings and revealed he spoke to Posada recently:
“I was surprised. I’d say first and foremost – If anyone has anyone they want to add or questions, my phone is available. The Steinbrenners‘ phones are available. We’re not ducking calls. We value our present, but we also value our past.
In Jorge’s case, he’s invited every spring. He’s invited to Old Timers’ Day. He did my daughter’s show (Story of My Number for Yankees Entertainment Network). So, I was surprised. He is welcome. I obviously did have those conversations with him.”
The first comment from Cashman revealed that the Yankees welcome past legends and that he called Posada. Players like Aaron Judge have discussed how much the legends have helped with advice in the past. Recent years have seen fans questioning why names like Posada, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and others aren’t around.
Brian Cashman Also Pushed Back On Criticism
The quote continued with Cashman going in depth over how much the team is trying to win. Fans and former players blaming a culture led by him and Aaron Boone clearly upset Cashman a bit to warrant speaking his mind.
“Jorge wants us to be great,” Cashman said. “We (the Yankees) want us to be great. Unfortunately, we’ve been good but we haven’t been great. That’s the trick figuring out how to get from good to great. He was able to do it four times in his career. But there’s a lot of years where he wasn’t able to push through with his teammates. Winning’s hard.
I try to also remind people how difficult it is. A lot of good teams we’ve put together fell short and I want to remind any former players of that when we’re letting fans down or falling short of our dreams. It may not look good or look like we’re checking all the boxes. It’s not because the care factor is not there or work is not going on behind the scenes.”
Cashman wanted players and fans to understand how much they are trying and to remember how hard it is to win the World Series. Mistakes made by Jazz Chisholm and Ryan McMahon were criticized by fans and media for being a culture issue that starts at the top.
The quotes from Cashman confirm that he doesn’t agree with those claims. Pressure is high entering next season, but the Yankees have already extended Cashman to a longer contract. Posada has been invited to appear at Yankees’ events and to talk with the team next season. Time will tell if Posada and others come back or if they feel unwelcome by Cashman and/or Boone.
Brian Cashman Responds To Jorge Posada’s Yankees Criticism