Endorsement of Yankees coaching staff makes us wonder if Brian Cashman even watched the World Series

The New York Yankees took one on the chin in the 2024 World Series. It wasn't just that New York lost in five games; the Los Angeles Dodgers were an exceptionally talented team, and there's no shame in falling short to that collection of talented. But the way New York lost was alarming: baffling bullpen decisions; running into outs on the bases; kicking the ball all around the field, culminating in arguably the ugliest half-inning in postseason history. The gap between the Yankees and the game's elite was clear for everyone to see.

Everyone, apparently, except the team's GM, Brian Cashman. You'd think it would be clear enough where New York needs to improve over a pivotal offseason, but if Cashman's answers to the media during this week's GM Meetings are any indication, he either wasn't paying attention during the World Series or has his head in the sand.

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Brian Cashman refuses to acknowledge what cost the Yankees the World Series

The first concerning response came when Cashman was asked about embattled manager Aaron Boone. The team already made clear how it felt about Boone when it wasted no time bringing him back following the loss to the Dodgers, but hearing Cashman go to bat for him out loud still raised some eyebrows. More specifically, Cashman seemed to negate the entire concept of managing, throwing up his hands and expecting fans to buy "well what can you do?" as a serious excuse.

Managing an MLB team is indeed incredibly difficult, often far more than fans are willing to allow; there's a lot more that goes into managing a bullpen, building a lineup and supporting a clubhouse on a daily basis than we have access to. But it's not second-guessing to suggest that calling on Nestor Cortes — a starter with little to no high-leverage relief experience who hadn't pitched in over a month after an elbow injury — to face Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman with Game 1 of the World Series on the line was suboptimal decision-making; it was a move that drew criticism as soon as Boone made it, and it blew up in his face spectacularly. Being level-headed is one thing, but abdicating your duty as a lead executive is another, and failing to make clear by what metric Boone is "a really good manager" gives the impression that Cashman is just choosing continuity for continuity's sake.

Speaking of continuity for continuity's sake: While reasonable people might differ as to just how much of the blame Boone should shoulder for the Yankees' World Series meltdown, no one who's watched the team for the past few years could argue that base-running hasn't been a major bugaboo. New York has always been a slower, more lumbering roster; no one is demanding they start trying to take an extra base at will. But avoiding silly mistakes feels like a reasonable ask, and the Yankees haven't even been able to clear that low bar of late. Which is why Cashman's other endorsement was so surprising, throwing his support behind director of speed development and baserunning Matt Talarico and calling New York "one of the best in the business with our baserunning program". Yes, really.

Perhaps we should just let some of Talarico's work speak for itself.