Brian Cashman’s end-of-season press conference

Brian Cashman’s end-of-season press conference

No, I don’t have to remind you that obviously you started with the Yankee organization under George Steinberger and he already always had the World Series mandate. So after a season where you won 94 games, succeeded in the wildard round, but fell short in the division series round. How would you describe this season? We’ve had had success and failure. Obviously failed in our ultimate goal and had some success obviously along the way. We had a good team that uh but fell short of our ultimate goal. So, you know, I leave it for the the masses to debate, you know, um what it ultimately came out of. Proud of proud of a lot of things we accomplished and players that we, you know, I knew that they were fighting. Um they were talented, they were fighting, they were committed, and uh but wasn’t good enough. Last year after the season ended in the way that it did, you guys had a checklist of things you wanted to change. better defense, better base running, more athleticism, more swing and miss pitches, pitchers, and you achieved the various degrees of success in those areas. What do you feel is on the checklist for improvements teamwide this year? Yeah, every every winter, you know, and summer, so both opportunities for acquisitions to make adjustments for your team. You’re trying to attack areas of weakness, and every year that’s different. So therefore, every year the team is different. Um, you know, I thought obviously we we had some successes uh from the winter uh into the summer to try to, you know, go to market and make adjustments and and bring in some personnel that, you know, could reinforce areas that needed help and um and you know, which inre increased our chances uh improved the club. Um, we haven’t had our pro scouting meetings yet with our front office about the available markets currently. Uh, that is upon us. Um, you know, but I know the intent will be the same. We’ll we’ll, uh, look to attack our areas of weakness to the best of our abilities with with what’s available and hope our strengths remain our strengths, what they happen to be, um, so we can go ahead and try to take another shot. Bruce, Brian, what’s your message to the fans who are hungry for a world championship? We’re just as hungry, um just as disappointed. Um you know, uh that that’s that’s really the message. What do you want to tell them about going forward and how you plan to to try to get them that title? I mean, I think on a year in and year out basis, we try to do everything we possibly can to put ourselves in a position to to believe that we have a chance to be ultimately world champs once again and uh and have, you know, our fans think that and believe that and obviously have the people covering us believe that. Um, and then take our shot, you know. Uh, but while we’re taking our shot for the teams that we’ve put together that have actually qualified for the postseason, you know, you’re still you know, you’re a prize fighter getting into the ring with another prize fighter and and uh you got you got to be on your agame and uh or you’re going to take a punch that’s going to knock you out. And uh and unfortunately, you know, this year that knockout punch hit in the division series. Eric and Joel. Brian, you said talking about attacking areas of weakness from where you said, “What are your areas of weakness going into the off season?” You know, I’m not going to unpack that today. Uh, you know, we’ll have some free agency that’s going to hit. Um, you know, uh, that’ll create some vacancies. we have, you know, got to weigh the the the available marketplace via free agency or trades, uh, with the committed payroll versus the available payroll thereafter, you know, and again, measure opportunities. Some some players, you know, knocking on the door, earning the right maybe to take the next step from down below. um you know uh and you know obviously at the same time just trying to weigh what’s available to us and if we can get our hands on it you know in competition via trade or free agent dollars. And then when Aaron was in here talking about the staff changes he said organizationally decided to go in a different direction in your eyes what made those staff changes with specifically with Harky and Chapman necessary or needed? Yeah. Every year we’re just I’m charged with making some tough decisions. I got good we have good people and and unfortunately and friendships too. Um but I have to assess everything in the present. Um and where we you know go as we move forward and and you know again our staff is you know they work in tandem with each other in conjunction with our player group and I just have to make tough decisions. So so no one was per se terminated. There was these were expiring contracts that uh the question is do you are we going to offer a new opportunity moving forward and uh um so I have made those decisions to to make some changes and and open up to to evaluate opportunities in the marketplace to see if uh you know uh we can find some fits as we move forward into 2026 that that uh you know make us better. Um, but that’s not to take away from our the staff that I let go who had obviously gave us a lot of great contributions along the way. At the same time, Joel Cash, uh, to the right, you you said if you’re not on your agame, you get you get knocked out. Do you think anything could be done specifically for October? Whether it’s in leadership, decision making, who’s managing, coaching, the type of player you have that would change the fate specifically in October. I think it’s that’s that question might be a little too simple. Um, and I don’t even know if that’s the right way to to to maybe clap back at that. But listen, like this division series, you know, we got through the uh the wild card matchup with Boston this postseason, you know, uh last year we got to the World Series. We get into the division series. Some guys you ha what I’m trying to I guess frame is you have to fire in all cylinders. That means you got to pitch to the best of your abilities consistently. That clearly didn’t happen in the Toronto series. And you got to hit to your best of your abilities with every, you know, the sample sizes are so small that, you know, when opportunities present themselves, you have to capitalize. Uh, some guys who consistently hit in the postseason, you know, didn’t hit in the division series. Um, some guys who question, people question whether they can hit in the postseason did produce. You need it all at the same time. You need everybody from your rotation to your bullpen to your start uh position player group on the lineup side, you know. you know, to bring your agame, and that’s why I use the prize fighter. I I think it was teed up, you know, the intent, the ability, but you’re going against another championship caliber uh capable opponent and uh and if they are able to neutralize one of your one or many of your personnel um you know during that series uh and so you’re not optimizing every opportunity and and you know putting your best foot forward. It’s competition, so it’s no guarantee just because you have a big name and you have big numbers and you’re consistently putting up, you know, uh, quality performances and even, you know, you’re still matching up against somebody else trying to get you out. We’re trying to uh pound you into the um into the into the their bullpen. So, you know, it just kill or be killed. And uh I don’t think that our guys aren’t tough enough. I mean, our our our teams change every year. You know, you got new personnel, whether it’s different relievers, different starters, different, you know, a third of our offense was changed this year. you know, uh maybe a little bit more uh you know, with the additions of Goldmid Rice, um you know, uh the evolution of Ben, you know, obviously Ben Rice with the combination of the Gold Schmidt, you got uh um you know, the uh Bellinger uh addition, Gisham become an everyday force that he did this year. You know, that’s that’s a third of your lineup right there. Obviously, Ryan McMahon joined us late, you know, hitting, you know, in the seventh, eighth or ninth hole, uh, where everybody was putting them. Um, that’s a lot of turn around, a lot of different guys that you didn’t have prior. And again, you try it. You had different guys in the pen, you know, you try it. You had different guys in the rotation. You try it and, you know, and it in many cases, you know, looked good enough is capable. Um, but again, it just fell short in a at the time when we we could not solve the Toronto Blue Jays this year. They they rolled us in the regular season. They rolled us in the postseason. And um you know, but bottom line, we didn’t earn the right to move forward. It’s as simple as that. Um I don’t think it’s about leadership. I don’t think it’s about, you know, uh I just think it’s about competition, you know, at at a given moment in time. and uh you know so and and it’s for you and and then the fans obviously that support us to judge it one way or the other uh Pete and Disha Cash uh would you view uh securing Bellinger this winter as as a top priority for you? He he he was an impact player for us. I’m glad we got him. Um certainly expect him to opt out. uh you know and uh I again I don’t know we haven’t gotten to those conversations yet. You know we’re in the HR version of our you know uh you know winner so far. Um we will be scheduling all our internal discussions on roster assessments player-wise and and then again you know looking what we have from within and exploring what we have outside and but I can just tell you he you know he was really impactful for us. No question about one of the many reasons why, you know, we, you know, were in a position to believe that, you know, we were capable of of great things this year when the dust settled. Uh, and so I thank him for everything he’s done and certainly would love to have a have him with our team moving forward, but but we haven’t had any of those discussions. I haven’t had any conversations with Scott Boris and but bouquet is his way without a doubt. He helped us on both sides of the ball, offense, defense. He’s a versatile player. He was great in our clubhouse and so um but you know all that’s yet to come. Dish back right just how do you make sense of the mental and defensive lapses carrying over into this year in the biggest moments and what can you realistically do to address that? Forgive me. Um the mandola mental and defensive lapses. Um yeah it’s hard to say. I mean, there’s I think it’s all part of a season, you know, you know, that comes in New York. It’s louder. Uh we certainly do a lot of deep dives on the base running allegations as our team, you know, a terrible base running team. Well, it it’s not necessarily supportive. We’re actually in theory one of the best baseball running teams in the game and and ran into the, you know, fewer amount of outs compared to other clubs this year. Not the fewest, but we were on the low end of that stuff. If anything, you know, I think the first half of the season, you know, um, compared to the second half of the season in terms of aggressiveness, first to third, second to home, base stealing, I think you saw it ramp up more. I think that had more reflection of, you know, we had the personnel to do more on the pass. And I think that we started taking advantage of it in the second half more because I think some of our personnel were battling through some things while playing every day. And and then once Boon felt more comfortable to start pushing that button on some guys, once they were feeling better with it, you start and then obviously our personnel changed. We got Cabalero and the trade deadline, stuff like that. You started seeing us take advantage and being better the base pass. But there were op there were circumstances that play louder in New York when when you get guys I remember clearly the Fenway Park series with guys running from second to third with less than two outs on a ground ball to left side. Those, you know, can’t happen, but they do. They happen here. they happen elsewhere. And and uh again, you don’t want you don’t you don’t want to underreact to it. You don’t want to overreact to it. It’s why you spend some time to make sure you you compare where you’re at um with others and that you uh that you have, you know, that the conversations that need to be had are still being had regardless. It’s, you know, so uh you said and then the physical errors. Yeah. I mean, you got to do the work and and put it out there. And um thought we were a better defensive team this year, more athletic, and I think it played out that way. I thought we were converting more more balls into outs than we had prior, and that made us gave us a better chance to, you know, listen, last year we lost a big player in free agency, and a lot of questions how we’re going to replace it. So, we came back, we were a different team, tried to adjust, you know, the areas of weakness that you tried try try to address every year. some winners you can depending on the markets you can address it better than others. Thought we were able to address a lot which allowed us to you know put ourselves back in a position to to dream big. Um so again whatever our areas of deficiencies are we will continue to try to attack them uh to limit mistakes um force mistakes on your opponent you know and and be an offensive force as well as a uh one of the better teams on the defensive run prevention side including your pitching staff. So go to the left, Gary. Chris, throughout the season, Anthony and Aaron said that Bulby’s shoulder injury didn’t have much of an impact on his performance. Do you agree with that assessment? And did you Anthony said then I’m sorry, it was two guys, meaning Anthony and Aaron Boon both said that injury didn’t impact his performance much. Do you agree with that assessment? And if so, what makes you think he can be a positive contributor postsurgery? You know, I think I personally think now I’ll start leaning more into that yes, it was affecting him. Um because ultimately he had to have a surgery. None of that was really on the table, you know, in season. Um so I think all things can be true. Was it was it bothering him to a level that was um getting to a height of concern for us in season? The answer is no. Why is that? player says wasn’t bothering at that point. His physical testing was coming back strong. You know, the uh you we did an MRI that showed some old stuff in there. You know, Ahmad recommended we can do a shot, you know, and you know, you banged it. You know, uh falling on it, diving on it. That seemed to take care of it. You forget about it. Struggles keep happening. You know, conversations between your player and your trainer. These players, first and foremost, are super powers. you know, their superpower. They’re super human beings where they the things that bother us physically, you know, uh, in a massive way. I don’t think these alpha dogs, for instance, it bothers them as much. They don’t feel things as much. Maybe it’s adrenaline. Maybe it’s just they’re so strong as oxes and so many different ways that that it doesn’t, you know, present itself to the point where they got to complain in a loud way. And so I know when asked, follow-up asks, including from my chair, is this a problem? I’ll deal with our head trainer, you know, and his staff and the player. No, I actually feel better than I’ve ever felt the entire season. All right. You know, this is during performance lapses. Um, so I think it could be true on both ways. I think that, you know, I know people suggest maybe we underplayed the injury. I don’t think that’s true. I think we were trying to be as honest with our fans and and our media who communicate to the fans um what our medical staff, doctors, trainers and then you know you treat complaints from the player um and if the complaints are no this is not an issue I feel good blah blah blah you know you you deal with you treat the patient treat the MRI um but shot hit sometime I can’t remember when it was May, June. He really responded well, you forget about it. Then all of a sudden, the performance, you know, is spotty throughout the year. Uh continues of highs, lows. Um now he’s getting another shot. I think they repeated the MRI again and like listen, if you know, we can look at this in the winter and and if this continues to be a problem, then then we’ll have to be open to surgery. So, as the year goes on and he’s diving all over the place, kind of, you know, irritating it maybe at times it starts to move up the tree of wasn’t a concern, isn’t a concern to maybe it is a concern. It’s still speculative. Um, he didn’t have the season that we expected uh that he expected that we believe he’s capable of. I now after the surgery, you know, I don’t even know if Aaron Boon’s had a chance to talk to the doctors about it or not, but the surgery when you opened him up, the uh the cleanup was more severe than the MRI would result. So, which again leads me to do I think it now probably is more of an impact than it was, even though it was not it’s not not his throwing shoulder. Probably, you know, but speculative. Um, but you know, I I don’t think I’m just trying to answer it the best I can. I’ve dealt with for years in the position of experience that I’ve had where you deal with players and and you respond to them and and if they, you know, you assure you get assurances that that’s not an issue or I don’t feel anything, it’s not a contributing factor, I don’t feel it with my swing or what have you. Um but his performance swings were significant this year more so than uh and because of that and now you know with a surgery involved with the postsurgery saying it was more significant than the MRI repaired it doesn’t uh show it doesn’t change the recovery time but I do think that in fairness to the player uh who I don’t think he was misleading anybody I think he is telling you in real time what he feels and how he feels. And I think our trainers follow up with our physical testing and then the MRIs come in play and then the doctor, you know, medicine can, you know, it’s kind of an exact science. You you you you do a a protocol to try to walk through and dissipate a problem and then but if it continues to persist, then ultimately you have to do more and hit it with more. And this one eventually led to an end and then the season ended a surgery that turned out to be a little bit more significant than uh than you know if we were doing this presser in May, June, August, September. So you still see him as your starting shorts stop once he’s back? I mean I I I think so. I think you know I I believe in the player still. I think we believe in the player. It doesn’t mean that we don’t play with on any level uh all aspects of roster assessments. Um, you know, he’s 24 years old. I don’t think New York stage is too big for him. It just I, you know, still finding his way. Um, and, you know, the age, uh, is something that, you know, there’s a lot of value to reminding yourself about that. Yeah. you see whether it’s in our sport, you know, uh players that eventually figure it out, you know, as they go down the line, you watch the NFL, these number one pick quarterbacks that franchise put everything in. you know, short stops, kind of a quarterback position, center field catcher in baseball. And you see that, you know, players that that, you know, you expect a lot, you know, had early on for seasons um but then they’re not living up to their their um growing pains, so to speak, as they go through getting their sea legs under them somewhere, and then they wind up in a different environment and now they’re leading their teams. Uh, and I’m sure there are various different reasons for it, but but I think Boon was talking about it with you guys earlier. It’s like sometimes this isn’t linear. It’s also not guaranteed and that’s why it’s fair to always assess what you have and is it good enough and do you need to replace it and can you find better and all that stuff and that I promise you always takes place. Um, but I believe in the player. Uh, I think we believe in the player. I think the injury probably uh contributed to the performance season that he wound up having more so than we would have thought based on our in intimate involvement with him and his and our medical staff and and that how that played out and and the facts are the facts. He had to have a a surgery that’s going to take him down. He’s not going to be ready for spring uh spring training which therefore will put him out to start the season. will be on the IIL and be ready sometime in April maybe, you know, uh worst case scenario, May, but but he’s going to get a late start just because of that. So, uh so somebody will be playing shortstop, not him opening day. Um but that doesn’t, you know, that’s not a good thing for us either. You know, I think missing him and not having him here as an option for us to be, you know, there is is a problem. And, you know, I’m looking forward to getting a a fixed Anthony Vulpi back. So, you know, uh, he can be deployed and, uh, help us win games. Andy, uh, so you have, have you not scheduled your pro scouting meetings yet? No. Uh, so understanding that you haven’t had those conversations with your people, do you look at third base, uh, right now as a set position with McMahon, or do you think he’s best utilized given some of the splits against left-handed pitching in a platoon or mix of match kind of situation, or is he your everyday third baseman? I mean, I think I’m happy we have him. I think he’s our everyday third baseman, but I also, you know, because of splits, it’s always like I I’d like to make sure I can provide our manager with a lot of choices. Um, so he can mix and match the best way he possibly can, and finding right-handed bats in this game today is more difficult than ever. Um but and you know you want to have the balance and stuff. So you know we’ll get to all that but but he was a he was a real positive addition and and uh we were talking about earlier with Disha’s question about you know run prevention and uh clearly he makes your pitching staff better in a significant way. It was a great defensive play there and and you never know when you bring players to New York how they respond in this environment and uh you know he was great for us and so I’m glad that I’m glad that’s not a position per se I have to worry about moving forward. That doesn’t mean we can’t compliment it. Uh but again we haven’t had those meetings. And Boon uh mentioned discussing other potential roles for Pat Rosler. Do you expect him to stay with the organization? Not sure. I mean, I had difficult conversations um with JRo, our head guy, currently interviewed in Minnesota. Um, you know, uh there might be some opportunities. I’ve known Six for a long time. For those who don’t know, Pat Russell’s nickname is Six. So, I’ve known Six for a long time. And, uh, and he’s been a real contributing member of this for baseball and for this organization for a long time. And if there’s a potential different role, you know, we’ll talk through it maybe. But I think we also got to find out whether we have a head-on coach at the same time. You know, um we had uh Hurst’s evol uh evolution in earning the right to get up here. He was offered a major league position elsewhere and and JRO, you know, was all in like, “Yeah, he’s good. We should keep him.” And and then after the Minnesota um uh request came in, you know, so that’s how that dance move worked. Um so anyway, so we’ll see. let the JRO stuff play play out and uh currently Minnesota is the only team that’s asked but you know always hear rumblings other teams might do the same so who knows because a lot of managerial vacancies out there have you had any of the requests on Rojos than than I’ve had one request on Louis Rojos Baltimore um doesn’t mean there won’t be more again there’s a lot of vacancies out there so right now and uh feels like there’s more than normal but I you guys probably keeping score would know that more than me but feels like there’s a lot more manager vacancies than our usual Chris to the left. Uh Judge will be 34 next season. When you start thinking about crafting the roster, how much do you consider that his prime years might be coming to an end soon? And and does that cause you to be more aggressive in maximizing that window? I don’t I don’t look at it. I mean, I I just look at trying to put the best team we can with what’s available at the time from within, from outside, from maintaining what we’ve got. Um like you get big examples like making a trade for Bellinger or small examples like Tendering Trent Gisham who became a lot much a lot different player for us this year than than what we bargain for. Um so uh I I don’t look at as we have to maximize this or that. I think I feel like we’re trying to put the best team we can on a year in and year out basis all the time, you know, and that involves older players that are obviously and younger players. You just need the mix. So, and then with Carlos needing uh a procedure done, does that cause you to explore the starter market, both free agency and and trade? Don’t know. I’ll be honest. I don’t I don’t know. the uh certainly he’s been the last two years have been really good for us with Carlos. He’s done a great job. Unfortunately, he had to have a surgery uh you know that to get some clean up on that and it’s going to have him start the season late. So, he won’t be he’ll start the season on the IIL and he’ll be ready either in sometime in April or early May at the latest and along as long as there’s no other issues that pop up in between. But, you know, um, but I don’t know what that means to, you know, where we put our remaining resources in and how we reinforce. Do we have enough from within? Do we have to go outside dog augment? You’re never going to have enough pitching. So, I I don’t know. But clearly, the good thing is he’s coming back. So, I have to make sure there’s room on that roster when he does. So Ron, first on Carlos, when were you aware that there were the loose objects in the bone spur that would need uh surgery? I think I think a lot of these guys all have stuff going on at all times and some of it just is dormant for years and other start to to create issues. Um so I can’t answer when that started becoming something. I I knew at some point like it might be something that would have to be deal dealt with. It just comes down to, you know, um their level of complaint versus doctor’s assessments and recommendations of ah we can just leave this. This isn’t an issue to deal with right now or if it does become enough of a problem, we can, you know, get in there. And so I think this all comes after the postseason, end of the season, you know, physical assessments and and uh so I think if you if this presser was three weeks ago and I wouldn’t have had a surgery on my mind for uh Carlos Rodon, taken him out the beginning of next year. Um but it’s also not surprising given the uh the job that he does. So, and as you weigh multi-year contract commitments this off season, do you have to factor in, and if so, how the possibility there might be a cap phasing in in 28 or large hikes in tax rates starting in 27? That’s above my pay grade. It’s business as usual as far as I’m concerned. And um and every time I’ve ever dealt with house time renter, he’s like, “Just bring whatever to me and whatever gets presented to you.” and whether it’s from agents or if it’s trade acquisitions or what have you. So, um that’s how we’ll, you know, continue to roll. Um but yeah, I’m not I’m thinking about 26, not 27. Take one or two more. Dave Cash, that the last two offseasons for you guys were kind of big move driven. You you got Juan So two years ago. Last off season was kind of the pivot from him and bringing Bellinger and some other guys. Do you see that the framework going into this off season as a championship framework with this team or do you think there’s other big moves that need to be made to kind of get you guys past the division series and and back into a World Series? I know you have Cole coming back and I think we have a lot of quality um that is currently here and on to come and but our the job is always to try to find ways to get get it better because whatever it looks like right now you’re going to wind up with injuries surprising underperformance just like you can get surprising better performance that came out of nowhere. That’s all part of it. job is to collect as much talent as you possibly can that you think can help you know uh your manager and his coaching staff and that team navigate you know a really difficult long season uh and find a way to punch your way through and give yourself a chance to take a shot at another championship. So I think we have a lot of good um but the job is for us to try to make it better. Uh, Greg and Eric, uh, you mentioned Hal. How would you describe what your conversations have been like with him in the aftermath of getting knocked out and how he’s kind of taken it all? Yeah, I mean, he’s frustrated, disappointed, you know, you know, he wants it. Um, he wants a championship here, another one just like, you know, for him and his family. So, I’ll speak on behalf of How and his family. they uh you know they I think believed you know not just recently but many times that we had a chance to to do something but you know it’s it’s not it’s not a it’s not a given you know um if it was a given and people who had that championship caliber gene that have punched through if it if that gene was repetitive and I’m not talking about a gene from handed down from father to son like you know the great George Steinbrunner who belongs to the Hall of Fame to a son I’m talking about a gene of winning you know there’s many a great player that maybe they punched through one time or many a great manager that’s punched through and won something uh but and we’ve done it and how done Steiner’s done it but it doesn’t guarantee it’s not a given that you’re going to continually do it you can have a good process all you can count on is having try to put together a strong process really good people try to get as many quality players that care and are committed and can stay healthy and play to the best of their abilities, you know, uh for 6 months and then into the the different season, which is the postseason and and then um and keep trying to do it again and again and again and again and again and and um so he’s frustrated because he knows, you know, opportunity lost. I think for all of us, uh, you know, I think whether you’re a player putting the uniform on or or you’re in the front office, you know, um, you know, people might get surprised at times. I I I’m more focused on the the ones that got away. Like, yes, I’ve got I’ve I’ve won some World Series. Um, but the ones that I feel there’s a lot of them I feel like we should have won, you know, could have won, you know, but it is tough. it is really difficult to do and and it’s it’s easier to to talk through or what have you, but actually for those guys in the competition, it’s, you know, um it’s it’s obviously something that we aspire to do once again and in some cases aspire to do for the first time. And uh so whether it’s controlling emotions, whether it’s you know being at your best at the most important time on any given at bat on any given pitch and stringing that all together. Um that is what we continue to uh you know fight for and try to find our our way through it and uh you then trying to walk and talk through it after the fact is you know something we’d like to avoid. So, uh, so hopefully next year we’ll find a way. Eric, Brian, what makes Aaron the right person to continue in his in his post as manager? I think Aaron does, you know, again, what I care about from a managerial point is, uh, you know, uh, it’s our job to put together the talent and provide the team. is their job to decide um the lineups, the uh when to who who you’re putting in the rotation, who’s coming in from the pen, etc. blah blah blah. And you know, that’s just general, but more specifically, um managing these personalities and especially in the city of New York, uh which is a pressure cooker. New York, Philly, and Boston you’ve heard me talk about is is radically different than elsewhere. and managing through that. Um, I care about the work that goes behind the scenes. Like whatever decision you’re making, are you just making an informed decision? You know, have you spent the time and the effort with your personnel? Um, and anybody can dissect I don’t think that’s what happened in this postseason, but but anybody can dissect managerial moves and decisions and like listen, you can go left or you can go right and it’s either going to be working or it won’t work. Could be a good decision that that didn’t work out or it could be a bad decision that did work out or it could be a bad decision that went wrong or a good decision that went right and it’s up for everybody to debate. It’s these managerial jobs are so hard, so difficult. So, I try to keep it simple. Are they making do they have a good process? Um, are they spending the time uh to assess the opponent, the scouting reports, the numbers, the players that they have, and know who’s capable of what at what time and and trying to do if they do all that work, you know, I feel like you got a good one. um you know and uh you know he’s had a lot of success in the regular season. He’s had some success in the postseason and and that’s you know there’s a lot of things for him to be proud of. I think uh he’s I think he’s a good manager. I think he’s you know one of the better managers and I think like in this environment if he was out there right now he’d get a job rather quickly. Um but I also know because of our environment he’s someone that can be second guessed 10 million times over and I don’t care who you put in that that would be the same you know whoever else would be there. Um, I trust him. I think he’s a good man. I think he works his tail off. I think he’s got, you know, good people that help support him and he’s got good players. And with all that, it doesn’t guarantee the outcome we’re all fighting for. But the guarantee is always that we’re going to be fighting for it. And that’s the one thing that Steinbrer family provides for this city is constantly having a team that you can put forth that that you can believe is capable of a championship. And that’s the job that we’ll be doing again once ne once again next year. I’d rather be talking about a World Series title right now, but I’m not, you know, uh, but the championship caliber intent is always there. So, and I do think I think we have a good manager and I think he cares and I think he works hard and I think he’s got good people and I think we have good players and we’re going to try it again. Last one, Chris. Is Spencer Jones a consideration of making the opening day roster and how do you evaluate where he stands? I mean, we’re going to talk through all that. I think he’s put himself in the conversation that he at least, you know, it’s a fair question for you to ask. I think uh how it plays out depends on how our winner plays out. um you know certainly come to spring training and um and he’s earned a without a doubt the look and the competition and but but again it all depends on you know how many opportunities exist based on the decisions that come our way this winter but he’s put himself in a position you know to to be considered a potential everyday major leaguer in 2026 um you know uh but we’ll Okay.

The Senior Vice President & General Manager takes questions on the 2025 Yankees and topics focusing on the club’s future.

Subscribe for daily sports videos!

Stream YES Network on The Gotham Sports App: signup.gothamsports.com

YES’ social media pages:
TikTok: tiktok.com/@YESnetwork
X: X.com/YESnetwork
Instagram: instagram.com/YESnetwork
Threads: threads.net/@yesnetwork
Snapchat: https://bit.ly/YESonSNAP
Facebook: facebook.com/YESnetwork
YouTube: youtube.com/YESnetwork