Legendary sports radio personality Mike Francesa ripped into Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman on Tuesday, pointing out that the team has been “an absolute disaster” since he took over in 2003. He also criticized Cashman for not winning a World Series title before resigning from his position with New York as well.
When people talk about the New York Yankees’ long World Series drought, general manager Brian Cashman gets “offended.” At least according to his Twitter account, New York radio icon Francesa, Mike is appalled that the five-time World Series winner has stooped to making excuses.
The Bronx Bombers have only played in one Fall Classic since the start of the 2004 season, after reaching the World Series six times from 1996 to 2003. The Yankees have gone 12 years without winning an American League pennant, and Cashman believes it is due to the rival Houston Astros.
Francesa, on the other hand, is not interested in hearing it.
Following Brian Cashman’s recent interview with The Athletic, Francesa, Mike attacked the Yankees general manager on Twitter.
Cash comes out as a whiner and a loser. He has a selective memory as well. It seems that the drought, his recent performance, and the Mets are wearing him down. Surprised. He’s normally a lot rougher than this.
— Francesa, Mike (@MikeFrancesa) March 31, 2022
Cashman addressed the Yankees’ World Series drought in an emotional interview with The Athletic’s Andy McCullough, saying he’s irritated when people bring it up. Why? The Astros’ 2017 cheating incident, which may have had a role in the Yankees losing a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series that year, was referenced by Cashman.
Cashman told McCullough, “The only thing that stopped (us) was something so criminal and horrible.”
Never mind that the Yankees had underperformed in each of the previous two seasons, both of which followed the Astros’ suspension for stealing signals, and that they were over a decade away from their last World Series participation when they were shut out in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS. The Astros, not the Yankees, are fully to blame for the team’s failure to win a pennant.
Five years later, Cashman is still railing over the alleged unfairness of the Yankees being held to three runs in four road games against the Astros. Francesa, a lifelong Yankees fan who considers Mickey Mantle to be one of his idols, seems unconcerned with the legendary general manager’s reasons.
“Cash comes out as a whiner and a loser. He has a selective memory as well. It seems that the drought, his recent performance, and the Mets are wearing him down. Surprised. He’s normally a lot rougher than this.”
Francesa, Mike
Cashman has not replied to Francesa’s remarks as of the time of publishing. Francesa’s deal with Audacy, which owns the Yankees’ radio rights, was set to expire at the end of 2021.
Francesa’s scathing critique of Cashman is justified, particularly in light of how the 2017 ALCS played out.
Francesa, Mike (L) made it clear he has no tolerance for New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman’s excuses | Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM; J. Conrad Williams, Jr./Newsday via Getty Images
Francesa has a long history of speaking his mind, a habit that has helped him establish himself as one of the most important voices in contemporary sports journalism. When it comes to a general manager who has spent almost 25 years overseeing baseball’s most valuable organization, he’s dead on.
What does Cashman gain by blaming the Astros for the controversy at this point in the game? The majority of the regulars from both teams have left the organization. In fact, former Astros utility man Marwin Gonzalez, who started in left field in Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS, is now with the Yankees and may even start the regular season there.
That playoffs, the Yankees scored three runs in four games at Minute Maid Park. How much of the Astros’ problems stemmed from sign-stealing, and how much from a lack of clutch hitting? In the series, just one Yankees player, third baseman Chase Headley, batted above.260. Brett Gardner, a veteran outfielder, has four hits in 27 at-bats. Aaron Hicks, the starting center fielder, was 2-for-27 with eight strikeouts. Gary Sanchez, the All-Star catcher, hit.192 with nine strikeouts in 26 at-bats, but he did have a home run and five RBI.
In January 2020, Major League Baseball reprimanded the Astros. If Cashman had made this argument at the time, recency bias could have eased the shock of how absurd he sounded. But doing so now, over five years later, is inexcusable.
Cashman must begin to accept responsibility for the Yankees’ chronic shortcomings.
How long will Brian Cashman remain the general manager of the New York Yankees? | J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM courtesy of Getty Images
Yes, as the Yankees’ general manager, Cashman owns three World Series rings. Prior to the 1998 season, he inherited a championship-caliber club that Gene Michael and Bob Watson had painstakingly created after a disappointing 1980s and a disastrous start to the 1990s.
The Yankees have won one World Series and two American League pennants since the start of the 2002 season. The Astros aren’t to blame, and neither are the Boston Red Sox or the Tampa Bay Rays. Cashman and the Yankees’ executive office are to blame for permitting structural concerns, such as a bad farm system and a determination to attempt to solve problems with pricey contracts rather than player development, to impede the team from reaching the World Series.
Cashman and George Steinbrenner, the late owner of the New York Yankees, treated roster management like a video game. A team boasting multiple 99 overalls, like as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, should theoretically win the championship every year. However, in actual life, particularly in baseball, such tactic seldom succeeds. If it had, the Yankees would very certainly have won the World Series every year from 2005 through 2008. Instead, they never advanced beyond the American League Division Series and were eliminated from the postseason entirely in 2008.
Cashman must accept responsibility for his conduct at some time. There aren’t many North American sports teams that would maintain a general manager after 12 years of missing out on the championship game or series.
For the time being, the Astros are to blame. When the Yankees fall in the first round of the MLB playoffs in 2022, who will Cashman blame?
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