Droughts are characterized by interregnums, droughts, gap after gap in history formed by a small number of people who existed before, but they are never just a season. It's not just about 162 games, it's not just about one or three or five or seven postseason series. One trend overlaps with the next until it becomes a trend, and one trend lingers until it becomes the modern trajectory of a franchise.
That's why Brian Cashman spent most of his time on defense for the better part of 15 years, starting with the Yankees' last World Series appearance in 2009. The franchise's general manager doubled as a defense attorney for the Vezina Trophy-winning Gold Glove when it came to criticism.
There was a “pretty bad” verbal abuse at a general manager's meeting last November. A sharp defense from the baseball world's “smallest'' analytical department, which is said to be outdated. A winding road through free agency two years ago led the Yankees to Isaiah Kinner-Falefa rather than Trevor Story or Carlos Correa. Since Cashman hired Aaron Boone to manage the Yankees after the 2017 season, support for Aaron Boone has not waned, and Boone has reached out to him at some point after the season. It is likely that he will be supported again when it becomes necessary to activate the club option accordingly. , you'll have to negotiate another deal or break up with him in a shocking way.
And then there was Tuesday, during a segment on MLB Network. When asked about the Yankees ending their drought and returning to the World Series to face the Dodgers in Game 1 in Los Angeles on Friday, Cashman said: “I've been in my current position with the Yankees since taking over in 1998. Cashman, who has won four titles, launched his latest defense of why there should be an asterisk next to the drought.
