ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Yankee has been taking on water for the past three weeks, but Brian Cashman is working to stabilize the ship.
Cashman had been scheduled to visit the team’s facility in Tampa this week ahead of the MLB draft, which begins Sunday, but instead made the trip to Tropicana Field on Tuesday as the Yankees entered a series against the Rays after losing 16 of their past 22 games.
The longtime general manager acknowledged the Yankees’ recent struggles but maintained belief the team can get back on track.
“Yeah, it’s been a struggle, obviously,” Cashman said from the visiting dugout. “Thankfully, we started off pretty strong, so hopefully we can get through this with that margin. It’s been going on long enough, so hopefully we can get through it quickly. But it’s been a tough time for us, for sure.”
“There will be times when things get tough. We’re in a really bad spot right now.”
A little over three weeks ago, the Yankees were enjoying the best record in the major leagues at 50-22, their starting rotation playing well despite the absence of Gerrit Cole, and their batting lineup being bolstered primarily by the otherworldly performances of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.
Since then, the team has struggled — 5-15 through Tuesday — mainly because the starting rotation struggled since Cole returned and most of the lineup outside of Judge and Soto struggled.
The Yankees still entered Tuesday with the fifth-best record in the major leagues but in a less stable position than they had been a few weeks ago.
“I’m always concerned,” Cashman said. “It’s my job to be in a position to not assume anything. At the end of the day, it’s a new day and we’re hoping to get back on track today. The draft is coming up, the trade deadline is coming up, we’re in contact with everybody out there and we’re just trying to stay in touch with our [injured] At the same time, I hope that everyone on the team will continue to grow and that the current team will get back on a winning track.”
Cashman declined to publicly discuss the Yankees’ biggest needs ahead of the July 30 trade deadline — chief among them the bullpen and possibly a corner infielder — but said he’s “open to a variety of things.”
The Yankees have had a strong first two and a half months of this season, but the past three weeks have exposed a lot of areas they need to improve both internally and externally.
“My plan leading up to the deadline is to see if I can find as many things that can make our team as strong as possible,” Cashman said. “I’m constantly evaluating what I’m observing, staying in contact with the manager, the coaching staff, the scouts, knowing what our strengths and weaknesses are. I always want to keep my strengths strong and improve my weaknesses. Let’s see if I can do the best I can with that and shore it up and put the best of us in that position before the deadline.”
“But we’ve obviously learned a lot along the way and we’re hopeful that by the end of this month we’ll be able to take care of business when it counts.”
This marks the third consecutive year the Yankees have suffered a summer slump, but it remains to be seen how damaging it ultimately will be.
Cashman, meanwhile, said he didn’t feel the need to talk about the team while he was in town, deferring to Aaron Boone, who continues to support him.
“Every day he’s being asked to make the most of what he has and push the right buttons,” Cashman said. “I think he’s weathering it as well as he can. The first couple months we had a wave of success, but then as June ended and we got into July, it got really tough for an extended period of time. At the end of the day, it’s all about the record we have, but as a team, we’ve got to play better than we are right now.”
