The New York Yankees weren’t too aggressive this offseason, and general manager Brian Cashman defended the minimal moves.
New York’s big move of the offseason was bringing back Cody Bellinger, as the Yankees are practically running back the same team with minor changes. However, Cashman defended his moves as he felt
“We have good players, we have a collection of really good players,” Cashman said. “It’s not the same roster. I’d differ there. We have some players at some point returning from IL, who are important players. We had some additions from the second half that got their feet wet with the Yankees, some with success, some with failures or success.
“Now, they will be in a position to get their feet on the ground and get their sea legs under them. And, with a manager learning how to utilize these guys. … We added weapons at the deadline. All that will serve us well. So, I disagree that it’s the same team; there are going to be some differences. The competition is going to be different, too. Some teams got better, and other teams you could argue maybe got worse. Our division is the best in baseball. Long story short, one series make-or-break isn’t going to define what we think our capabilities are.”
It’s a bold comment from Cashman who feels confident in this current Yankees group. He also doesn’t think the team is the same as it was last year, despite only making minor changes.
Yet, even with that, the Yankees enter the season with the second-best odds of winning the World Series at +900.
Yankees Have Minimal Offseason
New York lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS, and after the playoff exit, New York hinted at a quiet offseason.
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said he would like to bring the payroll down, and New York seemingly did that.
“Would it be ideal if I went down (with the payroll)? Of course,” Steinbrenner said on a video call with reporters. “But does that mean that’s going to happen? Of course not. We want to field a team we know could win a championship — or we believe could win a championship.”
Steinbrenner said there would be a range for Cashman and the Yankees to work with. The team ended up re-signing Bellinger and traded for Ryan Weathers from the Miami Marlins to help bolster its rotation.
Yet, after years of the Yankees being the big spenders and being aggressive in the offseason, it was a quiet offseason for New York.
Cashman Credits Steinbrenner for Re-Signing Bellinger
Although the Yankees didn’t make any new additions, New York was able to re-sign Bellinger.
Bellinger was a key part of the Yankees’ roster last season, and Cashman credited Steinbrenner for allowing the team to remain in his market.
“Thanks to Hal Steinbrenner, especially in the Steinbrenner family, they were allowed us to stay in it in a very significant way and the communication level with Scott Boras was obviously always high caliber,” Cashman said.
“So, it doesn’t really matter how long it takes the only matters if you can land, where you want to land and we were able to retain a very important player that we think can serve as well as we move forward and he was an important player last year to the level success we had.”
Bellinger hit .272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs in his first season with the Yankees. He signed a five-year, $162.5 million extension with the Yankees.
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