The New York Yankees tend to bring a little drama to every offseason. If one was paying attention to last week’s GM meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., then one knows that Yankees GM Brian Cashman produced one of the best soliloquies of the meetings — with a few swear words thrown in.
The long-time Yankees GM is under pressure, as always, to produce a winner in New York. But, this week, it became clear that he’s not the only one that has team owner Hal Steinbrenner’s ear.
Last week the Yankees made it clear that manager Aaron Boone would be back in 2024. In that same breath, Steinbrenner noted that multiple people weighed in on Boone’s job status.
In some circles, “multiple people” meant Yankees players, including stars like Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole.
Now, in most organizations, the stars don’t necessarily get sway over personnel decisions, though their play on the field typically makes a big difference. But asking a player like Judge or Cole about whether they should bring Boone back is much different than making the decision among the team’s baseball people.
That’s how those decisions usually get made, by people like Cashman. He was asked during the GM meetings if he was worried that Judge and Cole had that type of relationship with Steinbrenner, and he told USA Today that he didn’t think it was an issue.
"I don’t think that it’s a problem at all," Cashman said. "And when you partner with somebody for that kind of money, he’s going to have some seat at the table, as he should. But this is a player’s game, no doubt about it, and they’ve got some good information that they can provide. We’re not going to ignore it."
Judge holds the American League record for most home runs in a season, a record he set last year. He also has one of the biggest contracts in baseball right now. Cole, meanwhile, is on the doorstep of clinching his first Cy Young award.
So, yes, it’s a bit unusual. But when it comes to the Yankees, nothing is unusual.
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