Will Cashman resign as Yankees GM?

And the changing of the guard

Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a great start.

Will Brian Cashman resign as Senior Vice President/GM of the Yankees, if the club fails to win the American League pennant? It is a legitimate question, considering he is in the last year of his contract, the Yankees are in the throes of a full-fledged collapse and have won just one World Series in the last 21 seasons.

Over the last 31 games, the Yankees are 11-20, roughly 20% of the season. They are 20-25 over their last 45 games, more than 25% of the season. After their embarrassing loss to the Red Sox on Sunday night - when they managed just two hits and no runs at Fenway Park against a pitcher (Michael Wacha) just off the IL - Yankees’ slugger Aaron Judge said the club was going through a “bad stretch.” Bad stretch? They are going through more than a bad stretch. They are being exposed as the club I thought they would be, when I picked them for fourth in the division.

The Yankees have gone from a club with the best record in baseball to a team which is a good bet to be bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Their batting order has more holes than Swiss cheese. Other pitchers have learned how to handle the Yankees lineup. Aaron Hicks is a bust - one of Cashman’s numerous failed moves - Gleyber Torres is not the superstar he was projected to be, and the club no longer has a closer, as “All-Star” pitcher Clay Holmes has reverted to the form, which made the Pittsburgh Pirates trade him to New York in the first place. Giancarlo Stanton is another disappointment. After a dynamic first half, he has been sidelined with an injury - again - as has pitcher Luis Severino, injury-prone eversince Cashman signed him to a four-year deal three springs ago. It is also fair to wonder if the Yankees, an older ballclub, are starting to wear down, during this long, hot summer. One reason I am not convinced Aaron Judge is a lock to break Roger Maris’s American League single-season home run record of 61.

Meanwhile, with all these “hot prospects” Cashman and his crew talk about, the Yankees continue to call up fringe players acquired from other clubs to fill their holes. Why not take a chance and promote of the prospects, like outfielder Esteban Florial or shortstop Oswaldo Peraza?

More questions. Can they please do away with that ridiculous hair policy, while they are at it? And can someone explain how Aaron Boone, an average manager at best, was signed to a new four-year deal last off season?

After a disasterous 2-7 road trip, featuring losses to fringe contending and mediocre ballclubs, the Yankees return home for games against division rivals Tampa Bay and Toronto plus the crosstown rival Mets. We will learn just how average this team has become, during this homestand, all the while gift-wrapping home field advantage in the post season to their nemisis, the Houston Astros.

As the collapse continues, do not expect the Yankees to make any extraordinary moves. But anything short of a pennant (I don’t think they have to win the World Series to placate the base, unless they lose to the Mets) will have the fans howling for Boone and Cashman to go. Deservedly so, I might add.

Of course, I am of the belief the Steinbrenners should sell the club, but that is a topic for another newsletter. In the meantime, the clock is ticking on Boone and Cashman, as an overrated ballclub continues to collapse before our very eyes. Cashman, who has been employed by the franchise for three decades, most of the time as GM, will not be fired. The Yankees heirarchy will be classy enough to permit him to resign, should they reach such a conclusion. But make no mistake the pressure is on, hastened by the success of a Mets team on the verge of winning big, about to steal market share and led by a manager (Buck Showalter) given shortshrift by the Yankees 27 years ago.

…And speaking of the Yankees

It would not surprise me, if former Yankees great Don Mattingly is fired before the season is over as manager of the Miami Marlins. That will be too bad. I thought Mattingly grew to be a good manager with the Dodgers and maximized the talent of the players handed him by tight-fisted Marlins regime. Mattingly is in the last year of his contract. It could be ownership may permit him to resign to save face, but it is fair to speculate his days as Marlins’ manager are drawing to a close.

Where there’s a Will

The word on the PGA Tour is that once Will Zalatoris won his first tournament, he would take off. We are about to see, after Zalatoris captured that first victory, winning the Fedex St. Jude Championship over Sepp Straka in a three-hole playoff on Sunday. What is certain, even with the challenge from the LIV Tour, is that we are witnessing golf’s changing of the guard with upstarts such as Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler. For golf aficionados like me, it should be fun to watch it all unfold.

Well that is it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a terrific week.

SPORTSCASTER DAN