General manager Brian Cashman admitted the Yankees “underperformed” and did not play their “A-game” in the World Series against the Dodgers and defended the club against criticism that they were a flawed team in responding to comments made by Los Angeles reliever Joe Kelly.
“First and foremost, I acknowledge we played poorly in the World Series,” Cashman said at the GM Meetings in San Antonio on Tuesday when asked about his team’s poor defense and base running being a difference.
“We saw that and, unfortunately, our A-game didn’t show up when it counted the most,” he continued. “I also think, objectively, if you take a step back and analyze who we played, whether it was the Dodgers or any of the other postseason teams that were participating, whether it was us playing them or other teams in the National League, those rosters are all constructed with players that do things in some category better than others.
“You have exceptionally great defenders that don’t hit as well, you have really good hitters that don’t defend as well. And the combination of how it all fits together plays out a certain way over the course of 162 and then in the month of October if you’re lucky to get there.”
Kelly had called the Fall Classic a “mismatch from the get-go” and said the Yankees were the eighth- or ninth-best team in the postseason.
“Look at the team, look at the talent. We go through numerous scouting reports. We pay attention to every single detail. We have a lot of big superstars in our clubhouse, but our superstars also care and aren’t lazy and play hard. That’s the difference, and the biggest separator,” Kelly said on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast.
The GM added that he didn’t agree with the premise of the question that the Dodgers were “exceptionally excelling in all categories at every position” and that the Yankees were a flawed side.
“They’re the world champs and they get all the credit, but I don’t think it’s a fair representation at the same time,” he said. “I think it’s more fair to say that we just played poorly in that series and underperformed. I think we underperformed in that series moreso than somehow [the Yankees] were lucky to get to the World Series and how did we even get there.”
Cashman said they had a “good team” and just “didn’t play our best when it counted the most.”
When asked specifically about Kelly’s comments that the Yankees were a mistake-prone team, the GM said he had heard those comments from the relief pitcher – who did not appear in the series due to injury – and that they seemed personal.
“I also know people with the Dodges so I’ve got some internal conversations that I’ve certainly got feedback on, I think it’s more representative of some specific players rather than the overall group,” he said. “And in Joe’s case, it feels like it’s some reason it’s a little personal, you know, the way he’s out talking like he has. So it feels like that’s more personal than anything else.
“So, I can’t make much more of it than that. I know he’s certainly talking a lot right now. And, hey he won, or they won, so, I can just say what I just said,” Cashman said with a shrug.
Looking to send the series back to the West Coast, the Yankees had a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning of Game 5, but a series of defensive miscues and sloppy play led to the Dodgers scoring five unearned runs in what would end up being the series-deciding game. And that wasn’t the first game the Yanks had sloppy plays on defense or when running the bases.
“They got bad ball. Yeah, sloppy. Everyone knows that,” Kelly said. “We were saying every single game. ‘Just let them throw the ball into the infield, they can’t make a play.’ You saw Shohei [Ohtani] get an extra base going to third off a sloppy Gleyber [Torres] play. It’s well known. We all knew.”
On the recent postseason struggles for the Yankees – winning series against AL Central teams but faltering against teams from the other divisions – Cashman said he doesn’t put any stock into that trend.
“Every year’s different,” the GM said. “I think every one of those years we had the chance to run the table and be the last team standing or if we didn’t play our best baseball we’d be going home. This year’s team got us all the way to the championship, last year we didn’t make it, two years ago we got to wherever we got. You gotta get in and then you gotta play your best baseball to get the whole way.
“And to be the world champs you gotta be really good – which I think we produced really good teams – you gotta be healthy and you gotta be lucky. We’ll try to continue to figure out how to navigate October. We’ve done it before, but as many times, in many years the best teams going in don’t win. And it’s not because they’re flawed it’s just navigating October is difficult.”
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