Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he’s responsible for team’s state

Associated PressMay 4, 2023, 12:38 AM EDT
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NEW YORK – Brian Cashman was blunt in his assessment of what has gone wrong in the New York Yankees season.

“Injuries happen and ultimately we’re getting a lot of injuries right now, and that’s certainly killing us,” the general manager said Wednesday. “But I have nothing I can convict others – other than if you want to convict somebody, convict me. This is my responsibility.”

New York began Wednesday 16-15, last in the AL East and 8 1/2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay.

Captain Aaron Judge (strained right hip), designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (strained left hamstring), third baseman Josh Donaldson (strained right hamstring) and starting pitchers Carlos Rodón (strained left forearm and sore back), Luis Severino (strained right lat) and Frankie Montas (right shoulder surgery) are among a dozen players on the injured list.

Center fielder Harrison Bader didn’t play his first game until Tuesday after recovering from a strained oblique.

“When we’re at full health or close to it – because you’re never going to be at full health – I believe we have a championship-caliber team,” Cashman said. “We’ve got to be thankful that it’s a long season because we’re banged up so bad right now – if it was a short season, we’d be taken out.”

Seeking their first title since 2009, the Yankees began the season with baseball’s second-highest payroll at $275 million, trailing only the New York Mets at $355 million.

New York began 12-7 but has slid with attrition. Judge hasn’t played since Friday, Stanton since April 15 and Donaldson since April 5.

Stanton has been on the injured/disabled list 11 times in 14 major league seasons, including seven times with the Yankees, and Judge has made seven trips since his debut in 2016.

“It’s not our strength and conditioning department. It’s not how we train our players,” Cashman said. “I believe we have really good personnel on the health-care side of this thing: the doctors, the trainers, the strength coaches. I think we have players that are wired the right way, that care and compete.”

While fans have directed ire at Aaron Hicks for his .146 batting average, Oswaldo Cabrera is hitting ,198, Kyle Higashioka .195, Isiah Kiner-Falefa .189 and Oswald Peraza .188. New York had scored two runs or fewer in eight of its 12 previous games.

Rodón was going to see a doctor Thursday to have his back examined. Severino will pitch in a controlled game on Friday in Tampa, Florida. Judge is expected to be activated Monday, the first day he is eligible.

Montas is out until August at the earliest.

Cashman admitted the Yankees did little to help themselves at last year’s trade deadline, when they acquired Montas and Lou Trivino from Oakland. Trivino will miss the rest of this season following Tommy John surgery.

“The more recent moves have not worked out,” Cashman said. “I wish certainly, especially last year’s trade deadline, to have gone better.”

Following the expansion of the playoffs to 12 teams last year, 86 wins was enough to reach the postseason. That creates less short-term pressure for a quick turnaround.

“Don’t count us out. Don’t give up on us,” Cashman said. “We got a good group of people, player-wise, staff-wise, support staff-wise. It’s a championship-caliber operation.”

MLB, WNBA postpone games due to smoke from Canadian wildfires

Associated PressJun 7, 2023, 9:19 PM EDT
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Tariq Zehawi/USA TODAY NETWORK
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NEW YORK — With the stench of smoke permeating Yankee Stadium and wafting through its walkways, Major League Baseball postponed games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires.

A National Women’s Soccer League game in New Jersey and an indoor WNBA game set for Brooklyn were also called off Wednesday amid hazy conditions that have raised alarms from health authorities.

The New York Yankees’ game against the Chicago White Sox was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader starting at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the Detroit Tigers was reset for 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, originally a day off for both teams.

“These postponements were determined following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts and all of the impacted clubs regarding clearly hazardous air quality conditions in both cities,” MLB said in a statement.

The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for New York City, saying: “the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.” In Philadelphia, the NWS issued a Code Red.

The Yankees and White Sox played through a lesser haze on Tuesday night. A day later, stadium workers and fans arriving early to the ballpark wore face masks for protection in a scene reminiscent of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was business as usual for me coming in. I got in around 12, 12:30, and didn’t really think too much of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I actually walked outside about 2 o’clock and was like – like everyone else, like – whoa.”

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol thought MLB made the right decision postponing the game.

“These are health issues, right? So this has got to be it. We’ve been through everything – snow, rain, hail. I don’t think I’ve been through something like this,” he said. “Today at one point, it was pretty bad out there. We walked out of the dugout and it was kind of orange. They did the right thing. They got all the information.

“I’m assuming if Major League Baseball is comfortable setting up a doubleheader tomorrow, they have some type of information that it should be better than what it is today, or at least safe.”

In Philadelphia, the Phillies beat the Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday night in a game played in hazy conditions with the smell of smoke in the air. Afterward, manager Rob Thomson and his Phillies players said the conditions didn’t affect them.

About a half-hour before Wednesday’s postponement, Thomson said he thought the game would be played. But the Philadelphia skyline could not be seen from the ballpark in the afternoon, and the smoky smell remained.

Minor league teams nearby also changed plans. The Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, and the Mets’ top farm club in Syracuse, New York, postponed their games for the second consecutive night.

The Mets’ High-A affiliate in Brooklyn completed a game Wednesday against Greenville that began at 11 a.m.

The WNBA called off a game between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, saying the decision was made to “protect the health and safety of our fans, teams and community.” A makeup date wasn’t immediately announced.

Even inside Barclays Center at the morning shootaround, reporters could smell smoke in the arena.

The NWSL postponed Orlando’s match at Gotham in Harrison, New Jersey, from Wednesday night to Aug. 9.

“The match could not be safely conducted based on the projected air quality index,” the NWSL said.

At nearby Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association said training went on as planned Wednesday ahead of Saturday’s Triple Crown horse race. However, NYRA canceled training Thursday morning at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course upstate “due to poor air quality conditions forecast to impact New York State overnight and into Thursday morning.”

NYRA said a decision about Thursday’s live racing program, scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m., will be made Thursday morning “following a review of the air quality conditions and forecast.”

“NYRA utilizes external weather services and advanced on-site equipment to monitor weather conditions and air quality in and around Belmont Park,” spokesman Patrick McKenna said Wednesday. “Training was conducted normally today, and NYRA will continue to assess the overall environment to ensure the safety of training and racing throughout the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.”

New York’s NFL teams, the Giants and Jets, both had Wednesday off from offseason workouts. The Giants had been planning to practice inside Thursday, and the Jets said they are also likely to work out indoors Thursday.

Youth sports in the area were also affected, with parents quick to voice concern about their children’s safety outdoors.

In a statement Wednesday, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association said schools should understand that all schedules were subject to change.

“NJSIAA is closely monitoring air quality data across New Jersey and local/state health advisories. As start times for athletic events draw near, we will make decisions for each venue and sport based on currently available information,” the organization said.

It’s not the first time in recent years that wildfires forced changes to the MLB schedule. A two-game series in Seattle between the Mariners and Giants was moved to San Francisco in September 2020 because of poor air quality caused by West Coast wildfires.

About an hour after Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium was postponed, two fans visiting on vacation from Vancouver, British Columbia, were still lingering outside the ballpark.

“It’s just circumstances. What do I say? It makes me disappointed because this is one of the highlights of the trip,” said Malcolm, who was in town with his daughter and didn’t want to give his last name.

“I have a heart condition. That’s the only reason I’m wearing two masks and whatever. And my personal thought is that, why wasn’t it canceled two days ago? Because we knew about all this two days ago. But having said that, I don’t want the players running around and putting out in this, too. It can’t be good for them.”