Yankees general manager Brian Cashman held a fiery se sion with the media at last weeks GM Meetings in Arizona, speaking with a level of candor thats not typical for himself nor for baseball operations leaders at large in todays game. A fired-up Cashman at times took a combative tone, defending his organizations proce ses, his scouts, his baseball operations personnel and his analysts all while pushing back on the notion that the Yankees are driven primarily by data and analytics at the expense of conventional means of scouting and player evaluation. Cashman wasnt shy about acknowledging blame for the state of the Yankees 2023 roster. We lost way too many games last year, he said ( ). Thats my fault. Im responsible as Anthony Bemboom Jersey the baseball operations GM. If the owner wants to tag me out at any time, he clearly can do that. Among the many contributing factors to the Yankees playoff mi s in 2023 was an unusually weak season from at the plate. Injuries are nothing new for the towering slugger, but Stantons .191/.275/.420 batting line was uncharacteristically feeble. Cashman plainly acknowledged as much during his broad-reaching addre s with the media. Weve got to get Stanton up and running again, the GM said ( ). Hes injury-prone. We all have lived and known that, but hes never not hit when hes playing, and this year is the first time that thats happened. We try to limit the time hes down, but Im not gonna tell you hes gonna play every game next year because hes not. Hes going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game. But I know that when hes right and healthy other than this past year the guys a great hitter and has been for awhile. Given Stantons frequent trips to the injured list, nothing Cashman said stands out as especially unfair. Certainly, its uncommon for any top baseball ops exec to speak so candidly, but with the po sible exception of calling injuries a part of [Stantons] game, it was a fairly measured characterization of the situation. Cashman noted that Stanton himself has been frustrated by his injuries and declining mobility and has worked to get some answers. On multiple occasions, he referenced what a typically productive hitter Stanton has been. Nonethele s, it seems at least part of Cashmans comments struck a chord with Stanton or his representatives at Wa serman likely the characterization that future injuries are an inevitability. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic spoke with agent Joel Wolfe about the surprisingly frank comments from Cashman. I read the context of the entire interview, . I think its a good reminder for all free agents considering signing in New York, both foreign and domestic, that to play for this team youve got to be made of Teflon, both mentally and physically because you can never let your guard down even in the offseason. Wolfe slipping the both foreign and domestic qualifier into his quote surely piques the interest of Yankee fans and not in a good way. Wolfe is the agent for star Nippon Profe sional Baseball pitcher , who will be posted for MLB clubs in the near future. The Yankees are known to have interest in signing Yamamoto, who will be one of the most sought-after players to ever make the jump from NPB to MLB. The 25-year-old ace has won NPBs Cy Young equivalent, the Sawamura Award, in each of the past three seasons and just wrapped up a season that saw him log a 1.21 ERA, 26.8% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate. Understandably, Wolfes comments have created some angst among an already frustrated Yankee fan base that has been hoping for broad-reaching changes on the heels of a disappointing season. Its already clear that there wont be any sweeping changes to the organizational hierarchy, and any instance that comes with the perceived po sibility of hindering the chances of augmenting the roster arent well received. That said, it still seems unlikely that the comments regarding Stanton will ultimately present any real impact on the teams negotiations with Yamamoto. The expectation has been and should continue to be that the right-hander will sign for the best offer. Perhaps if the Yankees best offer is identical or only narrowly separated from a competitor, something along the lines of the Stanton/Wolfe comments can tip the scales away from the Yankees, but there are numerous small factors that can sway negotiations when things are that close. Its hard to envision a scenario where Yamamoto leaves an extra year or significant per-annum dollars on the table over Cashmans candid comments regarding a player whos not even Yamamotos own teammate at present. Yankee fans will surely point back to the comments from Cashman and Wolfes reply if Yamamoto lands elsewhere and perhaps thats the true motivation behind making them, to increase pre sure on Cashman but the Yamamoto bidding was always going to be fiercely competitive. In the grand scheme of determining factors for where Yamamoto lands, this seems like little more than a footnote. Neverthele s, it also offers a glimpse at why so many executives defer to boilerplate speak and generalities in media se sions like the one held by Cashman last week. Colton Cowser Jersey