Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he's smoothed things over with Giancarlo Stanton

Everything is copacetic.

Those three words essentially summarized the State of the Yankees, at least in Brian Cashman’s estimation.

“I value Giancarlo Stanton as a player without a doubt,” Cashman said Thursday night in Times Square. “He’s one of the big drivers of when we do win.”

The Yankees general manager  said he had spoken to the oft-injured slugger and his agent regarding comments he made at the general managers’ meetings in Arizona last week.

At one point during his impassioned and headline-making question-and-answer session with reporters at the meetings, Cashman said that the Yankees are focused on trying to minimize the time Stanton is on the injured list. “We try to limit the time he’s down,” Cashman reportedly said. “But I'm not gonna tell you he’s gonna play every game next year because he’s not. He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game.”

Stanton, who missed about a month and a half with a hamstring injury, finished the 2023 season with 24 home runs, 60 RBIs and a slash line of .191/.275/.420 in 101 games.

Joel Wolfe pointedly responded to Cashman’s comments Tuesday, telling The Athletic, “I think it’s a good reminder for all free agents considering signing in New York both foreign and domestic that to play for that you’ve got to be made of Teflon, both mentally and physically because you can never let your guard down even in the offseason.”

Along with Stanton, Wolfe represents Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Orix Buffaloes ace who is expected to be the most highly coveted starting pitcher in the free-agent market.

Cashman, who was participating in Covenant House’s annual outdoor sleepout to generate attention for teenage homelessness, said he was “surprised how it got twisted and turned and played out and what have you. I said what I said but that’s why I certainly had the conversations.”

Cashman professed that he was not worried about Wolfe representing Yamamoto, who it is believed will generate interest from the Mets, Phillies, Giants and Cardinals, amongst other teams.