Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman to hold highly anticipated news conferences

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — After a month of mostly organizational silence, a white plume of smoke will at last come from the Yankees on Tuesday.

It will be in the form of two much-anticipated news conferences — the first conducted by under-fire owner Hal Steinbrenner via Zoom and then, later in the day, just-as-under-fire general manager Brian Cashman here at the annual general managers’ meetings.

Cashman has not spoken publicly since the 2023 season, a year the longtime GM characterized as “a disaster,” ended with his team missing the playoffs at 82-80; Steinbrenner has spoken once, Oct. 11 at Sportico’s “Invest in Sports” conference.

There is much ground to be covered with both and, at least at the start of the availabilities, the primary topic will be related to organizational changes. Or, perhaps, lack thereof.

For Steinbrenner, he is likely to get plenty of questions regarding the exact nature of the work of Zelus Analytics, the independent firm hired by the club to evaluate just about every aspect of the franchise. Zelus is in the early stages of its evaluation, which began in earnest just last week, and the group is not expected to recommend personnel changes, but rather offer an overall assessment of the Yankees and how they operate.

There is much skepticism within the Yankees organization regarding any real change taking place as it relates to the franchise’s philosophy, one that has it relying almost exclusively on analytics and data science in everything from coaching hires — at the major league and minor- league levels — player acquisition, player development and even players’ sleep and dietary habits, among other things.

Some 15 members from baseball operations gathered at Steinbrenner’s behest in Tampa the week of Oct. 2 for three days of meetings the owner described as having gotten “heated at times” but also “respectful.”

“I addressed the group before the meetings started and I told them, ‘I want you to analyze and criticize everything we do here if you feel like you need to,’ ” Steinbrenner said on Oct. 11. “I want you respectfully to challenge each other and criticize each other, a check-your-ego-at-the-door kind of thing. Be prepared to be critiqued on the things you might be doing or not doing.”

Steinbrenner, who did not sit in on the meetings, had another message before leaving the room: He all but issued a gag order to the group, not wanting to read anonymous quotes about the meetings in public.

That much was successful.

Cashman, who chaired the meetings, is sure to be asked about what went on in Tampa but also about what went wrong in 2023 and, at the moment, the holes on his 2024 roster.

Among the needs: a leftfielder, centerfielder and third baseman. If Wandy Peralta, a free agent who could command a sizable deal on the market, signs elsewhere the Yankees will be in need of a lefty reliever.

Cashman has long been defensive about the analytics wing of the Yankees, run by assistant GM Mike Fishman, but concerns about it extend well beyond a small number of media critics and the many in the organization questioning its methodology. Aaron Judge is one player who has expressed concern and Gerrit Cole is another.

“Changes could mean a lot of different things,” Judge said at this year’s World Series after receiving the Roberto Clemente Award.

Rowson to get job?

As Newsday first reported Monday, James Rowson, an assistant hitting coach with the Tigers last season but formerly a bench coach with the Marlins and with deep Yankees roots, has emerged as the favorite for the Yankees’ hitting coach job. Rowson, the Twins’ hitting coach from 2017-19, was the Yankees’ minor-league hitting coordinator from 2008-11 and again from 2014-16 when he worked with Judge, who was drafted in 2013.