Yankees' problem is all about the message getting through properly

There was much to unpack from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman’s news-conference-heard-'round-the-world — or at least around the baseball world — at last week’s general managers' meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He came out defensive and angry from question No. 1 in his hour-plus meeting with reporters on Tuesday, an exchange that had an element of performance art to it. And it only got angrier and more defensive from there.

Cashman earned the criticism he received for much of what he said. “To say we are guided by analytics as a driver, it’s a lie” would be high on that list, as few inside or outside his own organization would agree with that statement.

But Cashman also was treated unfairly in a few respects.  

At the top of that list was his much-repeated “we’re pretty [expletive] good” remark.

In many circles, those four words were cherry-picked and used as a cudgel to further bludgeon the under-fire GM.

The critiques could be boiled down to some form of this: “Your team goes 82-80, misses the playoffs and you have the nerve to say, ‘We’re pretty [expletive] good?' ”

Except context, as always, is king.

“We’ve got good people. I’m proud of our people and I’m proud of our process,” Cashman said. “Doesn’t mean we’re firing on all cylinders, doesn’t mean we’re the best in class, but I think we’re pretty [expletive] good, personally, and I’m proud of our people.”

He added later: “I’m proud of our operation, I think we have a great group of baseball people.”

And Cashman is right.

He does have good people surrounding him, great in some cases.

And that includes the analytics department run by assistant general manager Mike Fishman, a department Cashman felt has been unfairly denounced. Those criticisms were the primary reason for his verbal offensive on Tuesday.

No publication has been more critical of the group and its top-to-bottom influence in the organization than Newsday. And it did not start this season.

“Under longtime general manager Brian Cashman, the Yankees year-by-year have increasingly taken a data-driven approach, pumping resources and money into those areas,” Newsday wrote on June 15, 2021. “Two recent examples: essentially turning over the store medically to Eric Cressey as their director of player health and performance and hiring Sam Briend of Driveline Baseball to be their director of pitching. And the immediate influence wielded by some of those recently-brought-in parties — not just Cressey and Briend — has created its share of discontent within the organization. The emphasis on cutting-edge technology and data isn’t going anywhere and shouldn’t, as those elements have proven benefits for organizations that correctly utilize and implement them.”

As stated above — and stated here multiple times over the years — it isn’t about being anti-analytics or anti-data science.

Cashman correctly pointed out: “Analytics is an important spoke in our wheel, but it should be in everybody’s wheel and it really is. It’s an important spoke in every operation that’s having success. There’s not one team that’s not using it.” 

Indeed, any team outright ignoring all of the information out there, and at its disposal, is guilty of organizational malpractice.

The Yankees, who have no shortage of bright, accomplished analysts, are not guilty of that.

But there have been, and continue to be, issues at times with messaging —  by who, how and how much — in some analysts’ presentation of that information to those in uniform, including to the players. Not to mention overall accountability, or lack thereof, for mistakes by some of those whose voices have steadily grown to carry more and more weight in recent seasons.

The point here has never been about abandoning analytics and data science or engaging in mass firings in those departments.

Rather, and this has been heard from all levels of the organization for years now, including the dugout, it is about striking a real balance in how decisions get made and not simply paying lip service toward that end.   

 “Words mean nothing. Actions are going to be everything,” Cashman said Tuesday. “The wins coming through are what’s going to make everything better, and until such time, it doesn’t matter.” 

Like the “we’ve got good people” comment, Cashman was right about that.  

But good people can make bad decisions, and a true organizational introspection and evaluation of why that is occurring with increased regularity may well prove to be the franchise’s biggest obstacle of the offseason.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.