Yankees August 2018 approval poll: GM Brian Cashman

Another month is in the books and we’re finally on the last leg of the regular season. Postseason baseball will be here before you know it. Now that August is over, it’s time for another Brian Cashman approval poll. It’s been a strong season for the Yankees, and fans have generally approved of their GM too. At least 90% of Pinstripe Alley readers felt that Cashman was doing a great job between January and June. However, his approval rating did drop down to 85% after the non-waiver trade deadline. Will he rebound this month?

To say that August got off to a bad start for the Bombers would be an understatement. They opened the month with five straight losses, including that horrendous sweep by the Red Sox. It was a tough month for the team injury-wise, and the fact that they finished with a 17-13 record is somewhat amazing.

Not only were the Yankees without Aaron Judge for the entire month, but they were without Gary Sanchez too. CC Sabathia had to get his knee drained, Didi Gregorius injured his heel, Giancarlo Stanton dealt with a sore hamstring, and Aroldis Chapman’s knee tendinitis finally landed him on the DL.

We kept waiting and waiting and waiting to hear that Judge was finally swinging a bat, but that never happened. Stanton’s hamstring didn’t require a DL stint, but there was a stretch of days where he was only able to DH. August would have been a great opportunity to get a long look at Clint Frazier, but he was suffering migraine symptoms. As a result, Shane Robinson got far more playing time than he should have.

It started to look like it was a mistake for the Yankees to have passed on acquiring an outfielder before the deadline. If you remember, rumors circulated down to the wire connecting the Yankees to everyone from Curtis Granderson to Jose Bautista to Cameron Maybin to Andrew McCutchen.

As August 31st approached, and every team but the Yankees seemed to be making trades, it seemed like Cashman was inexplicably content to keep trotting Robinson out there. Then the Yankees made a flurry of moves at the last minute. The Yankees finally got their outfielder—McCutchen—and acquired Adeiny Hechavarria as well.

On the one hand, the McCutchen trade feels like something that should have happened four weeks ago. However, the Yankees were dead set on remaining under the luxury tax threshold and Cashman’s hands were tied. Waiting a month allowed McCutchen’s salary to come down, and Cash was able to get the Giants to eat some of it too. The Yankees were ultimately able to pay a lower price than they would have in July, and now they have a much better player to get them through until Judge returns.

So, do you approve of Cashman’s waiver deadline moves? Do you think Cashman has done enough to get the team ready for the postseason? Vote in the poll below and let us know in the comment section.