Yankees April Approval Poll: Brian Cashman

It’s hard to believe it, but we’re already a month into the 2022 season. The first full month of spring flew by — sunny skies and warmer days lie ahead. Baseball is in full flow, and as the calendar page turns over into May, it’s time to once again find out how the Yankees fanbase feels about the team’s principal architect as we bring back our monthly Brian Cashman approval poll.

All winter and into the early weeks of March, a dark gloom hung over the game of baseball. The league was mired in a lockout for 99 days as the owners held the season hostage in their twisted game of chicken against the players. When the lockout was finally lifted on March 10th, many Yankees fans brimmed with anticipation at the shape the roster could take in the busy period before Opening Day.

Cashman certainly had a full agenda of objectives to accomplish prior to the start of the season as well as opportunity to address each one. No shortstop on the roster? Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Marcus Semien, and Javier Báez all hit the free agent market at the same time. Starting rotation looking thin? Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman, and Marcus Stroman all available for just cash. Offense turned stagnant? Look no further than Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson. Oh, and the whole Aaron Judge needing an extension thing.

Well, as we all know, Cashman opted for none of these routes. He acquired Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Twins, signed Anthony Rizzo to a two-year deal, and saw his extension offer to Judge turned down. It should therefore surprise nobody that his March approval rating among fans sank to almost an all-time low at 25 percent. Three times as many fans wanted Cashman to get the boot than were in support of the Yankees GM.

The Yankees’ results in the first four series of the season only amplified these cries for his head. Yes, they won the season-opening series against the rival Red Sox and split a four-game set with the preseason division favorite Blue Jays, but they also dropped a series to the Orioles and got shutout three times in the first four series. The same offensive woes that plagued the previous campaign had reared its ugly head once more, magnifying the missed opportunities to sign marquee players over the winter.

But then something funny happened. The offense started mashing and the wins started flowing. And all throughout, the starting rotation as a unit has exceeded expectations while the bullpen continues to churn out nasty arm after nasty arm. It’s amazing how fast fortunes can turn in this sport, the Yankees are currently the owners of an eight-game winning streak courtesy of back-to-back sweeps of the Guardians and Orioles followed by wins in the first two games of the current series against the Royals. Thanks to this torrid stretch, the Bombers currently own the best record in MLB at 15-6.

So that brings us to the $1 million dollar question — do you, at this moment in time, approve of Brian Cashman? There will be ample opportunity to fully voice your opinions, but for the purpose of this exercise, we want to keep it simple: yes or no? Vote in the poll to give us your answer, and feel free to elaborate on it in the comment section below.