Yankees May Approval Poll: Brian Cashman

Who doesn’t love June? Filled with warm, sunny days that are perfect for outdoor activities, they contain the last vestiges of a long and grueling school year, delighting students and teachers alike. The NBA and NHL playoffs begin to wind down, while the baseball season truly begins to hit its stride. What better time is there for our monthly Brian Cashman approval poll to see how we’re all feeling about our beloved Yankees.

The early months of the season have been nothing short of a roller coaster. After a disappointing March that saw the Yankees pass on Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Corey Seager, Matt Olson, Max Scherzer, Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman, and more in favor of re-signing Anthony Rizzo and trading for Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa — all while failing to sign Aaron Judge to an extension — needless to say, the fanbase wasn’t all that excited. Cashman’s March approval rating dropped to just 25 percent, one of the lowest values it has ever hit in the history of this series. And you know what, as much as I try to remain optimistic, I really couldn’t blame them.

And then came April. After starting off sluggishly in the first four series of the year, the Yankees suddenly became the best team in baseball, adding to their already-dominant pitching rotation one of the best offenses in baseball. With the Yankees finishing the month with an MLB-best 15-6 record, the GM’s approval rating almost tripled, reaching 70 percent.

The month of May began with more of the same, as the Yankees extended the eight-game winning streak they ended April with all the way to 11. Although they weren’t quite as dominant, their winning ways continued throughout the month, ending with an 18-9 record despite a brutal stretch of games in which they played 23 games in just 22 days. As a result, they finished the month a full five games in front of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.

Unfortunately, cracks in the facade did appear. The rotation has continued to be elite: Nestor Cortes, Jameson Taillon, and Gerrit Cole all have made early cases for All-Star nods, while Luis Severino’s 3.38 ERA is the worst of the group. The bullpen, on the other hand, has been bruised and battered, losing Chad Green for the season, sending Aroldis Chapman and Jonathan Loáisiga to the shelf, and seeing Michael King come crashing down to Earth after his electric start to the season.

The lineup, meanwhile, has been an adventure of late. For the first three weeks of May, they continued to mash, posting a .240/.328/.418 slash line with 23 doubles, 27 home runs, and one triple, while averaging more than five runs per game. Since May 22nd, however, they’ve hit just .198/.252/.335 with 11 homers and just seven doubles, averaging just 2.9 runs per game. While this dropoff in production has largely coincided with both Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson hitting the IL, it does nonetheless show just fragile the Yankees high-flying offense is at the moment.

And so, I turn the question back to all of you. Does maintaining an 111-win pace for the first two months of the season cure all the bad vibes from this past winter, or do the team’s flaws stick out too much in your mind? Or, to put it simply ... do you, right now, at this moment in time, as you read this, approve of the performance of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman? Vote in the poll and let us know more in the comments section below.