Yankees August Approval Poll: Brian Cashman

Hurrah, the Yankees won a series! It took them five weeks but they finally got back in the series win column taking three of four from the Tigers. Much like sprinkling glitter on a turd, it doesn’t diminish the overall disaster this season has been nor the culpability of the principal architect of the team’s demise, general manager Brian Cashman.

As unpleasant as it may be, we ought to retrace the steps that brought the Yankees to their current predicament. Despite massive question marks on offense heading into the season, optimism abounded the fanbase after the team re-signed Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo, brought in Carlos Rodón and named Anthony Volpe the starting shortstop, lifting Cashman’s approval rating to a season-high 47 percent on Opening Day. That promptly cratered at the same rate as the team’s record, falling to 6 percent, 29 percent, and 10 percent in April, May and June, respectively, as the team quickly found their way to last place, where they remain.

If you thought that was bad, just take a look at his approval rating for July, clocking in at just three percent! This is no doubt due to the team’s performance, much of which can be traced back to the GM. Their lack of depth on offense, in the rotation, and the bullpen has been severely exposed by injury and underperformance. The final nail in the coffin saw Cashman sit idle at the trade deadline, neglecting to deal for any difference makers on offense, but also refusing to deal away any of their assets to strengthen the squad for next year and beyond. It’s the type of stagnant mindset that brought about the team’s misfortunes this year and threatens to do the same next.

So where does that leave the team heading into the final month of games? Well, they just secured their first series victory since the third week of July against the Royals, and have won just two series (against the Royals and Tigers) since the start of July. They are all but guaranteed to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. What’s more, barring an implausible winning streak to end the season, the Yankees stand to finish the season in last place and below .500 for the first time since 1991 and 1992, respectively.

That said, not all is doom and gloom around Yankee land. The team recently promoted top prospects Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza, and plan to do the same later today, handing MLB debuts to Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells in tonight’s series opener against the Astros. If nothing else, this gives their top prospects a chance to get their feet wet (and even fail!) in the majors — much like Aaron Judge did in 2016 — hopefully to give them a head start in preparation for next season.

Cashman released Josh Donaldson and placed Harrison Bader on waivers to clear room for the youngsters, the former transaction one that fans had been crying for him to make for over a year. That Bader was claimed by the Reds raises the question of why he was allowed to leave for free rather than attempt to recoup some value by dealing him at the deadline, but I’m not sure any of the decision-makers had any idea what they were doing at the start of the month.

As crazy as it might sound, I actually like to listen to Cashman’s press conferences. In many, there are small moments where he slips up and reveals his or the organization’s true intentions, evaluations, and motives. At the beginning of May with his team already mired in mediocrity, Cashman asserted his belief that the Yankees were a “championship-caliber operation.” But then little more than a week ago, Cashman was quoted as saying that “entering or leaving spring training, [nobody] believed this wasn’t a playoff-contention team.” Perhaps we finally have an insight into the true mission statement of the organization — that despite the yearly pushing of the “championship or bust” narrative on the fanbase — the decision makers are in fact more than happy to compete for a playoff spot.

So that brings us to today’s task. Do you approve of the job Brian Cashman has done through the end of August? Is the recent youth movement enough for now or is it not nearly enough to shake off the overall stench of the season? The polarizing GM certainly elicits stronger feelings than can be captured in a one-word response — you may feel a question such as the one being posed requires more nuance, greater elaboration, or a wider selection of options than just a “yes” or a “no,” however for the sake of this exercise, a binary question works best.

Please vote in the poll below and let us know! We’ll revisit the results in a month.