New York fans were up in arms on Tuesday after the Yankees were shut out by the Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card Game, and perhaps rightfully so. Even though the Yankees were believed to have overachieved this season, registering three hits in a home playoff game is still a meager showing for an MLB club.
This left general manager Brian Cashman to defend himself and his team in the media. The decisions of manager Joe Girardi's during Tuesday night's game were heavily scrutinized and various pundits and fans believed Cashman needed to make a big trade before the MLB's non-waiver deadline to give the team a better chance to succeed in the postseason.
Cashman stood by his decision to not make any significant moves in late July and he backed Girardi yesterday, as calls were heard to fire the Yankees' manager of eight years.
"It's a fact, nobody should be looking for anybody different,'' Cashman told George A. King III of the New York Post when asked about Girardi's job status. "He is signed for two more years and managed the team to the playoffs. It's not his fault we didn't hit. He managed a perfect playoff game.''
Many were criticizing Girardi for benching Jacoby Ellsbury, starting Brett Gardner and Chris Young, and bringing in Dellin Betances too early when reliever Justin Wilson was pitching just fine, but Cashman felt there was nothing wrong with Girardi's decisions.
The GM previously said the team was collectively slumping and injuries began to affect them at an inopportune time - both factors that shouldn't be attributed to Girardi's performance as manager. He also said he has to "find more weapons for Girardi to utilize and this coaching staff to fall back on," so if fans were hoping for a new manager, it doesn't appear as if 2016 will be the year for that.
Truth be told, the Yankees did overachieve this season. While their postseason performance was nothing short of pitiful, the team wasn't projected to even be in that spot due to the many questions, flaws and roster holes making headlines before the 2015 season.
Cashman hopes to address the remaining issues this offseason (perhaps with one or two big free agent signings) and the Yankees will begin to usher in their core of young players to prepare for the future.
By exceeding expectations, the Yankees ended up disappointing many, when in reality they should be given a bit more credit for their performance over the long haul - even if their playoff showing was embarrassing.
