After sleeping on the street for the fourth straight year to raise awareness and money for the homeless, New York Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman was back to work on Friday. He spoke with the media about the team's offseason priorities, many of which are well-known.
The longtime Yankees' GM first spoke of the team's need on the left side of the infield, which clearly must be solved relatively soon. With Alex Rodriguez's health and ability to be an everyday third baseman fairly unknown at this point, the Yanks need to ensure they have a capable fielder at the hot corner. The shortstop need is obvious due to Derek Jeter's retirement.
However, these vacancies don't imply New York is going to chase a big name free agent. And that's exactly how Cashman put it when he said, "I can't really say if any of the big-ticket items are in play or not in play. I'm just going to say we're doing everything in our power to improve the club." But the free agency issue doesn't only apply to the left side of the infield; New York has glaring issues with the starting rotation since CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova are returning from season-ending surgeries and Masahiro Tanaka's health is a big question mark.
Cashman said he would be open to adding two starters, but nothing has developed from the conversations he's had with potential candidates. One of those starters is Hiroki Kuroda, who is a free agent and has yet to determine if he'll return to baseball in 2015. Kuroda will turn 40 next season and has reportedly been contemplating retirement, but if he comes back it's been clear the Yankees are interested in bringing him back: "It depends on the entire context of the roster. But I do need starting pitching so he's clearly an area that would solve some issues," Cashman added.
They also have a vacancy at closer because David Robertson declined the Yankees' qualifying offer. This means New York is in the market for a closer or a setup man, since Dellin Betances could potentially fill the position internally. It's not yet known what the plan is, but Cashman said he'd like to focus on the bullpen too, which ranked 19th in ERA (3.70) during the 2014 season.
But let's not forget about the hitting coach situation. The Yankees dismissed Kevin Long after eight seasons with the team and he joined the New York Mets shortly thereafter. Cashman interviewed a number of candidates, including Chili Davis, Dave Magadan and Raul Ibanez, but he has yet to arrive at a decision. Davis joined the Red Sox, Magadan returned to the Rangers and Ibanez is a candidate for the manager position with the Rays. Although Cashman mentioned he has an interview with a new candidate next week, he didn't mention who it was.
So all in all, we're not entirely sure of the specifics regarding the New York Yankees' offseason.
Michael Axisa of RiverAveBlues.com pieces together Cashman's statements nicely.
