Yankees’ GM talks team’s recent rut: ‘We’re struggling’

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman wasn’t planning to be here. He expected to fly to Florida and join the rest of the team’s braintrust in Tampa later this week as it prepares for the amateur draft that begins Sunday.

But his team has been terrible lately, losing 16 of its last 22 games. The 4 1/2-game lead it had in the American League East on June 6 had turned into a three-game deficit behind the Baltimore Orioles.

Cashman needed to see the Yankees with his own eyes.

“Because of how we’ve been playing,” he said Tuesday. “I decided to join us.”

For nearly 15 minutes, he spoke with reporters before the team faced the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Sitting in the visitors’ dugout, Cashman appeared relaxed, wearing a white polo shirt and gray joggers. He answered quickly, leaning forward much of the time.

He said he couldn’t quite put a finger on what had been troubling the Yankees, who started the season on fire, going 49-21 through their first 70 games.

“Simply,” he said, “we’re struggling.”

But why? He didn’t get into specifics.

“We’ve obviously struggled with a lot of different areas on the team and it’s added up to a (lot) of losses,” he said. “I can’t explain it any easier than that. You can hit some rough spots. We’re certainly as rough as they come right now. It’s like a light switch went one way to the other. But it can go the other way too quickly.”

Cashman was quizzed on a variety of topics, including the struggles of second baseman Gleyber Torres, third baseman DJ LeMahieu and the starting rotation. He wondered if Torres’ looming free agency could be getting in the head of the 27-year-old, who had just an 81 OPS+ with a .223 batting average, eight home runs and 33 RBIs in 314 at-bats entering Tuesday. Torres has also made 11 errors — the most among MLB second basemen.

“Sometimes those free agent walk years can come back and haunt you,” Cashman said. “I’m not sure if that’s the added pressure that might be weighing him down or holding him back or not. I know we just went through that with (starting pitcher Luis Severino and center fielder Harrison Bader) last year.”

LeMahieu, soon to be 36, has hit just .194 with no home runs and 11 RBIs for a 48 OPS+ in 103 at-bats since starting his season late due to a fractured right foot. His defense has been strong.

“It would be great to get DJ going,” Cashman said. “Again, obviously, he looked good in the spring before that injury and coming out of the gates knocking that rust out.”

As for the rotation, which has an MLB-worst 5.88 ERA since the start of the team’s swoon, Cashman didn’t have any answers.

He also backed Boone, who’s in the final year of his contract and seventh season as manager.

“He works extremely hard,” Cashman said. “He’s very well connected with these guys and he’s charged everyday with pushing the right buttons the best he can with what he’s got. He’s navigating that as well as he possibly can.”

And with first base unsettled, the GM wouldn’t commit to rookie Ben Rice as his longterm solution at the position. Anthony Rizzo (forearm fracture) can’t be activated from the 60-day injured list until Aug. 16.

“In terms of the future and how things play out,” Cashman said, “it’s all to be determined.”

He added that he didn’t plan on addressing the team the way he did during the 2020 season, gathering the club in the locker room and expressing his belief in the players. He said he would leave that up to manager Aaron Boone and the coaching staff. But Cashman said he would maintain “touch points” with certain players. After he spoke to reporters, he chatted for a while with ace Gerrit Cole as the two hung over the dugout railing.

How worried is Cashman?

“Always concerned,” he said, “but it’s my job to never assume anything. Ultimately, today’s a new day, we’re hoping to get back on track today, and obviously we have the draft coming up and we have the trade deadline as well.

“We’ll stay connected with everybody out there, wait for our injury guys at the same time to continue to get better and hope the current crew that we have out there obviously can get back onto the winning ways.”

Cashman declined to say what the Yankees might need to do to improve the roster before the July 30 trade deadline. But he added: “We definitely have areas to improve upon and we’ll do our best to do so.”

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(Photo: Brendan Kuty/The Athletic)