Highlights Of Hal Steinbrenner’s Interview On ESPN Radio

On Wednesday afternoon, New York Yankees’ managing general partner and co-chairperson Hal Steinbrenner appeared on the Michael Kay Show with Don LaGreca that aired on ESPN Radio 98.7 FM in New York and simulcast on the YES Network. First off, you have to give Steinbrenner credit for taking every question from the two of them and allowing them to ask any and all questions, just as Michael Kay said on the air.

Here were some of the highlights from the interview:

First off, Kay, the Yankees’ play-by-play announcer on YES, asked Hal about how tough the season was:

"“It was frustrating many times from beginning to end. Frustration turned into disappointment. It was another above-average injury year. Our hitting left a lot to be desired.”"

LaGreca followed up about the lack of hitting with the offense, which allowed Hal to talk about how the injury to Beltran affected him. He mentioned about not exactly knowing why Brian McCann struggled, but he believes the trio of  Carlos Beltran, McCann, and Mark Teixeira will perform in 2015.

Then, the topic turned to hitting coach Kevin Long, who has taken a bunch of criticism from fans over the Yankees’ offensive woes. It also didn’t sound like that it was a given that Long would be back, even though the team hasn’t made a decision yet on the coaching staff:

"“That will be the first step is to look at the manager and coaches the same way we do every single year. We’re going to start getting into that in the weeks to come. If I do deem someone is responsible, I will act.”"

One thing that stood out during this interview was the reference of Steinbrenner to some of the minor league players by name in the organization, especially with a team that is more veteran-laden, but there are signs that younger players could be on their way to the Bronx next season to join some of the older players:

"“We’ve been trying. We have had our struggles in player development. This year, we saw guys like Greene [Shane Greene and Murphy [John Ryan Murphy]. Betances [Dellin Betances] coming into his own. Next year, you are going to see more exciting players come up like [Rob]Refsnyder and [Jacob] Lindgren. Hopefully, [Luis] Severino at some point. We have to continue to improve player development.,” replied Steinbrenner."

The latest news was addressed about Brian Cashman, the general manager, in which the Yankees are talking about bringing Cashman back. Steinbrenner mentioned that he thought all of the signings in the offseason were good. Hal would later add:

"“Brian and I are talking. He does a good job. Everything in July he did help the team stay in and the [Michael] Pineda trade is looking to be a good one, as long as he stays healthy. He is a good GM. There is no deal done.”"

Then, the conversation changed to the subject everyone has been buzzing about since last Thursday, which is that Hal and his brother Hank were not in attendance at Derek Jeter’s final game at Yankee Stadium. Hal did not specifically address why he wasn’t there, but gave a solid reason of why the moment was about the players:

"“I was there over the weekend for the Toronto series. The thank you day was the 7th., That was my family and the organization saying thank you to Jeter, which is what I told him . The last day was for the players and him. I was in Tampa. I watched every bit of it and it could not have been scripted better.”"

Of course, when you talk about the Yankees lately, the name Alex Rodriguez comes up as the third baseman will return from his suspension to be with the team in 2015. Here were Hal’s comments on Alex, which included Steinbrenner calling Rodriguez an asset to the team, when healthy.

"“I don’t have an expectation. I don’t think we can have any expectations. Let’s just hope he’s healthy and let’s try to put the past behind us. If he’s healthy, he can contribute. I’m not making any assumptions at this point.”"

Steinbrenner mentioned during the segment that two of the needs that the team will look to address the shortstop position, with the absence of Jeter, as well as starting pitching since Ivan Nova will not be back to at least May due to Tommy John Surgery.

Hal gave a ringing endorsement during the interview about Joe Girardi, which is no surprise, considering Girardi has managed injury-ridden teams over the last two seasons.

Throughout the interview, the Yankees’ managing general partner talked about how he felt the team was championship-caliber coming into the season and wasn’t counting on all the injuries. They continue to have the expectations of winning a championship every single season.

Masahiro Tanaka was another topic of conversation towards the latter end of the interview. Steinbrenner mentioned that he was the sole reason why the Yankees went over $189 million in payroll and he has “no regrets there..” He did mention that there is still a possibility that the Yankees can try the goal again of fielding a team with less than $189 million in payroll.

While the fans are concerned about Tanaka and the UCL that he tore back in July, Steinbrenner mentioned the concern of the innings workload in Japan, but did mention the two Major League games he pitched in to end the season:

"“It’s something we’re always going to be be concerned about, but the fact that he got through this entire rehab and now has played two major league games and has zero pain, that’s a good sign.”"

All in all, Steinbrenner as I said before, has to be given credit for answering every single question and giving some solid responses. The final message that the radio duo allowed Steinbrenner to say to the fans was an apology about the team missing the playoffs in 2014:

"“I apologize. We did not do the job this year. We know what you expect of us and we expect the same thing of ourselves. We are going to get right back to work,” said Steinbrenner."