Brian Cashman comments on Yankees’ 2020 World Series chances

Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t think the road to the World Series will be any easier in 2020.

It wasn’t long ago that fans in the Bronx had serious questions about the New YorkYankees’ postseason chances. The club was legitimately free falling during a demoralizing 5-15 stretch that extended into the the final month of the regular season and came dangerously close to losing a playoff spot for the first time all year.

Those weren’t fun times and they fortunately feel like ages ago as the Yankees are now sitting pretty after rattling off 10 consecutive wins over division rivals, which has helped them clinch a playoff berth over the weekend and put a stranglehold on the second-place spot in the AL East.

With the offense finally at full strength and firing on all cylinders — plus the newfound consistency of the starting rotation — it’s fair to say that New York has reestablished itself as the pound-for-pound best team in the American League.

To put it simply, Yankees fans are back to (confidently) thinking the club can win the whole thing and general manager Brian Cashman ironically spoke on their World Series chances during an interview with SiriusXM MLB Network Radio on Sunday.

Here’s what he had to say:

"“You could even argue this might be the toughest World Championship to ever win, given the circumstances we’re dealing with, not the Yankees, I am talking about the industry,” said Cashman. “And then the level of playoffs (you have to) navigate, to get there to be the last team standing, it’s going to be quite the accomplishment. Somebody’s going to be really well deserving.”"

Cashman’s comments perfectly encapsulate the ignorance of folks who believe that the 2020 championship should have an asterisk next to it. With the lack of home-field advantage and slew of injuries/opt outs teams are dealing with as well as unfavorable traveling arrangements, one could argue that the World Series winner this season should be commended more than title holders of previous campaigns.

It might have looked dubious a few weeks ago, but the Yankees have accomplished their first goal of the truncated campaign. Now that they will officially be playing October baseball, the next priority of manager Aaron Boone and Co. is to ensure that New York will have its reliable hurlers available for the all-important first round.

The Yankees are (mostly) fully healthy and we can now say it’s World Series or bust for them. As expected, Cashman’s remarks prove they are in it to win it despite the unfavorable circumstances at play due to the ongoing pandemic.