4 people working hardest to ruin 2022 Yankees season

2. Hal Steinbrenner

It’s Prince Hal, though really any one of the three men in the above photo could be singled out here as an example of being stuck in their ways.

Remember how Steinbrenner convinced some reporters that his master plan of sitting out free agency and waiting for the dust to settle after the lockout was actually a stroke of genius? Well … it’s the end of January, the Yankees have holes at every position, and the most recent decision we all watched get finalized was the call to tender contracts to anyone and everyone, including players the Yanks have made it very clear they don’t want.

Could’ve used Luke Voit and Anthony Rizzo in tandem last year. Didn’t! Now, Voit’s still here, which means the team hopes against hope they can trade him for the Milwaukee Brewers’ No. 42 prospect. Very much worth our while.

Place blame on Brian Cashman all you want — and Cash is completely at fault for continuing to recommend Aaron Boone be hitched to him, which will likely turn out the way we fear it will. But Cashman doesn’t draw up the budgets. Cashman isn’t the one who decides that one Gerrit Cole is enough for an entire offseason, leaving the Yankees woefully short on offense. Cashman isn’t the one who deems the Giancarlo Stanton trade both necessary and prohibitive for all future spending. Cashman isn’t the one who won’t entertain Carlos Correa this offseason, or who has made sure the Yankees can’t be called cheap, but won’t spend that little bit more to get over the hump.

That’s Hal, and if he exits the 2021-22 offseason without a viable shortstop, this will be his masterpiece of incompetence.