3 reasons Yankees fans owe Brian Cashman an apology after fast April start

Even in a best-case scenario, it was hard for New York Yankees fans to envision this good of a start to the 2022 season after being shellshocked from the production/output in 2020 and 2021. But here we are. The Bombers are atop the American League and appear to have one of the most balanced rosters in MLB.

And for that … some of us may owe general manager Brian Cashman an apology (for the moment). That includes us, too! Everyone step right up and admit you might’ve been wrong. It’s a good thing! The results are panning out thus far. You being wrong is for the greater good.

No “unsealed” letter and nonsensical Astros fans’ trash talk is going to ruin our early-season high. There’s no time for that extraneous, delusional negativity.

So the most “negative” we’ll get is admitting some of our calls for “spending more” and “signing the obvious fits” need to be retracted at this point in time. That’s doable, right?

What were some of us wrong about? At least, what do we think we were wrong about? There are always going to be two perspectives, but there’s a good chance Cashman stuck the landing with these.

3 reasons Yankees fans might owe Brian Cashman an apology.

3. The Rotation Didn’t Need … Help?

Everyone wanted a bonafide No. 2 starter or co-ace alongside Gerrit Cole. The calls to sign Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodón were loud. Others lobbied for a trade, specifically for Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt or Frankie Montas. The Yankees got none of them, as reports suggested they only tried for Verlander, but he took the same offer from Houston.

As for whiffing on the trades? There’s still an argument to be said that wasn’t exactly great. The Mets and Padres pretty much gave up nothing of note to acquire Bassitt and Manaea. Cashman still could’ve done that to bolster the rotation, right?

Well, it didn’t happen. And what do we have to show for it? The best ERA in the American League (2.92) and third best in all of MLB (with only the Giants and Dodgers in front). They also have the second-best starters’ ERA in the AL and the fourth-best in MLB (2.93). Wild times.

That’s, so far, thanks to a Luis Severino comeback we didn’t entirely expect as well as Nasty Nestor Cortes profiling as a co-ace through the first three weeks. Two players many were specifically worried about in terms of workload have vastly exceeded expectations and look ready to take on a full season’s worth of innings (we can only hope).

This might normalize once the unit faces better offenses, but for now, there’s no denying the success.