Alex Rodriguez taking Brian Cashman to task over roster will delight Yankees fans

Wondering who to blame for another underwhelming New York Yankees season? Unfortunately, the net is cast far and wide. Nobody can be let off the hook — even Aaron Judge, who just put up unthinkable numbers but had a season-changing strikeout in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Go on down the line. Have your fun. We can talk about this for months. But former Yankee Alex Rodriguez made his stance known on the FOX postgame show, and it might be a topic New York fans are happy to run with.

A-Rod pointed the blame at the Yankees front office — cough, Brian Cashman, cough — for the roster construction. He said that the team had a ton of talent, but manager Aaron Boone, who deserved the least blame, was backed into a corner with how he could deploy the group.

Yankees fans have (reasonably) been quick to blame Boone in certain situations, especially when we're talking about refusing to sit players amid slumps and/or his questionable quick hooks/long leashes for starting pitchers. Then, of course, there's the bullpen management, but that's a common concern among every fanbase.

Rodriguez essentially took the heat off Boone with what he said on Wednesday night, and that could put some pressure on Cashman and Co. But who are we kidding? Is the pressure ever really "on" in this organization post-George Steinbrenner?

Yankees' Brian Cashman called out by Alex Rodriguez after playoff elimination

"One of the worst constructions of a roster I've ever seen." Well, any hopes of A-Rod managing this team will have to wait until Cashman is officially gone, if that was something you were into.

Most fans would agree that he's not wrong whatsoever. The Yankees went from lefty deficient among their position players to almost righty deficient. This team literally forgot to employ lefty batters for a good portion of the Aaron Judge era, and all of a sudden they had far too many in 2025. A-Rod mentioned the surplus of designated hitter-types as well — the least valuable position in the lineup when you really think about it. Then, of course, there was the first base issue with Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice platooning. How do you not have a bonafide everyday first baseman?

Rodriguez stayed away from the hot button issues like Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, and the bullpen, but he knew what he was doing (as you can tell by Derek Jeter's face when the camera panned to him).

Nonetheless, A-Rod did his job as a panelist here, and he validated a lot of feelings Yankees fans have had for years now. It's never good to see your team get bounced from the DS when you had World Series aspirations, but the next best thing is having the organizational flaws exposed the moment it happens.