Brian Cashman's latest slip hints Yankees aren't chasing free agent fans want

Thursday night represented Brian Cashman's 14th consecutive annual appearance at the Covenant House Sleep Out, an event meant to drive both awareness and funds in support of ending homelessness. It also served, as it always does, as one final chance for the press to berate and bombard Cashman before the true heat of the frigid baseball winter (and, yes, as Cashman acknowledged on Thursday, for fans to meme him).

Unfortunately, while addressing a fleet of early rumors and big names, Cashman might've given up the ghost a bit with one stumble.

According to the Yankees' GM, he entered the offseason hoping to fill two outfield vacancies (sorry, Jasson Dominguez), and still intends to chase names like Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker after bringing Trent Grisham back into the fold. He's been in touch with agents Scott Boras and Casey Close on Tucker, Belli, and a number of other hot-button names (for, at the very least, due diligence).

When pressed on potential interest in Japanese third baseman/first baseman Kazuma Okamoto, Cashman demurred, noting that he'd only been recently posted. In an effort to backfill the information a bit, he then attempted to spill that he'd spoken with Boras about ace righty Tatsuya Imai.

He wasn't terribly convincing, though, given that he couldn't recall Imai's name until prompted by the reporter in question.

New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman couldn't recall Tatsuya Imai's name, which probably isn't a great sign

Consider us skeptical that the Yankees, with so many needs, would go above and beyond to tie down extra long-term rotation payroll just because Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole will be tardy this season. Cashman did state earlier in the offseason that making an impact in Japan and returning to an area that was once the Yankees' strength would be valuable, but ... that was the information-gathering stage. That was before Grisham's choice (which the Yankees allowed).

So, which public comment represents Cashman's real position? His GM meetings speech about how the Yankees need to reestablish their relationship with the Japanese baseball world? Or his off-the-cuff mental block on Thursday where he couldn't recall the name of someone who's supposedly an offseason target?

Color us skeptical of the Yankees' pursuit. Suddenly, this feels a lot like when Cashman roasted Giancarlo Stanton, which bristled Yoshinobu Yamamoto's agent. We were told that wasn't a huge deal. It definitely was. Yamamoto isn't a Yankee. Imai — that's his name, right? — probably won't be, either.