Brian Cashman's response to Yankees' 2025 season emphasizes there is no standard

If you wanted any details from behind the curtain about the 2025 New York Yankees' season and were expecting them at the end-of-year press conference, oh boy, were you mistaken. But we'd have to think you're smarter than that, right? After listening to Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman all these years?

Boone and Cashman took to the podium Thursday afternoon to field questions from the media, and there were plenty. But still, no concrete answers were provided.

We were told Anthony Volpe's injury did not affect his play during the season, even though he needed surgery a week after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs. Oh wait, that comment was from Boone. Cashman said it did affect his play. Interesting. We were also told he's in the mix to be the team's starting shortstop in 2026, which is among the more ridiculous statements you'll hear from this group.

We were told once again that the playoffs were a crapshoot, that's it's hard to win, and all you can do it hope to put the best group of players together and get everything to line up to make that World Series run. We were told that there's not necessarily an urgency to maximize Aaron Judge's prime because they're already looking to put the best team together year after year.

We were told the Blue Jays "had their number", which resulted in their playoff exit. Mind you, the Blue Jays were a fifth-place team in 2024 while the Yankees were the best in the AL. Toronto managed to flip the script in the most meaningful way possible and New York had no answers.

As for the assessment of the year as a whole? A giant Word Salad. A lot of "ya knows". Even more "ultimatelys". A few "obviouslys". And that's it folks! Enjoy your offseason.

Brian Cashman's response to Yankees' 2025 season emphasizes there is no standard

Cashman wants to leave it to the masses to debate because ... why hold anybody to a standard in this day and age? Cashman's banner statement was that he knew he had "talented players who were fighting." Riveting. So few teams have that.

Yankees fans can wax poetic about the dynasty years and channel their inner George Steinbrenner to demand that World Series-or-bust mentality, but most would agree that is not a sustainable way of life, especially in this day and age. But the modern day Yankees have deviated so far in the other direction that they're almost unrecognizable.

It's hard to even call what the Yankees do "excuse making". They just don't seem to really care. They operate each year knowing they will be in contention in some capacity, and they leave it at that. That will sell enough tickets, merch and chicken buckets. They will remain relevant in the public eye. There is no desire to go over the top for that World Series — because if there was, they would have pulled out all the stops in 2024 instead of stopping short at the trade deadline when they did, knowing all the roster holes they had.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has been covering the Yankees for a long time. He holds Cashman's feet to the fire at every opportunity — he even got berated by the Yankees' exec at the general managers' meetings after the 2023 season. Sherman's annual assessments of the Yankees are probably the most logical we can hold on to.

He asked what it would take to get the Yankees to the mountaintop, and he of course received no concrete answers ... because the front office doesn't have any. Boone doesn't have any. They are no longer lying to us. They are just making it obvious that they don't really care.

Any time the Yankees want to tell you that it's all just a game of luck and you never know what's going to happen, fans now have the perfect response. Just look at what the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing. Did they get lucky and have Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto fall into their laps, with Ohtani's salary deferments alinging perfectly with Yamamoto's mega-deal? Absolutely. But they also built a roster with intent. They didn't get scared to spend on the margins. They are never hesitant to part with prospects (and they always have prospects ready to contribute in some helpful capacity).

The Yankees do none of that. They are top-heavy with their roster/spending. They cap their spending every year. They never trade top prospects. They rarely elevate top prospects and give them a long leash. They do not value depth, as you can see every year with whoever is on their bench.

There is no standard in the Bronx anymore. It's a real estate company. It's a nostalgia shop. Yes, fans are appreciative that the Yankees are perennial contenders, but that hasn't been enough for a long, long time now. Maybe it wouldn't matter if their rivals didn't continue to get the best of them and laugh their way out of town, but that's been the narrative, and the Yankees have no interest in giving their fans the upper hand when it comes to baseball discourse.