Pat Murphy's apology to Brian Cashman is more bothersome to Yankees fans than the actual insult

When the Brewers won the World Series and manager Pat Murphy issued an unsolicited insult at the Yankees, all New York fans could say was touché. We stink. There's probably some level of selfishness that holds this team back every year. It's no surprise the Yankees have become the butt end of the joke even when the situation has nothing to do with them. That's what happens when you get the brakes beaten off of you in every postseason since 2018.

After former Yankee Jake Bauers presented Murphy with the ball from the final out of the Game 5 clincher, the exchange between the two was caught on camera and went viral. Murphy alluded to the Yankees being an individualistic team in which the players are all about the money. That's not exactly a newfound concept. The Yankees are typically portrayed as the big bad corporate spenders who pillage talent from every other franchise that can't afford to stockpile star-studded rosters.

But this version of the Yankees? They don't entirely do that. They get just enough talent to fall spectacularly short while spending an objectionable amount of money. That's why they're the punchline. If they were winning constantly, do you think Murphy would have any reason to mention them? He didn't say the Dodgers.

For a moment, Yankees fans sat back and said, "Yeah, everybody thinks this about us. We're the Dallas Cowboys. The organization should use this as fuel to rebound in 2027."

Somehow, the situation has gotten worse. Murphy called Brian Cashman to apologize for his comments, suggesting that he was merely using the Yankees as an example of a big market team that may not necessarily carry the same values a small market, less fortunate Brewers team has to. He claimed he wasn't saying the 2026 Yankees were selfish; he just happened to mention them because Bauers played there in 2023.

And to that we say ... BOOOORING!! In our eyes, you either meant it or you didn't. And since when is Cashman some almighty higher power that must be apologized to?

Pat Murphy bailed out Yankees, Brian Cashman with weak apology after World Series

Read the comments to this post to see how Yankees fans really feel. There is no world in which Murphy, sitting atop the baseball world after a championship and possibly on the verge of his third straight manager of the year award, should be backtracking. It's not like he's someone who's going to be looking for a job anytime soon. He's now an institution in Milwaukee and on a path to cement legend status.

All this does is let the Yankees off the hook. It makes Cashman believe the opposition always feels like he's watching. It doesn't hit the Yankees hard enough to look in the mirror and think about why or how they've fallen short so many times while 11 different teams have won a World Series since they have (and four of them have won multiple).

Murphy's insult — whether true or not — carried notable weight when it came to the Yankees possibly holding themselves accountable. It was on the national stage. It was from a manager whose only held his position for three years (while Aaron Boone is going on Year 10). It was from a team whose payroll ranked 19th in the sport this past season. And it was that team who dispatched the Rays after Tampa handily swept the Yankees in the ALDS.

In the end, we get that Murphy didn't want to come off as disrespectful in what was supposed to be a private conversation and tongue-in-cheek insult. But Yankees fans would've much rather preferred Murphy doubling down here over politely apologizing to the man who's barely seen success over the past 25 years.

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