Brian Cashman trashing Giancarlo Stanton probably cost Yankees their biggest target

You reap what you sow, and after years of picking unnecessary public fights with the faces of his franchise, Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who has somehow still not been fired, burned a bridge that could cost him the crown jewel of the 2023-24 offseason.

Less than a week after his scorched earth and flat-out bizarre press briefing at the GM Meetings, Cashman took some unprovoked shots at Giancarlo Stanton, soft-selling him powerfully by calling him out for his repeated injuries to the press.

It's a known fact that Stanton has broken down more often than not in recent years, and it's not absurd for Cashman to note that. But when he does so to the press, he'd better cross all his T's and dot his I's first to make sure he doesn't check the wrong boxes.

Because Stanton's agent didn't take too kindly to the offseason call-out, and sent a nuclear reaction to Ken Rosenthal on Tuesday morning. The statement warned all free agents, both "foreign and domestic," to be extra careful when considering the Yankees. Foreign, huh? Why did he include that? Does Stanton's agent Joel Wolfe happen to represent any foreign talent?

Oh, he's Yoshinobu Yamamoto's rep? The man Cashman flew to Japan to scout? The man the Yankees reportedly had a better chance of landing than the all-in Mets, as recently as a few days ago? You IDIOT. You absolute BUFFOON.

Yankees infuriate Yoshinobu Yamamoto's agent with Giancarlo Stanton comments because Brian Cashman is a fool

It's too late to get reimbursed for your plane tickets to Japan, dude, by the way. I checked.

Why would anyone who didn't grow up dreaming of putting on the pinstripes have any interest in joining this noxious franchise, as long as Cashman, Hal Steinbrenner, and Randy Levine are in place? We'd love to see more players in this buddy-buddy ecosystem held accountable, but Stanton can't control how often he's injured. "LOL, this guy I traded for sure gets hurt a lot" doesn't do anything to improve accountability. It just makes you sound like an elitist horse's ass wearing a "Kick Me!" sign.

And, when Cashman made his initial comments, did he really not run them past Joel Wolfe first? Did he forget, perhaps, that people know people? That ripping Stanton wouldn't be an isolated incident? That words have repercussions, and you'd better be damn sure which relationships you're damaging if you decide the time is right to torch some connections?

If Cashman was trying to convince Stanton to ask out and beg for a trade, he barked up the wrong tree. Now you're stuck with him, you don't get the ace you've long coveted, and the slugger's probably going to, like, demand shortstop reps or something before spring training. Make your bed and lie in it, dude. But don't get too comfortable. The firing you're apparently begging for has to come sooner rather than later.