Marcus Stroman, Brian Cashman say all the right things in Yankees apology tour

New York Yankees signee Marcus Stroman made it clear at his introductory press conference on Thursday that he'd buried the hatchet with Brian Cashman. Now, it's time for him to do similar work with the fan base's much bigger hatchet.

Luckily, for all parties, the Stro Show sounded ready on Thursday to put all pretense aside and put on for his city this season. The righty knows the silliness he's gotten involved with in the past. He knows where the vitriol stems from. And, as a lifelong Yankee fan, he knows exactly how quickly the fan base will forgive him if he makes the Bronx proud.

That's why, as Stroman laid out, he and the franchise are a "match made in heaven" -- because he's fully aware of the stakes, and has no intention of messing around with the golden opportunity he's dreamed about since long before the fateful 2019 trade deadline.

Yankees' Marcus Stroman ready to move on, succeed in "heaven" in the Bronx

Stroman knows his history. He also knows why, if he plays his cards right, it could make him the perfect Yankee. Fans love a redemption story, especially when the main character of the tale is someone who really wants to be here.

He also knows this signing was a two-way street, paved partially by desperation (sure), but also by a willingness to look past surface tension and see upside. Stroman made his feelings clear years ago. He pined for the Yankees.

Brian Cashman? He slipped up when he spoke about the 2019 deadline, balking at the prospect cost and tossing "difference-maker" shade at Stroman when he likely hadn't intended ill will (much the same way he did with Jordan Montgomery two years later, who seems likely to be a permanent Ranger because of it).

In order for this fit to work, both Stroman and Cashman needed to project an understanding that there would be no animosity moving forward, and that the only "past" that remained relevant was Stroman's pinstriped upbringing. Credit to both men, because they certainly checked that box.

Cashman, in a pivot from the hot-headed mentality he displayed as recently as the GM meetings, didn't cling to a flimsy justification of past mistakes, getting redder in the face with every syllable. He instead sought out both Stroman and his agent, apologizing profusely for something that likely didn't actually need to be addressed again.

"“I just said for the amount of talent they wanted back, it wasn’t going to be enough of a difference-maker,” Cashman said during a Zoom news conference Thursday. “That was my bad, because then how it played wasn’t certainly how it was intended.”"

Brian Cashman

He went above and beyond to strike a harmonious chord ahead of a season that just might get him dismissed if his checklist of assembled risks stumbles in the wrong direction, and he knows it.

Stroman does, too, absorbing Cashman's water under the bridge while preparing to show off a new perspective on the fan base he's tormented for years -- mostly because, last time he tried, he wasn't allowed in.

The time to foster understanding is on the horizon, and Stroman -- who signed on at No. 4 starter's salary -- knows that the best way to make noise is with his right arm.

After he uses it to unblock the fans who scorned him these past few years, he'll likely find an even more fruitful outlet for his reflexes on the mound in the Bronx. Now, after handling the dirty laundry deftly, all that matters is the resulting action.