MLB insider's comments on Brian Cashman show why Yankees trade deadline was a failure

If you didn't catch all of Brian Cashman's session with the media on Tuesday following the trade deadline, please do yourself a favor and keep it that way. Just about every New York Yankees fan is equally furious about how the front office opted to approach the most pivotal part of the season.

Cashman spewed more and more nonsense about how this team is "good enough" and that they "expect to get better" and that they're "getting reinforcements back" but ... they're not good enough, they're not going to get better, and the reinforcements on the way haven't proven they can perform dating back to last year. Do a hobbled Nestor Cortes and Jonathan Loaisiga change this team's playoff trajectory?

The answer is no! Because this team can't hit! That's been the problem four years running now! And if you count the postseason, it dates back to 2017. The lineup isn't balanced. There are very few athletes on this roster year in and year out. There are very few big-game performers (yes, that's a thing). There are far too many aging players.

Last year, at 70-34, Cashman opted to make a number of trades that very obviously torpedoed the Yankees' good chemistry. He ditched Jordan Montgomery and emptied out the top part of the farm system for equally unproductive major leaguers. His only passable decision was to trade Joey Gallo and get a decent prospect for him, but even then, Gallo was apparently a positive influence in the clubhouse. Even the one good move he made negatively affected the team.

This time around? Chemistry is palpably bad. The Yankees were 55-51 heading into the deadline. They have one of the worst offenses in the league with or without Aaron Judge. The pitching staff is suffering greatly. And they acquired a rental reliever and a bad Triple-A pitcher. Why is that? Because the Yankees do not care. Cashman doesn't care. Hal Steinbrenner doesn't care. This is a well-oiled enterprise -- an international brand that will never waver. They're riding the coattails of yesteryear's success.

MLB insider's comments on Brian Cashman show why Yankees trade deadline was a failure

ESPN's Buster Olney appeared on The Michael Kay Show the day before the trade deadline to talk about the Yankees, with the team's likelihood of making the playoffs coming up as a topic. He said if the Bombers missed the postseason in 2023, fans "wouldn't see any significant changes." He cited Cashman being in the first year of a four-year contract and manager Aaron Boone being in the midst of a multi-year deal.

But who cares? Why does any of that matter? This team has been embarrassed time and time again dating back to 2018 and they're just going to keep running it back? Of course they are! Because people are still watching. People are still attending games. Merchandise is still selling. Hal loves the status quo. He's not George, as everybody loves to say. He's not erratic. But there's a difference between not being erratic and not being proactive. Hal is far from the latter. You could say the same about Cashman, who is constantly calculated and risk-averse every time he decides to be proactive.

The reality is that this is a .500 baseball team. Outside of the first half of 2022, the Yankees haven't been able to prove otherwise since the start of the 2020 season. The wrong decisions continue to be made. The "right" decisions don't work out. Something needs to change.

But nothing will. Because as long as the Yankees are "sustainable" or "in the conversation," that's all that matters. Sneaking into an expanded playoff field and immediately failing is good enough. Missing the expanded playing field? Apparently that's fine, too.