Yankees fans better hope Brian Cashman's Winter Meetings message is a smokescreen

For as unforgiving and critical Yankees fans are, most understand the complexities of Brian Cashman's job. Even if he was nicest guy of all time, there isn't another team or GM out there that wants to make the New York Yankees better. There isn't an agent that doesn't want to milk them for every last dollar they have.

So that's where the games come in. The slow plays. The "waiting for the market to develop" nonsense. The strategic leaking of contrary information to the media. The declaration of certain stances that may or may not be true.

We've dealt with all kinds of that leading up to this year's Winter Meetings as it pertains to the Yankees, but there is a general vibe among fans that Cashman and the front office are not going to do much, given the perceived financial constraints and impending lockout.

That means we are bracing for the worst (but trying not to be pessimistic). That's why fans should be hoping Cashman's message that kicked off the Winter Meetings on Sunday night is nothing but a smokescreen.

To be fair, he was asked the questions, so it's not like he had much of a choice, but we simply cannot genuinely be hyping up Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez. Can't do it. Not if you have bigger plans around them or legitimate championship hopes.

Brian Cashman needs to make a "change trade" rather than hyping Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez

Shoulder injury or not, Volpe has been one of the worst qualified players in MLB since his 2023 debut. We really don't need to expand on the matter. It's been covered extensively. Not enjoyable whatsoever. But hoping to get him back in May and expecting him to ... what? Perform better? After major shoulder surgery? No. That's like going all in with 2-7 offsuit because you have nothing to lose after the cards hadn't gone your way all night.

As for Dominguez, there's definitely more hope surrounding him because of his bat and speed. His defense, on the other hand? We don't know what happened, but we do know that his inability to play left field cost him playing time (and then eventually his job) in 2025. He had every opportunity to seize playing time and didn't. Of course, it wasn't helpful that Trent Grisham clubbed 34 home runs, but there were reps to be had if Dominguez made himself indispensable.

He wasn't terrible, but he also wasn't consistent enough. He finished the year with a .257/.331/.388 line. He couldn't hit left-handed pitching, mostly because he was as bad as can possibly be batting from the right side of the plate. He finished with 10 home runs and 47 RBI, and six of those homers and 13 of those RBI came in three games — much too high a percentage to be concentrated in that manner.

The books are not closed on Volpe or Dominguez ... but we also aren't dealing with a blank canvas here. These are two young players with clear-as-day shortcomings. They should either be fighting for jobs, logging part-time duty, or dangled in trade talks to make the Yankees better. There's no world where either should be considered a full-time starter between now and the beginning of spring training.