If you were looking for fire, hoping for brimstone, you had the right DNA, but the wrong generation.
Hal Steinbrenner expressed “frustration” and “disappointment” in a second straight playoff-less season for the Yankees. However, in yet another example of how he will boss rather than Boss this franchise, the Yankees’ managing general partner praised the work of Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi, expressed confidence that disappointing veterans will do better in 2015, insisted the team’s player development is pointed in the right direction and even opened his arms for Alex Rodriguez.
Amid the worst phase in two decades for the Yankees, Steinbrenner responded Wednesday not only with the dispassionate logic we are now coming to expect from him, but hopefulness.
In a State of the Yankees interview after the 2014 season, Steinbrenner told The Post, “I am as disappointed as the fans are. They expect better of us and me. We will work very hard in the offseason to put together a team to win it all. It is a new slate. We need to be optimistic about our young players and believe that our veterans will be healthy and better next year.”
Steinbrenner would not discuss if any coaches would lose their jobs. However, while acknowledging the historical narrative for this organization is to assign blame in times of failure and sacrifice jobs to appease an angry fan base, Steinbrenner said, “Changes will not be made in the organization for show. You will be held responsible if the job is not getting done. Any change we do make, I will feel the job was not getting done and we could do better.”
Steinbrenner said the team failed to reach the playoffs for two reasons: injuries and lack of offense. It was the second straight year he cited injuries as a culprit. He said more investigation would be done into the matter. However, Steinbrenner said because the injuries struck young and old players alike and were more traumatic – such as elbows for Carlos Beltran and Masahiro Tanaka, knee for CC Sabathia, etc. – rather than pulls and strains, he is not sure they were preventable.
He said the injuries, particularly to the rotation, created a vicious cycle of having to trust youngsters and overtax the bullpen. And there was not enough offense to compensate. He felt some of that shortfall was due to injuries to Beltran and Mark Teixeira or acclimation issues for Brian McCann, and anticipates far better in 2015.
But for 2014, he did not hold the most visible leadership culpable.
Steinbrenner confirmed he is in the midst of extension talks with Cashman, whose contract expires Oct. 31, because “when you look at the broad range of duties and responsibilities of a GM, Cash is a good one. I know people look at the bad trades, but now it looks like a great trade for [Michael] Pineda. I was impressed by all he did in July to keep us in it by acquiring guys like [Brandon] McCarthy and [Chase] Headley while not giving up too much. Overall, he is a good GM.”
As for Girardi, Steinbrenner acknowledged you could cherry-pick items you might not like game to game. But in the big picture, he said Girardi worked well moving around so much personnel the last two years due to injury.
“We are happy with Joe,” Steinbrenner said. “We want to give him average health and great things will happen.”
Steinbrenner said there would be “extensive” interviews to replace the retiring head of the minors, Mark Newman. But as opposed to last year, when Steinbrenner was irate about the lack of minor leaguers ready to help the struggling big club, he was happier about the current trajectory. He cited players such as Dellin Betances, Shane Greene and John Ryan Murphy as helping this year and on several occasions mentioned three names in particular – Rob Refsnyder, Luis Severino and the Yanks’ top 2014 pick, second-rounder Jacob Lindgren – as players he projects will help in 2015.
He also said a certain returning veteran, A-Rod, should be “an asset” next year.
“Where I am with him is I try not to dwell on the past,” Steinbrenner said. “There’s no upside there. You learn from history, but you have to dwell on the future and present. We have to put this behind us. He made mistakes. No one agrees with what he did. But he has paid for those mistakes. We need a healthy A-Rod because a healthy A-Rod can help us.”
Steinbrenner said money would be available to address needs, particularly in finding a shortstop and starting pitcher. But it did not sound as if he was ready to invest big dollars or long years on anybody. He returned to what has become a mantra for him in recent years: “I shouldn’t have to spend $230 million in payroll to win a world championship. No one else has.”
The lack of furor and what often feels – at least from the outside – like distant ownership has fueled talk inside the game and on Wall Street that the Steinbrenners will soon sell the Yankees.
The answer remains the same: “Absolutely not. There have been no conversations about us selling our majority share of the Yankees. I know the rumors are there every year. This is a family business, and we all are very involved. We all feel we owe it to George, and we all love it. We love carrying on what is now a 40-year legacy here. We have no plans on leaving, that just isn’t true.”
So he will stay. With the same GM, manager and the core of a team that just missed the playoffs. It is very un-Steinbrenner – at least in legacy. But what hasn’t changed, Steinbrenner vows, is the mandate. Yes, there is greater parity as more money is spread around the game and more financial rules hurt the Yankees.
Still, Steinbrenner said: “I don’t think you can teach us old dogs new tricks – we expect to win every year. Our fans do, too. I am disappointed by all of this. We will be back next year with a championship-caliber team.”