NEW YORK — Brian Cashman survived another October exit. The New York Yankees agreed to a new contract with their general manager on Oct. 21, two weeks after the Tampa Bay Rays swept them out of the AL Division Series.
The deal keeps Cashman in charge for a 30th season in 2027, extending the longest general manager tenure in franchise history. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner put the blame for the playoff loss on the players, not the front office.
Since then, former Yankees including Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Paul O’Neill and Jorge Posada have publicly criticized how the club is run. Two of Cashman’s senior advisers, Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya, will not have their contracts renewed.
None of the criticism has been as pointed as what came from a Hall of Famer this weekend.
Gossage takes aim at the top
Goose Gossage tore into the Yankees’ leadership in an NJ.com interview published Saturday, singling out Cashman, Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine.
Gossage, 75, starred for the Yankees from 1978 to 1983 and closed for the 1978 World Series champions. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 and has a plaque in Monument Park.
He has also been one of the front office’s loudest critics for a decade, aiming much of his fire at the analytics approach Cashman has championed. The Yankees have effectively kept him away from team events since 2018.
Gossage, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, opened with the franchise’s ownership.
“It starts at the top. A dead fish stinks from the head down,” Gossage said.
He said he recently saw Levine interviewed on television with a photo of the late George Steinbrenner in the background. Gossage said the image bothered him.
“He should be ashamed, sitting there with a picture of Mr. Steinbrenner,” Gossage said.
He then invoked the owner who made Cashman general manager and won seven titles during his ownership.
“Mr. Steinbrenner is rolling over in his grave,” Gossage said.
‘I wouldn’t waste a dime calling him’
Gossage made clear there is no relationship left to repair with the general manager. Asked about reaching out to Cashman, he dismissed the idea.
“I wouldn’t waste a dime calling him,” Gossage said.
He tied the Yankees’ struggles to the analytics department Cashman has built and suggested the general manager wants even more control over in-game decisions.
“Cashman would love to have one of his analytics nerds managing, but he doesn’t have the guts to do it,” Gossage said.
Gossage was just as dismissive of manager Aaron Boone, who enters the final year of his contract.
“He’s collecting a paycheck,” Gossage said.
He said the analytics staff, not the manager, is making the decisions.
“The Yankees do not need a manager. Whatever that computer spits out,” Gossage said.
Gossage also said coaches fired by the Yankees over the past two decades have told him the job fell short of what they expected when they arrived.
He took aim at the roster Cashman assembled, too, singling out second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who is headed for free agency.
“He’s a disgrace to the Yankees. He’s a clown,” Gossage said.
Gossage tells Steinbrenner to sell
Asked who bears responsibility for 17 seasons without a title, Gossage widened the target beyond Cashman to the owner who just extended him.
“The whole regime. Hal (Steinbrenner) and the whole front office. Hal should sell the team,” Gossage said.
He framed the ownership’s priorities as financial rather than competitive.
“It’s all about money. All the Yankees do is ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching,” Gossage said.
He insisted his anger is aimed at the people running the club, not the franchise itself.
“I love the Yankees! Are you kidding me? It’s this whole regime that I don’t like,” Gossage said.
Cashman’s record, split in two
Cashman’s tenure divides cleanly at 2009. From 1998 through 2009, his first 12 seasons, the Yankees won four World Series titles.
In the 17 seasons since, they have won none. They have reached the World Series once, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024.
That drought now ties the longest gap between championships in franchise history. The Yankees also went 17 seasons without a title between 1978 and 1996, a stretch that began right after Gossage’s first season in pinstripes.
Cashman keeps grip on Yankees
Cashman will direct the Yankees‘ offseason under his new contract. The 2027 coaching staff is still being finalized, and 10 players are headed for free agency.
Steinbrenner has said changes are coming “from top to bottom, as we do every year.”
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