WFAN radio host Mike Francesa has become very vocal against the Yankees team brass after the Astros beat the Yankees 4-0 in the ALCS. He talked about it on his BetRivers podcast and came to the conclusion that the Yankees need “whole-scale changes” on the field and in the office, starting with Brian Cashman as general manager.
With the caveat that Hal Steinbrenner won’t “do anything to win” like his father George did, Mike Francesa said that calling for the end of Cashman’s run wasn’t “hitting the panic button” or overreacting to an emotional loss against the rival Astros, “who they hate and feel cheated them” and “publicly sought revenge against.”
Mike Francesa said:
“I don’t think the Yankees are going in the right direction. I think that sometimes, even when guys have done a good job, it’s time to change things. Cashman is what I’m talking about. I’ve always known Cashman. He has had a great career and has been there for a long time. He has a lot to be proud of and, as Bill Parcells used to say, a lot of pelts.”
“But at some point, you need a new voice and a different direction. The best thing they could do right now is to move on because this team needs a lot of changes.”
Cashman, who is 55 years old, started working for the Yankees in 1986 and became general manager in 1998.
Mike Francesa put these Yankees next to the ghosts, both living and dead, that they are after. He said that the Yankees aren’t as good as the dynasty that started in 1996 and that the gap has gotten bigger with the Astros, who have gotten better since losing stars like Carlos Correa and Michael Brantley.
He criticized the Yankees for the excuses they were making.
“I couldn’t believe the Yankees were complaining that their balls weren’t going out of the park,” Francesa said, “These are the New York Yankees! When you’ve hit 250 home runs, you don’t complain when one doesn’t go out of the park. Opening and closing roofs and talking about Alex Bregman’s ball going out and Judge’s ball not going out? When you hear things like that, and this wasn’t just one or two people saying it, it was like half the team talking about losing the game, so shut up! You’re from New York!”
Mike Francesa said he would talk later about what the Yankees should do next, but he did say that he “thinks it is time” for Cashman to leave and that the new boss should decide whether Aaron Boone should stay as a manager or not.
“I think they need a different tact,” the radio host told, “The way they are putting this team together is not working. But oh, they make the playoffs! With their resources, in this age, they’re almost always going to make the playoffs. There are teams that have one-third of their resources that make the playoffs a lot. It’s not about making the playoffs. They haven’t been to the World Series since 2009, and now there’s a team that they can’t get past, no matter what they do, and if anything the gap has widened. And they can’t blame it on garbage cans or devices or anything else they want to come up with as an excuse. The Yankees have gotten very good at excuses.”
“The Yankees are pros at making excuses,” he thundered, noting that even though they were missing key players like Andrew Benintendi, everyone gets hurt. “Nobody cares. Get what you want. All done. They need big changes all around. There are very few guys who have to be on this team next year, and I mean very few. That’s a good starting point.”
Mike Francesa said that Anthony Rizzo and maybe Aaron Judge, who is about to become a free agent and is expected to make a lot of money after hitting a record number of home runs last season, are two of the players who have to come back. However, he compared them negatively to the Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera Yankees and their modern rivals, the Houston Astros.
“The Yankees need to try something different and that is not too much of a response to a brutal and mind-numbing sweep of four games,” Francesa said, “They didn’t win 100 games, and they won’t be in the World Series again; they won’t beat the Astros, either; they can’t even win a game against them. There is where it all begins.”
Do you agree with what Mike Francesa said? What changes do you like to see in the Yankees teams?
