RING OF DESIRE
Yanks’ ultimate goal is to win title: Cashman
TAMPA — Brian Cashman has enough World Series rings to fill his left hand. Now, the Yankees’ general manager wants to start on the right one.
While acknowledging how good the defending World Series champion Astros, the Indians and the Red Sox are, Cashman craves a sixth circular piece of jewelry.
“The ultimate goal is to win the next one, need another ring is the goal,” Cashman said Monday morning, when the Yankees gathered at George M. Steinbrenner Field for their initial full-squad workout. “I need another ring. I’ve got rings, but there are other guys in here who don’t have rings. Some have rings from somewhere else. You want a Yankee ring. I think a ring with NY on it means more than any of the other ones out there in my opinion. Collectively, we are going to try and get that done.”
After going to Game 7 of the ALCS against the Astros last year, when they were led by youngsters Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Luis Severino, the belief was the Yankees were a club on the climb.
Then they added Giancarlo Stanton, the NL MVP, to the mix, and expectations went north.
While searching for a sixth ring, Cashman is well aware of the hurdles simply to reaching the World Series for the first time since 2009, when the Yankees toppled the Phillies for the organization’s 27th title.
“We have ground to make up. The Red Sox won the division and we have to find [a way] to keep the teams behind us behind us. Cleveland and Houston both won 100-plus games, and Houston is the defending world champs,’’ Cashman said. “We have massive competition. The best teams are in the American League. We know our work is cut out for us.”
Cashman didn’t want to insult other teams by saying the Yankees’ season will be defined by them making the World Series or not.
“I am not saying World Series or bust. I have too much respect for the players and teams we have to go up against,” Cashman said. “It’s my job to provide as much talent as we possibly can to put us in a position to compete for that and let it play out. We are proud of what we have done, but the goal is to win a world championship. We are not going to go through the motions and spend all this time and effort that we have put into this and obviously the investment our owners put down without the thought at the end of the day we have to find a way to deliver a championship. Every move we make, every move we try to make, is to get us closer to that. Whether it happens in ’18, ’19 or ’20, it all remains to be seen. Every step we take is trying to being a championshipcaliber team.’’
Cashman understands the volume and attention has increased for two reasons.
“There is more excitement because of what our team did last year and the addition, obviously, of Stanton,’’ Cashman said. “No doubt the buzz in the winter and coming into the spring is a lot louder and more positive. That’s our job. Our job is to put ourselves in position to be relevant, to be considered as a championship-caliber team. Houston is a great champion, and it’s going to take a lot to take them out. But our first focus more so has to be the Red Sox because they are the defending American League East champs.’’
As for the crowded outfield, Cashman said the Yankees are fortunate to have depth. He said he is fielding calls from other teams with infielders capable of playing third and from agents with third-base possibilities if the Yankees decide Miguel Andujar isn’t quite ready for the big leagues at the start of the season.
“The landscape is wide open for us to continue to evaluate what’s available to us, both internal and external,” Cashman said.