May get more work with Yank kids
Historically, the Yankees have opted to wait until contracts of their manager and GM are up before making a decision. Cashman is also in the final year of his deal.
“We love Joe,” Steinbrenner said. “Joe is one of many people who work in this organization who have contracts. And I treat all of them the same. I don’t deal with it until the contract is close to up or up. We’ve just got too many other things to focus on, and his situation and he knows that it was no different than 3-4 years ago. I’m sure we’ll be talking maybe towards the end of the year, but right now there’s a lot more things to be worried about than that.”
Steinbrenner was complimentary of the way Girardi deals with young and old players, praising his baseball acumen and ability to deal with the pressures of New York. While the 2017 season will be judged by wins and losses, it will not be the sole focus when Steinbrenner decides his manager’s fate.
Cashman recommended to Steinbrenner at the trade deadline that veterans Aroldis Chapman (now back) and Andrew Miller be dealt in order to restock the farm system. The return included highly-touted prospects Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield.
“I think he’s done great,” Steinbrenner said of Cashman. “I think the changes we made in player development the last few years — which of course he oversees including scouting — I just think we’re in a good place right now, but now we’ve got to prove ourselves.”
Much has been made of the organization’s plan to get under the luxury tax threshold by 2018 before a potential spending bonanza during the 2018-19 offseason. It’s not exactly boom or bust like it was under the late George Steinbrenner.
“What hasn’t changed is that we’re always going to field a championship caliber team,” Steinbrenner said. “That’s what we’re going to do. And if money comes off the payroll we’re going do our best to put it back into the team — as we did this year and next year (when) we’ll have a lot of money coming off the payroll. And we’re always going to make sure that we have a good mix of marquee veteran proven talent along with the young players.”
Said Steinbrenner of Jacoby Ellsbury, who has been underwhelming since signing a sevenyear, $153 million contract: “We’ll see. Jacoby’s a great player. He comes to play every day. He’s been great with the young kids and the stats are what the stats are, but I’ve enjoyed having him on the club.”
Asked about Masahiro Tanaka’s looming potential opt-out, Steinbrenner replied, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” ANDREW SAVULICH/ DAILY NEWS & AP