Hal Steinbrenner ‘emotional’ over Yanks’ youth movement
HOUSTON — Hal Steinbrenner presents differently than his late father, and he knows it. The Yankees’ big boss wears a poker face to work each day. George Steinbrenner owned a range of expressions that surely made Jim Carrey jealous.
Yet Saturday in The Bronx, when Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back home runs in their respective first majorleague at-bats, Hal Steinbrenner felt an unusual sensation.
“I’ve got to be honest with you: Saturday, I was emotional,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday, at the Major League Baseball quarterly owners meetings. “It doesn’t happen often.”
His emotion stemmed from the Yankees’ youth movement, which is in full force and has Steinbrenner fired up about the franchise’s future — both short-term and long-term — and professing confidence in his general manager and manager.
“We’ve been following these guys for three years, all the ups and downs and the progressions,” Steinbrenner said. “My goodness, the hope that you have. Then when you come up and see [Gary] San- chez, the last two weeks, what he’s doing. And then Saturday … it would be hard as managing general partner to not be emotional about something like that.”
The Yankees’ trades of Aroldis Chapman (to the Cubs) and Andrew Miller (to the Indians) strengthened what had been regarded as a middle-tier farm system. Their trade of Carlos Beltran to the Rangers brought in a few more prospects and — even more important, in Steinbrenner’s eyes — made room for the young talent that already has made its mark. The release of Alex Rodriguez hastened the transition.
“Getting rid of Carlos was a tough decision. He was the best guy on our offense,” Steinbrenner said. “I really felt that even with him in the lineup, we still weren’t being productive. We had guys at Triple-A — Sanchez, Austin and Judge — that absolutely deserved a shot. They were absolutely ready, and they were ready now. I made the decision … that moving Carlos would create an avenue to make all that happen. To get these kids to start now, not September 1.
“So far, they’ve been impactful. We’ll see.”
The Yankees’ already slim playoff chances took a hit with two straight home losses to Toronto. Nevertheless, Steinbrenner ordered the acquisitions of Tyler Clippard (from Arizona) and Adam Warren (from the Cubs, in the Chapman trade) with the hopes of keeping the club in contention this season.
“I think you’ve got the seventh and eighth [innings] pretty solid [with Clippard and Warren], and then it’s about the hitting,” Steinbrenner said.
Selling off veterans midseason broke a long precedent for the Yankees, and Steinbrenner admitted, “I think it’s kind of in my DNA to absolutely not trade anybody at the deadline. If anything, we’re normally buyers, right? Last year we did nothing. So I had to overcome a little bit of DNA issues, I think.”
He overcame them thanks to views of social media, where Yankees fans strongly supported the reboot. Steinbrenner also recalled a sponsor’s event before a spring-training game in Tampa when a slew of fans delighted in meeting injured first baseman Greg Bird, who shined in his debut last year and should play in the Arizona Fall League.
Steinbrenner said he’s excited about next season, and he made it clear that Cashman and manager Joe Girardi will lead those efforts. Both men’s contracts expire after the 2017 season. Steinbrenner credited Cashman for his efforts around the trade deadline, and he acquitted Girardi over this year’s results.
Said Steinbrenner: “Joe could do nothing about the lack of run production.”