After Brian Cashman went on an uncharacteristically profane rant, Michael Kay was quick to remind everyone that’s not the Yankees way.
Cashman spoke with reporters from the General Manager Meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona for over an hour earlier this week and fielded questions about the underperforming roster he built. Even though the Yankees have not won a World Series in 14 years and missed the playoffs with a record that sat barely over .500 last season, Cashman became overwhelmingly defensive with reporters, dropping f-bombs and blasting “bullsh*t” narratives around the team.
Brian Cashman pushes back on the notion that the Yankees are an “analytically-driven” organization:
“No one is doing their deep dives, they’re just throwing bulls— and accusing us of being run analytically. To be said we’re guided by analytics as a driver is a lie.” pic.twitter.com/ru6gAYc0Cf
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 7, 2023
“I think we’re pretty f—ing good, personally, and I’m proud of our people”
Brian Cashman on the Yankees’ staff and their organizational process: pic.twitter.com/241maLqf6Z
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 7, 2023
But whatever point Cashman was trying to make became lost in the way he went about it. And on Wednesday, Kay, the longtime Yankees play-by-play voice and weekday radio host on ESPN New York, slammed Cashman’s tirade.
“I do not think that an executive of a team, especially a vice president, longtime GM, respected guy in the business, should have comported himself in that way,” Kay said. “You can call me the old man on the lawn, shouting at clouds. It’s taken me a long time to digest that every word out of a player’s mouth is an f-bomb, they can’t control themselves.”
“But as an executive, you are representing one of the biggest brands all over the world, and you’re dropping f-bombs and BS and stuff like that? It’s not a good look for Brian. Forget about what he said — the angry contentious way that he went at it, I think is very, very questionable.”
Kay has long been forthright about his love for the Yankees and his hatred of profanity. Earlier this year, Kay ripped Mets superstar Pete Alonso for dropping an f-bomb during a postgame interview, and he similarly blasted LeBron James for doing the same thing. Even though fans often unfairly criticize Kay for being a Yankees apologist, no one can accuse him of letting his fandom get in the way of calling out Cashman.
“Have you ever in your life ever heard an executive of a team speak like that? Ever? With that kind of anger, that kind of vitriol, with that kind of profanity? Ever?” Kay later asked. “He crossed lines that have never been crossed before.”
“Yesterday was not an honorable way to go about criticizing the media or the fans or your critics,” Kay continued. “A Yankee executive does not talk like that publicly, does not use expletives like that, does not have that kind of mouth when the camera’s rolling. It’s not a good look for the New York Yankees. Believe me, I’ve been around this forever. The Yankee brand is very important to the people around the Yankees. You cannot tell me that what Brian did yesterday is good for the Yankee brand.”
Kay could have said he didn’t like the profanity and moved on. But instead, he offered a brutally honest assessment of Cashman and the poor manner in which he represented the Yankees organization this week.
But more than the profanity, the most concerning part about Cashman’s tirade was the fact that he sounded unhinged, and maybe even burnt out by incessant criticisms of the roster he built. Dropping an f-bomb and repeatedly using “bullsh*t” as a way of calling out the fans and media was certainly jarring and bizarre.
We’ve watched Cashman give endlessly boring interviews for more than three decades. But after what was arguably the Yankees most disappointing season under his watch, Cashman sounded like a general manager who is starting to unravel.
