Brian Cashman has lame excuse for Yankees’ World Series drought

The New York Yankees have not been to a World Series since 2009, which is far too long a drought by that organization’s standards. GM Brian Cashman dislikes that stat, however, and thinks it comes with an important caveat.

Cashman blamed the Houston Astros for denying the Yankees a title in 2017, pointing to the fact that the Astros were using a sign-stealing scheme that year. The Yankees lost the ALCS to the Astros in seven games that year, and Cashman believes things would have been different on an even playing field.

“The only thing that stopped [us] was something that was so illegal and horrific,” Cashman told Andy McCullough of The Athletic. “So I get offended when I start hearing we haven’t been to the World Series since ’09. Because I’m like, ‘Well, I think we actually did it the right way.’ Pulled it down, brought it back up. Drafted well, traded well, developed well, signed well. The only thing that derailed us was a cheating circumstance that threw us off.

“People are like ‘Oh, we haven’t been to a World Series…’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think that’s as true a statement as it could be.’ We had a World Series team. And either you get it done or you don’t. People don’t want to hear that. I get it. But that’s real to me. I think it’s real to all of us.”

Cashman and the Yankees are justified in feeling aggrieved about what happened in 2017, and it’s been made clear on more than one occasion they still feel that way. However, a big factor in that series was his team’s lack of offense. The Yankees lost all four games in Houston, scoring just one run in three of those games and being shut out in the fourth. The Astros stealing signs cannot be blamed for New York scoring three runs in four road games.

The Yankees have made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, which is a credit to Cashman. However, they have failed to break through, and only made the ALCS in two of those appearances, losing both times. That cannot all be boiled down to one cheating scandal.

Photo: Mar 14, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talks with media during spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports