Major League Baseball

Are Yankees' World Series expectations fading under GM Brian Cashman?

Updated Feb. 8, 2023 2:08 p.m. ET

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If any MLB fan base is justified in a "World-Series-or-bust" mentality, it's the one whose team has a record 27 championships. But the New York Yankees have not lived up to expectations since their 2009 World Series win, unable to even make it back to the Fall Classic despite 10 playoff appearances since then. 

That drought continued this past fall when the Yankees were swept by the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros in the American League Championship series, the third time the Yankees have lost to the Astros in the ALCS in the past six seasons. For longtime general manager Brian Cashman, not winning the World Series means the club won't get the credit it deserves given New York's "tough grading system."

"The only way you get an A is if you finish with that trophy in hand, otherwise you get an F, there's nothing in between," Cashman said, per WFAN660 Radio. "In the end, we were four games short of a World Series appearance, but it felt like the way our fan base reacted and the press that we got knocked out in the first round. So you can't really remember sometimes reality versus the perception, and the perception was we didn't do well. 

"The reality was we had a hell of another run at it, but fell short. But that’s just the New York market."

Those comments did not sit well with Flippin' Bats hosts Ben Verlander and Alex Curry, who believe Yankees fans should not have to lower their expectations given the team's history and payroll.

"[Cashman said] that they were ‘four games short of the World Series.’ No, Brian, you got swept by the Houston Astros," Verlander said. "You got your doors blown off in the ALCS. That's not something to celebrate."

Co-host Alex Curry referred to comments Cashman made in 2017 when he said that a "World Series-or-bust mentality" is "a thing of the past."

"Excuse me? You are the New York Yankees, one of the greatest teams of all time," Curry said. "Every professional athlete should go into every single season with the mentality of, ‘We are going to win it all,’ that being the mentality of World Series or bust' … I never thought the day would come where I would ask Yankees fans, ‘Do we need to lower our standards for the Yankees?’"

Do New York Yankees fans need to lower their standards after Cashman's comments?

Verlander pointed out that both he and Curry are old enough to remember the Yankees' dominance in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when New York won four World Series titles in five seasons.

"I remember when the New York Yankees were the New York Yankees and it was World Series or bust," Verlander said. "The facts are, the New York Yankees are still the most or one of the most valuable franchises in the entire world. It should be World-Series or bust … Do you think Yankees fans right now are saying, ‘You know what, we got our doors blown off by the Houston Astros, but what a great season we had, it was so much fun. We had fun, we got pretty close, so great season?' … No. It's about what you do in the playoffs."

As Verlander alluded to, Yankees fans are quick to turn on even their favorite superstars when those players do not perform in the postseason. Aaron Judge broke Roger Maris' AL single-season home run record en route to the 2022 AL MVP award, yet Judge got booed by some in the home crowd at Yankee Stadium in Game 2 of the 2022 AL Division Series after a rough start to the playoffs.

"Aaron Judge was getting booed one game into the playoffs," Verlander said. "Nobody was satisfied except for apparently Brian Cashman. It's unacceptable. These comments are ridiculous. They are the Astros' little brother right now."

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For some teams, Verlander reasoned, just making the playoffs might be enough to consider their season a success in the right context, but the Yankees can never be in that position.

"The Seattle Mariners, they should be pumped to get in the playoffs this year. They broke a drought. And there are plenty of other teams that should be excited about a season where they made the playoffs," Verlander said. "But the New York Yankees should never be saying, ‘Guess what, we got to the ALCS. We should be proud of that. We were four games from the World Series. No. You’re the New York Yankees. I grew up having to hear every single day that the New York Yankees had 27 rings and guess what, they still have 27 rings and not getting another one is unacceptable."

As Curry pointed out, the Yankees have only reached the World Series twice in the past 20 years.

"It's beyond me right now," Curry said. "What are you doing?"

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