Stroman: Cashman and I ‘hashed out’ past beef
NEW YORK — Brian Cashman apologized to Marcus Stroman over 2019 remarks the Yankees general manager made before New York negotiated a $37 million, two-year contract with the 32-year-old right-hander.
Cashman discussed trading for Stroman with Toronto before the Blue Jays dealt the pitcher to the New York Mets in July 2019.
“We were interested in Stroman but we didn’t think he would be a difference-maker,” Cashman told Yahoo Sports in 2019. “We felt he would be in our bullpen in the postseason.”
Cashman said he apologized at the time through Stroman’s agent and directly to Stroman during negotiations this offseason.
“I just said for the amount of talent they wanted back, it wasn’t going to be enough of a difference-maker,” Cashman said during a Zoom news conference Thursday. “That was my bad, because then how it played wasn’t certainly how it was intended.”
Stroman spoke with Cashman by phone during negotiations.
“Me and Cashman kind of hashed out whatever it was that we had from a few years ago,” Stroman said during a Zoom call earlier Thursday. “We kind of laughed about it and we moved on.”
A two-time All-Star, Stroman missed six weeks last season with the Chicago Cubs because of inflammation in his right hip and then a rib cartilage fracture. He finished 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA that was his highest since 2018, leaving him 77-76 with a 3.65 ERA since making his big league debut in 2014.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone visited Stroman’s home during the recruiting process, and Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rizzo and Anthony Volpe also spoke with the free agent.
“This is an ultimate competitor. This is someone that wants the big stage, wants the bright lights,” Cashman said. “There is a population of major league talent that does not want to play in the New York arena. It’s too hot. It’s too difficult. It’s too much. But that is not this player.”
Stroman has a reputation among some for having a contentious relationship with fans.
“I’d say I’m misunderstood, for sure,” he explained. “I think people will have a different view of me after my tenure here. I don’t think Cash, I don’t think Boonie, I don’t think Judge would want me to be a part if they didn’t know my character and how I was as a teammate.”
Stroman joins a rotation projected to include Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, and Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt. Rodón and Cortes already are working out at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, Florida, following injury-shortened seasons.
“We do like what we have,” Cashman said of the rotation.
New York’s other major moves this offseason included acquiring outfielders Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham.
“I think we’ve improved,” Cashman said. “I think our team was better than how it finished, regardless of last year.”
He expects center fielder Jasson Domínguez will return from Tommy John surgery sometime in the summer and said Giancarlo Stanton has been working hard on conditioning and diet after hitting a career-worst .191 with 60 RBIs last season.
Cashman said doctors have told the team they expect Rizzo has recovered from the May 28 concussion that wrecked the first baseman’s season.
“The doctors have told us he’s 100% clear. That the type of concussion he had once he’s passed, it will not return,” Cashman said.
TORONTO — Blue Jays outfielder George Springer skipped into third base on a key RBI hit by teammate Alejandro Kirk, and hopped right into an inning-ending out in the fifth on Sunday against the Athletics.
Springer was called out following a replay review after Athletics third baseman Max Schuemann alertly kept his glove on the Blue Jays right fielder while Springer hopped up and down on third base.
Springer, who had reached on an RBI single that opened the scoring for Toronto, was celebrating Kirk’s double that cut the deficit to 3-2.
The out call meant Toronto slugger Addison Barger didn’t get to bat with runners at second and third.
Schuemann had just entered the game as a defensive replacement, taking over for Miguel Andujar.
The Athletics had lost five straight and 16 of 17 entering Sunday.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Slumping Rangers slugger Adolis García was held out of Texas’ lineup for the third consecutive day Sunday, with president of baseball operations Chris Young saying the club wants the 2023 ALCS MVP to make some mechanical changes.
“We need him to kind of commit to some of these changes that we think will get him back to the ’23 version of himself and help him be the player that we know he can be,” Young said before Texas’ series finale against St. Louis.
García is hitting .155 in the past 20 games with 25 strikeouts. He is hitting .208 overall, with seven homers and a team-high 27 RBIs for a Rangers club that has struggled offensively. He ranked 14th in the majors with 122 home runs over the past four seasons.
García, who has started 55 of Texas’ 60 games in right field this season, missed only one other game before this weekend, with manager Bruce Bochy saying Friday that García was being given a mental break.
“It’s about the mental reset and coming back with more energy,” García told reporters Saturday. “I’m working on some stuff without the pressure of having to do something up there.”
García, 32, is in the final season of a two-year contract.
The anticipated return of Evan Carter to the active roster Tuesday, joining Wyatt Langford, Alejandro Osuna and Sam Haggerty, further crowds the Rangers outfield as García tries to return to the lineup.
“It’s going to be performance-driven at this point,” Young said.
Texas also made three roster moves before Sunday’s game. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (triceps fatigue) was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Thursday, catcher Tucker Barnhart was designated for assignment, and right-hander Codi Heuer was selected from Triple-A Round Rock.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway