Brian Cashman talks Yankees' injuries, early-season struggles: 'Don't count us out'

The Yankees were hoping to make that jump to the World Series in 2023, but it hasn’t gone as planned.

Injuries have played a big part in the Yankees' early struggles this season. Entering Wednesday, they are just one game above .500 (16-15) and find themselves in last place in the AL East after winning the division a year ago.

GM Brian Cashman made himself available to the media prior to Wednesday’s game against the Guardians at Yankee Stadium and spoke about a slew of topics including the aforementioned injuries, how to improve the team and who is to blame for recent acquisitions not panning out.

Here are some key takeaways…

What concerns you the most about the Yankees' early struggles?

“Missing the guys we count on. We left spring training down three starters and that was the area most concerning out of camp, not necessarily the offense. Losing [Frankie] Montas and obviously [Luis Severino] and [Carlos] Rodon are huge losses. The number of injuries that we experienced, maybe some underperformance at the same time with certain guys.

“And having to baptize some of the young guns on the offensive side. We really struggled to score runs. And that's what brought us to where we are now.”

What needs to change and what can you do to help facilitate it?

"Ultimately, myself and our staff are constantly looking for ways to get better. Time of year is tough. April, May, June. If you ask me the question in the winter time or even in March, ‘what’s your biggest fear coming out in the early part of the season?’ I would say you don’t want to get wrecked with injuries early because trying to go outside the organization to deal with that is pretty difficult in today’s game. The silver lining is we will get these individuals mostly back … but the difficulty is waiting for it."

What’s the cause of injuries?

“We’re getting hit with injuries. I’m not blaming any individual for that. It’s not the strength and conditioning department, it's not how we train our players. We had a hamstring issue and I don’t think we had any last season. We called up [Jake] Bauers and he had a great year [in the minors] and his first game he slams into the wall. It’s unfortunate."

“I believe we have really good personnel on the health care side of this thing, from doctors to trainers to strength coaches. We have players who are wired the right way that care and compete. And then you run into circumstances where we are struggling to score some runs, we start to flex our muscles in an individual game and [Aaron] Judge slides into third base and he’s out for a few days. It all adds up and you have to overcome it. We need to tread water as we get through this.”

On not making trades to address holes in roster

“It takes two to tango. You engage other clubs, try to make deals. You’re not going to make a bad deal. We know which areas we want to get better at, that doesn’t mean we’re going to do something that doesn’t make sense.

“We had a lot of conversations that we were optimistic about that didn’t pan out. There are some players that other clubs coveted that from our perspective was a move we were not willing to make. I know right now we would be in a worse position if we made those deals.”

On a follow-up, Cashman explained there wasn't any move he could have done prior to spring training.

“I don’t think there was anything on the table that would have made a difference.

"We’re certainly exploring a lot of efforts. If you look at our roster we have depth in our infield. If we don’t get the right value.it wouldn’t make sense. I don’t see any missed opportunities."

On recent trades that didn’t pan out

"The recent moves I made have not worked out. We haven’t had as much success in the more recent side than we had before, especially after the last deadline to have gotten better.

"There were a handful of players who struggled here and had success after here. This is a tough place to play, we understand that and don’t run from it. … In terms of health you go through their medicals, deal with the players directly. And if they get hurt after that, they get hurt. I know we are doing all the deep dives and checks, but that doesn’t avoid you to injuries.

"We have the full medical examinations and injuries happen. And that's certainly killing us… If you want to convict someone, convict me because it’s my responsibility."

Do you believe the Yankees are a championship-caliber team?

"When we’re at full health, or close to it, I do. Unfortunately, we’re in the position that we’re in. We have to be thankful it’s a long season. … We have time to make up ground and we’re going to compete with who we have here and look forward to getting back at a later date.

"Don’t count us out. Don’t give up on us. We have a good group of people, staff wise, support staff wise. It’s a championship-caliber operation. But we’re not currently flying at the level we were expecting because we are missing pieces. It’s a part of it and you have to withstand it. You have to continue to tread some water, at the very least, and not try to slide while we wait for pieces to return."