Yankees assist foster care organization, Brian Cashman talks trade deadline, Tyler Wade and more

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman held forth on several topics related to the team on Thursday morning, and we’ll get to those in a moment. But it’s also worth highlighting -- in the grand scheme, far more worthy of highlighting, actually -- the reason he was in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for a media availability.

Cashman, Clay Holmes, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and assistant hitting coach Hensley Meulens hung out and played Wiffle ball, football and cornhole with members of You Gotta Believe, an organization that helps place older foster children in permanent homes. The team also presented a $10,000 donation.

The outreach, which is part of this year’s HOPE Week program, was the idea of Cashman’s ex-wife, Mary Bresnan. The stories within it are compelling, including that of Joe Toles, who spent his first 18 years in foster care. Now 63, he is the adopted father of eight, the youngest of whom is 17 years old.

Toles wanted it known that older children in foster care often slip through the cracks.

“People don't understand that you can adopt an older child,” he said. “And the other part of that is that not a lot of older kids are aware that they can be adopted and continue to look for a family.”

Per You Gotta Believe, nearly 50 percent of kids in foster care will go on to experience homelessness, and are more likely to experience unemployment, unplanned pregnancy, involvement in the legal system and issues with substance abuse.

“There's an age component where people get timed out and they haven't been placed yet,” Cashman said. “[You Gotta Believe is] a safety net to try to capture kids that are older at the very back end of their foster care programs and now they’re about to time out.

“We're lucky. We’re born lucky. But not everybody was born lucky, and You Gotta Believe is trying to accommodate and take care of people that weren't born fortunate.”

For compelling short videos of Toles and his foster kids, visit joetoles.com. For more information about You Gotta Believe, visit yougottabelieve.org.

Cashman also addressed several Yankees-related topics...

On why the Yankees traded for Tyler Wade, their longtime infielder who was in Triple-A with the Angels (Wade will report to Triple-A Scranton):

“We know Tyler. We know what he brings to the table. He can play all the outfield positions, (he) can play all the infield positions. He's a bolt of lightning on the base paths. He can steal bases for you. So I thought he was a good organizational depth, so now we have more choices. We're better protected as we start to navigate the rest of July, August and September, and hopefully October. And I think we're a stronger, better organization today than we were yesterday because now we have more coverage.

On if he would be less inclined to trade for an unvaccinated player:

“I wouldn't comment.”

[Note: I will. You can bet that the Yankees are less likely to acquire a player who is not allowed to play in Canada. Vaccination status wasn’t a deal-breaker for Cashman at last year’s deadline, but that was when the Blue Jays were playing home games in Buffalo].

On whether he considers starting pitching an area of need at the trade deadline:

“I'm not going to point out what areas I think we have the need for. But I'm going to point out that we will try to do whatever we think is possible to improve the club, because that's the job.”

Unsatisfied with that answer, I tried this:

Your rotation has been so healthy and so good so far. But does [Luis] Severino having an MRI remind you of the importance of starting pitching depth?

“I don't ever need reminders. There is a long way to go and a lot of things can happen. We want to be the best team in baseball, and so my job and our job is to pursue all opportunities that might address that.”

Still not satisfied with that answer, I moved on anyway. Has the creation of the extra wild card spot and the fact that a bunch of teams are hot slowed the start of the trade deadline season?

“It's hard to say. Obviously, the draft is Sunday. That has always been a hurdle that things get more active when the draft is behind you.”

On Joey Gallo:

“I mean, he's competing. He's a triple threat. He can help us win games with his legs, with his arm -- with his defense -- and with his bat, and you know. We haven't seen the Joey Gallo that we saw in Texas. But we've won a lot of games despite it because obviously, it's a team situation.

He still can contribute … it's in there, it's possible and I appreciate the fact that he's not shying away. He's grinding through it and fighting through it and hopefully, hopefully, the best is yet to come.”