James Rowson was named the new hitting instructor by the New York Yankees on Monday, marking their first major offseason acquisition. Rowson is said to be close with Aaron Judge and had previously worked in the agricultural system in New York. After Carlos Mendoza was formally named New York Mets manager on Monday, the Yankees still need to select a bench coach.

Appointing a new hitting instructor this summer was a necessary step, but it’s hardly the major change Yankees fans are hoping for. The Yankees now need to bolster their roster and provide Rowson with more options. This includes attempting to keep Giancarlo Stanton on the pitch, something that Stanton’s general manager, Brian Cashman, acknowledged isn’t very possible at this stage of his career.

According to the New York Daily News, Cashman made the following remarks regarding Stanton last week at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale:

In Arizona, Cashman declared, “We’ve got to get Stanton up and running again.” “He is prone to injury. Although it’s something that we’ve all experienced, this year marks the first time that he hasn’t struck out while playing.”

“We make an effort to minimise his downtime,” Cashman stated. “However, I won’t promise that he will play in every game the following season because he won’t. It seems to be part of his game, therefore it’s possible that he will end up hurting himself again. But I am aware that the man is a terrific hitter and has been for a very long time when he is well and healthy, save from this last year.”

“He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game?” Hurt. Even while it’s undoubtedly accurate, the general manager spoke some really harsh things about a vital team member. with fairness, Cameron Maybin, a former teammate of Stanton’s who played for the Yankees and the Florida Marlins, recently expressed uncertainty about Stanton’s desire to end his career with pinstripes.

It goes without saying that Stanton’s corner did not appreciate what Cashman had to say. Joel Wolfe, Stanton’s agent, replied as follows, according to Ken Rosenthal:

“I read the interview’s whole context. I believe it serves as a helpful reminder to any free agents, both local and foreign, who are thinking about signing with New York, that you have to be mentally and physically tough to play for that team, since you never have time to relax, even during the offseason.”

Take this as a not-so-subtle warning that Cashman’s remarks in public regarding Stanton would damage the Yankees’ standing with players who might be interested in signing. First off, the Yankees are supposedly very high on NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who Wolfe also represents. Yamamoto is anticipated to be posted this winter.

Stanton has only participated in 391 of the 708 regular season games that have been available since 2019, or 55% of the total. In 2023, he had the worst season of his career, hitting.191/.275/.420 in 101 games with 24 home runs. That follows 2022, which was previously his worst season to date. In 110 games last year, Stanton, 34, hit.211/.297/.462 with 31 home runs.

While Stanton’s injuries and poor play played a part in the Yankees finishing 25th in runs and 24th in OPS in 2023, Cashman failed to add enough depth to make up for it. Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Billy McKinney saw over 900 plate appearances from a club whose payroll was close to $300 million. Their total OPS was.662.

It is true that Stanton did not play in 2023 and that his injuries now look inevitable. Cashman’s roster design and lack of competent depth players to fill in are the bigger problems. The fact that so many of New York’s best young position players have developed into unproductive adults has compounded their depth problems. This is the team’s biggest problem at the moment.