Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner went on Michael Kay’s ESPN radio show to talk about his team and how things are going so far during the 2023 season. He said some interesting things to say. Several comments likely made fans shake their head in disgust. But what would it take for him to really consider a significant change for his club?
As the Yankees prepare to finish up a series at home against the Mariners, they’ve gotten back on track a bit. They’ve won two in a row and currently sit at 41-33 on the year. While the offense is still struggling without Aaron Judge, New York does hold one of the AL Wild Card spots.
Then again, they’re also just third place in the AL East and 9.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. But still, Steinbrenner is confused about fans being up in arms when it’s only the third week of June:
Hal Steinbrenner says he’s a little confused why Yankees fans are so upset when it’s only the third week of June pic.twitter.com/wwVDJEoYcx
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 21, 2023
While chatting with Kay and his crew, Steinbrenner said what we all expected: nobody is in danger of losing their job right now (quote via NJ.com):
Nobody is on the hot seat right now. Let’s get through the season. Let’s see what happens.
When could some seats start to get warm, though? Hal provided some specific instances where he’d start to consider it:
I would say that if we can march into the playoffs with 90 percent of our intended team that we expected to be on the field every day, 90 percent, and we don’t perform well in the playoffs, I’m going to start asking the questions even then. If we don’t maybe the playoffs and we’re healthy the second half of the year and we start getting guys back and we get the team that we intended to be on the field, then I’m going to be asking some tough questions.
So, just as we all expected, Hal continues to be the anti-George. If you were hoping for some kind of sweeping change in the middle of the season to wake everyone in the clubhouse up, don’t hold your breath. This isn’t surprising, though. The Yankees haven’t even appeared in a World Series since 2009. It’ll be on the current brain trust he’s assembled to try and break that drought this year.
Even if things don’t work out (which is a very real possibility), what kind of changes will there actually be? Boone is signed through 2024 and has a club option for 2025. Meanwhile, Brian Cashman just signed a multi-year extension this past winter.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what Hal Steinbrenner does should one of these worst-case scenarios play out in real life.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
