I know that the Knicks season is upon us, football is in full swing, and the Rangers are trying to score a goal, but I had to write about the absurd display that took place Thursday at Yankee Stadium. For those who don’t know, Thursday was the day where the Yankee brain trust addressed the media. Every year for the last seven years, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone have had to explain themselves following letdown seasons in the Bronx. For some reason us fools get our hopes up that something in the way of change will come from these pressers. Hope was the theme of the day though, as the Yankees aren’t selling hope, nor are they giving fans cause for hope. No Thursday was the day they revealed that hope itself is their strategy in 2026.

Now clearly they’ve never heard the adage about hope not being a strategy, but hey guys, we have to hear them out this time…they can’t possibly be wrong again, right? Right? When asked directly by Joel Sherman of the post, what will get this team over “the goal line” next year, both men responded that they “don’t know,” and that the Yankees have to keep trying and “hope it all lines up one year.” So just to be clear, if they don’t get to play the Royals and Guardians in the playoffs, you can forget about the AL Pennant. Now that we cleared that up, let’s move on to the next topic.

It was confirmed at the press conference that Anthony Volpe had surgery to repair his left shoulder, for an injury he sustained back in May. Mind you the Yankees continued to play this bust of a prospect through a significant injury that likely didn’t help his play at all. That is of course until September when they determined it was time to give Jose Caballero the reps at short and sit Volpe down for a cortisone shot. Caballero ran with the job, and helped key the run to securing their playoff spot, making him the logical choice for the playoffs. Only to be benched in favor of Volpe who seemed to have rushed back from his recovery, and contribute next to nothing in October. Cashman and Boone both backed the player, one they seemed ready to move on from a few weeks ago, and seemingly agreed the shortstop job is his next season when he’s healthy. This in spite of the fact that he’s done nothing in three big league seasons to warrant such treatment. But hey, who needs consequences and standards, there are none for the GM and skipper. For good measure the two fools picked these answers out of the SNL writers room.

Cashman fielded most of the questions about offseason planning, and hid behind the “Cashman’s just being cagey” nonsense to give one of the worst answers of the day. He was asked about the desire of the team to keep free agent Cody Bellinger and what it will take to bring him back, to which Cashman said he doesn’t know and that the Yankees haven’t had those conversations yet. Cashman tossed in that he “thanks him for everything he’s done.” Hopefully Bellinger doesn’t like it here too much, cause no one in the front office is dying to keep one of the teams best all around players.

I could bore you with more summaries of the endless platitudes these two spewed, but I don’t want to waste your time. The long and short of it is, the Yankees will carry on doing the same crap that’s gotten them nowhere and have this press conference again this time next year. They’ll tell you they are disappointed, and that they’re “hungrier than ever,” but the truth is they’re an unserious bunch who have lost their way. A real organization would get aligned on the facts, show intent about how they will improve next year, and change more than some staff members in the face of continual letdowns.

I have said for sometime and still believe that Hal Steinbrenner is not cheap. He pays a hefty price tag every year to assemble the team. His crime is not underspending, but rather that he refuses to force change away from what’s not working. He has allowed his front office and dugout to lose its way and talk itself into repeating the same tired mistakes. Hal should know better, and those around him should as well. Anyone who doesn’t isn’t being honest with themselves.

So we will once again live with the definition of insanity, at least until proven otherwise, on and off the field. They will run the same defective players on the field, with the same bad strategy, and the same bad coaching staff and waste another year. Because that is who they have become, they are just like all other teams, chalking improving the ball club up to flipping a coin. An idea that is even more offensive when you consider the people who operate this way are responsible for IMPROVING THE TEAM! The great Joel Sherman can explain it all better than I can, but I had to vent about this absurd display.

This will be the last Bronx Beat for a while, as I need a break from this farce. I want to thank you for reading along, it’s been a pleasure, even through the anger, to cover the Yankees all year. Stay tuned for Rangers and Knicks coverage in the days ahead. See you all next year for the big “we lost but everything’s great” presser!

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.