Brian Cashman has a problem. Even though they won 94 games and the AL East, the Yankees lost to Toronto in the ALDS. Fans wanted things to change. Instead, Cashman brought back the same team. He re-signed Paul Goldschmidt and traded for Ryan Weathers, but he mostly kept the same team. Now he’s defending those choices in public and ignoring criticism. His defensive tone shows that Cashman knows people think he settled instead of dealing with real issues.

Cashman explained his philosophical approach to building a roster during an appearance on SNY’s YouTube channel. “I mean, from a macro standpoint, I think we assess last year’s team as really good. I think it played very well, ultimately fell short in the series in Toronto against Toronto and the ALCS. In a micro standpoint, when you’re looking at individual decisions that add up to the theory, running it back, which is weird. You know, hearing so much of it and understandably. So I think it’s more, you engage the current marketplace, and it’s an acknowledgement, we think we had really good players that were great competitors, and when I started matching, trying to match up in the marketplace via trade or free agent signs. Yeah, I would. We wound up comfortable with every individual choice of whether it’s retaining, bringing back, or reacquiring. We’re a little different.”

Cashman’s big-picture analysis missed real problems in the organization that will still be there in 2026. The Yankees’ lineup is the same as it was in October, when they won 94 games and then lost to Toronto.

Even though they have tried to add more left-handed players, most of the players on the roster are still right-handed. Since the roster is so similar to 2025’s, Cashman’s claim that things are “a little different” needs a lot of proof on the field.

Cashman defended the organization’s approach even more during his SNY appearance by talking about how it helps people recover from illness and how it helps new people fit in.

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“Obviously, in some categories, we’re getting some guys back from the IL, like in Cole’s case or a new Isshin Weathers. Hopefully, you can help be an impactful choice for us. And some of the new kids pushing up and having to stand being healthy, starting to spring out where it wasn’t the case last year, which allowed rights to have his coming out party. So I think there may be some little twists and turns of differences, but ultimately I just think it’s a reflection of when we went into the marketplace with the amount of money we could play with, this was what we were comfortable doing, and certainly not apologetic.”

The Yankees have a lot of depth on offense. They can put together lineups with seven left-handed bats or five right-handed bats, depending on who they’re playing. That’s true. But it doesn’t say why they lost to Toronto. The rotation fell apart without Cole, and the bullpen wasn’t good enough, which is why they lost the ALDS.

Gerrit Cole’s comeback could change everything for Yankees’ championship hopes

Cole spoke about his aggressive rehab approach, saying, “The work during this rehab process is different than what I typically would be doing when healthy,” Cole said, per MLB.com. “Yet I’ve attacked the process the same way, and that has produced good results. It just gives me confidence that I go about my business the right way.”

This line of thought is similar to how he dominated in 2024, when he had a 3.41 ERA and led the Yankees to the World Series, where they lost to the Dodgers.

Aaron Boone, the team’s skipper, said, “I’m not going to put anything past Gerrit Cole. He’s so good at his craft, and the success rate on these surgeries is usually pretty good. Everyone’s different, but I’m not going to put any ceilings on what Gerrit could do.”