Two weeks after their playoff elimination in Game 3 of the ALDS, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman held a postmortem press conference on Wednesday. Steinbrenner called the team's season a "failure" and blamed the offense for the quick postseason exit. The Yankees scored five runs in the three-game sweep against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"I have never suggested that a season like this season is a success," Steinbrenner said. "I am often asked, 'Was the entire season a failure?' Winning 93 games is not a failure. Playing in the Division Series is not a failure.
It became a failure because we did not do well. I don't believe I've ever called a season that we didn't win a world championship successful." New York's offense went in the tank after captain Aaron Judge was placed on the injured list with a rib fracture in early June. Judge's last game before going on the shelf was May 31, which was effectively the end of his season.
He returned in September, played seven games, then suffered a calf strain that sidelined him the rest of the year. Judge did not play in the postseason. "The players didn't live up to their end of the bargain in the playoffs," Steinbrenner added.
We're going to look at everything (this offseason). I was disappointed with the offense. They were inconsistent for long periods of time." No decisions regarding the future of the coaching staff, including hitting coach James Rowson, have been made yet, and neither Cashman nor Steinbrenner would get into offseason roster-building strategies.
The Yankees have one of the game's best pitching staffs, but the offense was lacking, and Judge's absence was only part of that. As good as he is, he is just one player. "Do I like sitting here trying to explain why?
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