1. Sorry for leading with the Yankees, because I know those of you outside of New York don't care about this, but I can’t let GM Brian Cashman’s Tuesday media scrum pass without venting about the absurdity of it.
A combative Cashman met with media members and defended his front office, his team, his process, his track record and everything else.
"I've been here with the Yankees for a long time. Whether that's a good thing for our fans or perceptions or not. I'm proud of our operations. I think we have a great group of baseball people"
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 7, 2023
- Brian Cashman pic.twitter.com/mJtajzjD9S
Now, I will provide a reality check and point out a few things:
- The Yankees have won one World Series with Cashman’s own players in his 25 years as GM. One.
- The Yankees haven’t been to the World Series in 14 years.
- Cashman likes to hang his hat on the fact that the Yankees make the postseason every year (although they did not in 2023). He said Tuesday, “I think we’re pretty f---ing good, personally, and I’m proud of our people”
I would seriously hope that you do make the playoffs every year when you have the highest, second-highest or third-highest payroll ever year.
Having a massive payroll doesn’t mean you will win a World Series, but it does mean that you can constantly cover up your mistakes, such as Joey Gallo, Josh Donaldson, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks and more.
- The 2023 season was the first time during Cashman’s tenure that he finally felt some heat, yet he decided to go on the offensive and defend a front office and process that has produced nothing for nearly 15 years. This is a team that has not developed ONE legitimate No. 1 or No. 2 starting pitcher in Cashman’s entire tenure. Actually, they developed Jordan Montgomery but then traded him to the Cardinals for Harrison Bader, who ended up getting placed on waivers by the Yankees.
Watch the Yankees with Fubo. Start your free trial today.
This is a team that also has an uncanny knack for constantly adding players who get injured, so I don’t want to hear about this super-duper front office and unbelievable scouting department.
- It would also be helpful if Cashman read the room a little bit. The last thing any Yankees fan wanted to hear Tuesday was Cashman actually trying to pat himself on the back for acquiring Gallo.
Brian Cashman says he "gets a kick out of" people calling the Joey Gallo and Sonny Gray trades bad:
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 7, 2023
"Since Joey Gallo's left us, who's picked him up? Two playoff teams. Sonny Gray, he's currently in the competition for a Cy Young Award" pic.twitter.com/SPLMouZiuT
Here was what Gallo did for the Yankees in 2022 before being released: 82 games, .159 batting average, 106 strikeouts, 12 home runs, 24 RBIs.
And Cashman is trying to spin the narrative that he made a good move in acquiring Gallo? Mind-boggling.
- But what I couldn’t get over more than anything, outside of the delusion that the Yankees have been on a great run in recent years just because they make the postseason (where they repeatedly get embarrassed), was Cashman acting like a victim.
It's been made clear that Cashman has a job for life no matter the on-field results. The Yankees print money, and that’s all ownership cares about, so they’ve made it clear they’re not going to upset the apple cart. Cashman has gotten a free pass for several years and, finally, in 2023, faced a little bit of backlash.
How will he act if the Yankees have another mediocre season like 2023 and the fans and media really turn on him?
Based on his attitude Tuesday, it’s going to get very ugly.
2. The Eagles’ 28–23 win over the Cowboys on Sunday is now the most-watched NFL game this season. Fox drew 27.136 million viewers for the NFC East battle. The Chiefs-Lions game on the opening Thursday of the NFL season had been the most-watched game of the year.
Meanwhile, Sunday morning’s Chiefs-Dolphins game from Germany on NFL Network was watched by 9.6 million people. It’s now the NFL's most-watched international game. And that 9.6 million number doesn’t include the local audiences in Kansas City, which is huge, and Miami.
3. In the college football ratings world, the SEC on CBS continues to dominate.
CBS had the most-watched college football game in each window on Saturday:
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) November 8, 2023
🔲 730pm ET: Alabama-LSU: 8.82 million viewers
🔲 3:30pm ET: Mizzou-Georgia: 7 million viewers
🔲 12pm ET: Ohio State-Rutgers: 4 million viewers
I’ve seem some blowback against ESPN for how hard the network is covering the Michigan sign-stealing scandal, with some opining that ESPN is bitter that it’s losing Big Ten rights after this season.
Three things: (1) Not every single thing has to be a conspiracy theory. (2) ESPN had nothing to do with whatever Connor Stalions did, so stop deflecting blame. (3) ESPN gets full rights to SEC football next season. I don’t think the network is going to go out of its way to go after Michigan because they are losing some Northwestern and Rutgers games.
4. This video infuriated me beyond belief and I hate posting it, but I hope this guy isn’t allowed to coach anywhere ever.
A coaches’ role extends beyond shaping young athletes into great football players; it's about molding them into exceptional individuals within our society. You should NEVER reach a point where you find it necessary to engage in this. #shameful pic.twitter.com/Vu23KFgrYa
— Kevin Hobbs (@KevinHobbs_DC) November 4, 2023
The coach throwing the punch was an assistant at Jesuit High School in Tampa. He has been fired, but his name has not been released. I believe in second chances, but that guy needs to get serious help before getting an opportunity to redeem himself.
5. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase need to make this happen. If Chase scores a touchdown this week against the Texans and celebrates by grabbing a camera and imitating a cameraman filming the crowd, Chad Johnson will pay Chase’s fine. Johnson told Burrow he already has $20,000 set aside to cover the penalty for celebrating with props.
"I've already set aside $20,000 for the fine."
— Inside the NFL (@insidetheNFL) November 8, 2023
@JoeyB and @OchoCinco are ready to make Ja'Marr's throwback celebration happen 🎥😂 pic.twitter.com/rJqnN8UKx1
6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features two interviews.
First up is Robert Griffin III, who is a college football color commentator for ESPN, one of the analysts of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown and the host of a new podcast, RG3 and the Ones.
Griffin discusses his various roles in broadcasting, how and why he decided to get into sports media after having no interest in it during his playing days, and what the ultimate goal is for his media career. He also talks about navigating social media and handling all his own social media, finding himself in the middle of a controversy, what NFL players are saying about the league’s officiating problem, a surreal Halloween moment and much more.
Following RGIII, Peter Schrager from Good Morning Football and Fox joins the podcast to talk about his recent appearance on Celebrity Jeopardy!
Was he nervous? Did he practice? How did he stick to his NDA? Was the experience everything he hoped it would be? He also discusses how Jeopardy! led to a connection with Debbie Gibson.
Following Schrager, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss my day at Sal’s house for an NFL Sunday that was filled with Sunday Ticket glitches on YouTube, the terrible World Series ratings and the death of Matthew Perry.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
