Hal Speaks. My Reactions.

By Paul Semendinger

October 21, 2026

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Weeks after the Yankees were eliminated from the post season, the Yankees' top brass finally got together to speak to the media.

I decided to tune in, having the absolute belief that this press conference was going to be a whole lot of nothing, filled with platitudes and excuse making - because that is the way the Yankees operate today. Nonetheless, I had a sliver of hope that they would all prove me wrong.

As Hal Steinbrenner spoke, I wrote down the essence of his statements. I will share my reactions below. I will start with this, if he says he cares about winning, my first reaction is that he keeps bringing back people who have failed at that task for 17 consecutive years (Brian Cashman) and through the entirety of his nine-year tenure (Aaron Boone). The actions there speak far louder, they scream louder, than empty words about wanting to win. The people he is employing as general manager and manager have not been able to bring the Yankees a winner.

Here's the Press Conference:

My first immediate reaction - they are doing this on Zoom. Really? They can't even face the media in person? This is lame. It's weak. Most times it's the things that are left unsaid, or the way someone approaches a situation, that speak volumes about so much. Right from the start, a Zoom call to address the concerns of the team sends a very loud message to me - at least. The Yankees brass is being distant. As they have been. "We will answer your questions, but we are not coming down from our ivory tower."

Then, they skipped over any opening statements and went right to questions. Are you kidding me? Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman can't even say at the start that the way their team has performed is an embarrassment to a once proud franchise?

They also both (Steinbrenner and Cashman) look miserable. If the job is that bad, sell the team. If the fans are that demanding, go find something else to do. These guys have made millions (billions) of dollars from their loyal fans. It would be nice if they didn't begin the whole presser by looking miserable to have to actually answer questions about the failing franchise. (And if the goal is to win World Series, the Yankees have been, absolutely, failures. There is no other word for how they have performed.)

The statements and my comments:

Hal: (I will paraphrase for time) "Cash is great every season. The team was fantastic and it was a World Championship caliber team."

My Reaction - We know that isn't true. No leadoff hitter. A bad third baseman. A shortstop who never hit. A questionable centerfielder. A DH who can't stay healthy. As a fan, I want honesty from the people running the team, not a bunch of baloney. The Yankees were not a consensus pick to win the division let alone the World Series. Fans and writers and experts critiqued the Yankees' desire to roll it back for another year. If Mr. Steinbrenner felt the team was a World Championship team, he was seeing something that most everyone else across the spot did not see. I certainly didn't see it. And most others didn't as well.

Hal: I thought Boone did a good job...

Me - The Yankees underperformed their expected wins. They won three fewer games. That simply is the definition of under-performing. This has been a pattern for Boone teams. Does Hal Steinbrenner see how undisciplined the team is? Does he see the poor fundamentals? Did he see a player going on the field with a lollypop, twice? Does he not understand that all of that, and so much more, starts from the manager?

Hal: He got us to the postseason. The players there didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

Me - We also saw Boone outmanaged, as always. Part of players underperforming falls on the people whose job it is to prepare them and motivate them. If the players failed, as they have every year ender Boone, at some point (and that point was long long ago) the blame has to rest with the manager. Excuse making does not cut it. Saying Boone is smart or good at what he does sounds, and is, simply saying things that are on their face untrue. The problem with the Yankees of today is being expressed clearly. Those at the top insulate themselves from the very problems that define the team and the reasons they don't win.

Hal: World Series or bust is our mission and our goal.

Me: Then please go all-in and do what is necessary to get there. Words are empty when they are not followed up on. And every year we see a flawed Yankees team heading into the season.

Hal: Yes we failed.

Me: Yes, you did. Thank you for stating that. You've presided over 17 years of failure. What is going to change?

Hal: I did not listen to the whole interview Aaron Judge gave after the season about going all-in.

Me: You didn't? You don't even care that much? That's what you say? You don't even care to listen to what your superstar player says? Really? When fans state that you are an absent owner who does not care about the game, this is Exhibit A. Come one I don't want to be lied to, so I appreciate the honesty, but as fans, we want an owner that cares enough to listen. This was a very out-of-touch answer. Now, he later said that he does talk to Aaron Judge. Fair enough. Still, an effective leader listens to the critiques. He has to know what the players and others are saying and weigh those things and at least consider them.

Hal: I think we went all-in.

Me: You absolutely did not. You also mentioned that you got Bellinger late in the offseason because you needed one more player. That's not accurate about the way last offseason went. The whole offseason was only about Bellinger. You brought back a team that had fallen short. And you waited all offseason for Bellinger to also return. That was the entirety of last offseason. The way this is being framed isn't accurate. At all.

Hal: Aaron (Judge) is part of the decision-making.

Me: Really?

Cashman: (Really paraphrasing) The culture problems aren't why we lost.

Me: I disagree. Brian Cashman is wrong about this. The fact that he either cannot admit this or cannot see this is a huge problem. This is why the Yankees do not win championships. The follow-up the line was about "Winning is hard." Of course it is. That means you need to do things differently. What you're doing isn't working. What hard things are you doing to change the culture - to establish a winning environment? Changing the manager is hard (I guess). Try that. Winners do difficult things. The "It's hard to win" excuse is lame. It's weak. It's another reason why the Yankees don't win - because the players and the coaches and the manager know that the GM will say after they lose, "it's okay, I know it was hard. I am proud of you anyway." These things are not ways to build and create and maintain a championship culture. They simply are not. This isn't about participation trophies. It's about winning. And that is something the Yankees do not do any longer.

Brian Cashman then listed many aspects of the Yankees "mental conditioning" program they developed... and my first thought "How to talk to the press" "How to talk to your manager" and so on aren't things that contribute to winning. This seems completely out of touch. I'd love to ask, "Brian, since you established that program, how many championships have you won? Is it possible that that program isn't working? Maybe the program is focusing on the wrong things." The bottom line - the results, if the goal is to win World Series, indicate that the program is a failure. It seems the Yankees need a new program.

Cashman: Evolve or die...

Me: And yet one looks at the main decision makers on the Yankees and they have all been there for long long periods. That's not evolving. That's stagnation. It's the complete opposite of what he is portraying as the way the Yankees think and operate. The Yankees need to evolve, but they have not been doing that, at all. The more I listen, the more it seems that the Yankees operate within a system where they all tell each other what a great job they're all doing. "We are good. We are smart. This is hard. If only..."

Hal: Discussed the fact that the offense failed. He then praised Aaron Boone. He mentioned that Boone is good at so many aspects of the game such as dealing with the press. He said he was going to look at the team from top to bottom.

Me: There you have it. I would like the Yankees manager to be good at winning championships. Hal said he is going to look at the team from top to bottom, but he is already keeping the people at the top in charge. Brian Cashman also indicated that he is signing a new deal. That's not looking at things from top to bottom. That's not being progressive (a term Cashman used). It's being stagnant and stubborn and trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Hal - The reason we didn't win was not because of Aaron Boone or Brian Cashman.

Me: There it all is in a nutshell.

Hal - The way my dad operated wouldn't work today.

Me: Is your way working?

***

This was just about the first 40 minutes of the press conference. It began to get redundant. I heard enough to be very confident that the way the Yankees operate will not change. These leaders do not seem interested in making substantial meaningful change. As they do every year, they point to some things they feel need to change, but in the end they don't really make meaningful changes.

It is very frustrating being a Yankees fan today. As it has been for a long time. It feels as though the game has passed this franchise by. Big changes are needed. But those are not coming.

None of what was said in the first forty minutes inspires me as a fan. Rather, I am discouraged. Greatly. I won't be going to any games in 2027. Just as I didn't go in 2026. I simply do not invest in the franchise any longer.

What a shame for a once proud franchise. What a shame. The Yankees used to be the Mona Lisa. Now they are a second-class art work that might win a local art prize for abstraction or something.

The Yankees were the standard against which every other team was measured. Now they're an after-thought. The team's legacy has been changed - for the worse.

And the answers and ideas put forth today did nothing, at all, to change any of that.

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