Yankees general manager Brian Cashman rocked the boat when he made some critical comments about Giancarlo Stanton's inability to stay healthy.
Those comments rubbed Stanton's former boss, David Samson, the wrong way. Samson served as the president of the Miami Marlins from 2002 to 2017, sharing roughly six years with Stanton down in Florida.
Samson said on Wednesday on The Dan Le Batard Show that Cashman is "done" after what the Yankees GM said about Stanton.
"You don't survive that. That is unacceptable that your GM calls out your player that way... This is the beginning of the end."
Samson noted that he "didn't care" if Cashman was telling the truth or not. Yes, Stanton has struggled with injuries for the last several years, but according the ex-Marlins president, "the business we're in is not to tell the truth. The business we're in is telling the media and the fans the best message you can, always being positive, always having the back of your players."
Former Marlins president David Samson rips apart Brian Cashman for Stanton comments
Stanton has only played a little over half of all possible regular season games since 2019 (55 percent) and is coming off a career-worst campaign in which he slashed .191/.275/.420. From an objective standpoint, Cashman was just spouting the truth: Stanton has not stayed healthy in the past, and he likely won't be completely healthy in the future.
However, Cashman isn't afforded the luxury of speaking from an objective standpoint. He's a high-profile member of the Yankees, and as Samson said, he has the tacit responsibility to have his players' backs even in their down years.
That all said, Cashman's job isn't on the line just from that one Stanton remark. If the Yankees underperform again in 2024, then Cashman -- like any other general manager of a disappointing team -- would be on the hot seat.
Samson seems to be mostly defending his former player's honor and pointing out some misplaced loyalties in the Yankees clubhouse. In any case, the pressure is on for Cashman, Stanton, and the Yankees to produce better results next season.
