Brian Cashman’s fiery defense of the Yankees last week included a frank evaluation about Giancarlo Stanton being injury prone.
Joel Wolfe, Stanton’s agent, is now coming to his client’s defense and warning others — Wolfe also represents Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is set to be posted this offseason — about playing in New York.
“I think it’s a good reminder for all free agents considering signing in New York both foreign and domestic that to play for that team you’ve got to be made of Teflon, both mentally and physically because you can never let your guard down even in the offseason,” Wolfe told The Athletic.
Cashman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At last week’s GM meetings, Cashman spoke for over an hour on the state of the Yankees.
During an extended answer about the impact of director of health and player performance Eric Cressey and the Yankees’ long list of injuries, Cashman brought up Stanton.
“We can talk about it and we’re talking about Stanton, trying to limit the time he’s down,” Cashman said. “But I’m not gonna tell you he’s gonna play every game next year. Because he’s not. He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game. But I know that when he’s right and healthy, other than this past year, the guy’s a great hitter and has been for a long time.”
Stanton is coming off his worst year as a Yankee, hitting just .191 with a .695 OPS and 24 home runs across 101 games.
He missed six weeks early in the season with a hamstring strain and upon returning his mobility was limited as he tried to prevent another injury.
Stanton also missed time in 2022 with a calf strain and Achilles tendonitis, in 2021 with a calf strain and a quad strain, in 2020 with a hamstring strain and in 2019 with a biceps strain and a knee strain.
“We’ve got to get Stanton up and running again,” Cashman said. “He’s injury prone. We all have lived and known that, but he’s never not hit when he’s playing and this year is the first time that that’s happened.”
With regards to Stanton’s mobility, Cashman said it was something the Yankees have been trying to work through.
“I know he’s frustrated by it,” Cashman said. “We know he’s certainly better than what we saw last year.”