Some time ago, a rival executive told the NY Post’s Jon Heyman that the Yankees “Will do something big” before the trade window shuts. And, big they did. True to their word, the Yankees went all in at the deadline. For every blown lead, every injured player, and every missed opportunity, Brian Cashman was always caught up in the unforgiving glare. The Bombers eventually pulled off nine trades in the course of one week.

Out of those nine, five happened right before the 6 p.m. trade deadline. And out of those five, three will entirely give the Yankees’ bullpen a new structure. Cashman landed a trio of right-handed relievers over the course of just three hours on Thursday. Welcome aboard— Jake Bird from the Colorado Rockies, Camilo Doval from the San Francisco Giants, and David Bednar from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Following Cashman’s blockbuster moves, former Yankee Erik Kratz has urged fans to issue an apology to Cashman. But why?

On a recent Foul Territory episode, Kratz said, “I want every Yankees fan that hates on Cashman to just go out and look at what he’s done for this, how he’s built this team. Go out, and I want you to type your apology on Twitter to Cashman because he reads all of them.”

Entering Thursday, the Yankees’ bullpen had the second-worst (6.29) ERA across the league for July. But as the day ended, the front office’s efforts were getting praised. Ken Rosenthal from The Athletic made a bold declaration: “What Brian Cashman orchestrated at this deadline was a tour de force. They (the Yankees) are one of the big winners of the day, in my opinion. The acquisitions of three relievers, astonishing acquisitions actually.”

Apart from giving the bullpen a makeover, the Yankees also acquired utility phenom Jose Caballero from the Tampa Bay Rays and shipped infielder Oswald Peraza to the Los Angeles Angels. While the Yankees made these moves, they also added hitters—Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, and Austin Slater. Now, let’s see where things currently stand for Cashman.

Brian Cashman checks most boxes; only one left unaddressed

Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman had a clear stance after the trade deadline: “I know we’re better today than we were yesterday, so mission accomplished there.”

He looked satisfied with the results, and why not? The Yankees finally addressed one of their biggest problems—third base. They landed on Ryan McMahon and Ames Rosario. Both of them are reliable and add flexibility to the roster. For now, though, it seems it’s going to be a platoon setup.

Plus, the bullpen now looks sorted for handling games in the late innings. After the additions of Bednar, Doval, and Bird, manager Aaron Boone has many high-leverage choices to mix and match. This is the same flexibility the Yankees lacked all this time.

Now, what didn’t happen? Well, after all the months of talks around the Yankees adding starting pitchers, they couldn’t. They were linked with many names, such as Sandy Alcantara and Mitch Keller. However, nothing really materialized. Cashman himself acknowledged that the Yankees were not that active on that front.

Still, the Yankees have new additions now, plus they also held tight onto their top prospects—Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. Clearly, they made the most of this year’s MLB draft and trade market.

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