The first half of the season has flown by, as has the first half of 2026. As ever, a new page of the calendar brings the latest installation in our GM approval poll monthly. I’m certain that opinions will be particularly fierce as we ask you to consider what has reliably and consistently been the most controversial month in this era of Yankees baseball: June.
However, before we get to June, it might be instructive to see how GM Brian Cashman’s approval rating has tracked in the first two months of
the campaign. He started the season off relatively strong for his standards, polling at a 41-percent approval rating as his team sat atop the AL East standings having won their first three series and ripped off an eight-game winning streak toward the end of the month. Despite finishing the following month in second place behind the Rays, Cashman’s approval rating remained at 41-percent in May as the team continued to boast to AL’s top offense and starting rotation. They enter the final day of June in exactly the same position as they entered it, a game-and-a-half behind the Rays, though with considerably greater concern over the roster.
The month started with a series loss to the Guardians and a split of two games with the Red Sox. However, the Yankees then ripped off three straight series wins against the Guardians, Blue Jays, and White Sox to provide a mirage of hope that maybe just maybe they could avoid their annual June Swoon.*
*Narrator: They did not.
Starting with the middle game of their series against the Reds, the Yankees have lost 9 of their last 11 games (including their last six in a row). They were swept in four games at Fenway by the last-place Red Sox, getting no-hit through five innings in each of the final three games. They’ve been one-hit through seven in their last two games and have 16 hits across their last five games, which is the lowest hit total in any five-game stretch in franchise history.
The most alarming part of June has been the sharp regression from the three units that powered their hot start: offense, the starting rotation, and defense. Through the first two months of the season, the Yankees boasted the second-best offense in MLB by wRC+ (115) and fWAR (12.1). In June, their offense ranked 26th in wRC+ (89) and 24th in fWAR (2.8). Similarly, their starting rotation was the best in baseball by ERA (2.97) and fWAR (7.7) and second in FIP (3.37) through the end of May. In June, they’ve sunken to 19th in ERA (4.69), 21st in fWAR (1.1) and 20th in FIP (4.57). Surprisingly, the one unit that stepped up in June was the bullpen, who led the AL in ERA (2.39), FIP (2.96), and fWAR (2.0)
And that brings us to the defense. Entering play yesterday, the Yankees had committed 16 errors in their last 11 games and 34 total in June — third-worst in MLB. All those errors meant they had allowed 17 unearned runs in their last 9 games as well as the fourth-most unearned runs in MLB at 42. Playing several guys out of position hasn’t helped (neither has the absence of Ryan McMahon since June 21st due to an infection), but the majority of errors came from a lack of a lack of concentration rather than a physical limitation.
Obviously, the mounting injuries are the primary culprit for this putrid stretch. The Yankees didn’t have Aaron Judge (broken rib), Max Fried (left elbow bone bruise), and Giancarlo Stanton (right calf strain) for the entire month of June. A hamstring injury also robbed them of Trent Grisham for more than half the month right in the middle of a searing hot streak. It also hasn’t helped that two of their offensive pillars in Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger have gone ice cold. Rice batted .196 with an 81 wRC+ and Bellinger .228 with an 87 wRC+ in June after both placed among the league’s top-25 hitters through the end of May. However, it is the job of the general manager to assemble depth should injuries occur, and the simple fact is that the replacements have fallen well short of the mark in June.
That brings us to today’s task. Do you approve of the job Brian Cashman has done through the end of June? On one hand, the Yankees have stayed within touching distance of the Rays despite their struggles. On the other hand, their June Swoon sheds serious doubt on the true identity and ability level of this team in the second half of the season. The polarizing GM certainly elicits stronger feelings than can be captured in a one-word response — you may feel a question such as the one being posed requires more nuance, greater elaboration, or a wider selection of options than just a “yes” or a “no,” however for the sake of this exercise, a binary question works best.
Note: This is the same poll that is currently appearing on the Feed, so if you’ve voted there, that should already be counted.
