Yankees GM Slams 2017 Astros: “Illegal And Horrific Actions” Robbed Yankees

While it's true that the New York Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2009, GM Brian Cashman doesn't prefer to look at it that way. He clearly feels that the 2017 edition of the Yankees would have won it all... If not for a certain band of cheaters:

The only thing that stopped (us) was something that was so illegal and horrific.

Cashman, of course, was referring to the "illegal and horrific" actions of the Houston Astros, who defeated the Yankees in the American League Championship Series that year. The Astros were later found to have perpetrated the baseball scandal of the century by using TV cameras to steal pitchers' signs and relay them in real-time to their batters. Cashman continued to vent while speaking to The Athletic: 

So I get offended when I start hearing we haven't been to the World Series since '09. Because I’m like, 'Well, I think we actually did it the right way.' Pulled it down, brought it back up. Drafted well, traded well, developed well, signed well. The only thing that derailed us was a cheating circumstance that threw us off.

The Yankees finished the 2017 season 91-71, good enough for a Wild Card berth. They defeated the Minnesota Twins in the WC game, then the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series. Then came the Astros.

The Pinstripers were one game away from the World Series in the ALCS, taking a 3-2 lead into Houston, but couldn't nail it down, as the Astros used their illegal sign-stealing to win the final two games of the series. 

"People are like 'Oh, we haven't been to a World Series . . .' and I'm like, 'Yeah, I don't think that's as true a statement as it could be,'" Cashman said. "We had a World Series team. And either you get it done or you don't."

Essentially, as noted by Andy McCullough in The Athletic, it's not only the Astros' World Series win that should have an asterisk, but also the Yankees World Series drought. 

Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports