Brian Cashman had already planned on traveling to the Tampa Bay area to work on MLB draft prep at the Yankees’ spring training complex. But New York’s general manager felt compelled to join the team early for Tuesday’s series opener at the Rays.

Cashman is watching his roster closely as the Yankees stumble into the week as one of the coldest teams in baseball.

“Because of how we’ve been playing, I’ve decided to join us,” Cashman told reporters in St. Petersburg, Fla. “It’s been a struggle, obviously. Thankfully we got out of the gates really strong, so hopefully that cushion will allow us to work through this hopefully sooner than later on because it’s gone on long enough.”

The Yankees roared out to a 50-22 start, owning the best record in baseball through June 14. Since then, they have gone 5-15, the worst record in the major leagues in that span.

“It was a tidal wave of success here for the first two months and then you closed out June into July in a really rough patch for an extended period of time,” Cashman said. “We got to be playing better than we currently are right now.”

The Yankees missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016. The year before that, the proud franchise was swept 4-0 by the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.

The trade deadline is July 30, and Cashman said the Yankees will be “open-minded to a lot of different things” while declining to get into specific needs. Infielders DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres have struggled to produce, while first baseman Anthony Rizzo was having a down year before suffering an arm fracture.

“Sometimes those free-agent walk years can come back and haunt you,” Cashman said of Torres. “I’m not sure if that added pressure might be weighing him down or holding him back. … Last year, he was our second-best hitter behind Aaron Judge. We’re anxiously hoping and waiting on that, because I know he could have a really positive impact.”

–Field Level Media