Yankee Players Feel Demotions Were Handled Coldly

Throughout the course of the season, the New York Yankees have had to demote several players who were not playing up to expectations. While demoting a player is not a fun or easy task, several former Yankees expressed the reassignment was not handled in an appropriate manner. Several former Yankee players who were sent to the minors have reported that the Yankees dealt with the reassignment "coldly" and "without concern". Our "Respect Jeter's Gangster" investigative reporters interviewed several former big league players about the process of being demoted.

"It was a tough situation for me, but I understand why they did it." Explained former Yankee centerfielder Melky Cabrera. "It wasn't the fact that they demoted me, it was more how they did it. They treated it very coldly."

Melky Cabrera's sentiments were expressed by several former big league players when approached about how they were demoted.

"It wasn't handled very well when they did it with me." Stated former Yankee pitcher Ian Kennedy, who still felt stung from the incident. "It was handled without concern and just all around could have been handled better."

Kennedy went on to explain the situation.

"Joe (Girardi) called me into his office, and you know, I knew what was coming. When I came in, Cashman was sitting there next to a karoake machine, which I thought was odd. When I sat down, one of the stadium workers came into the office with a box filled with my equipment, and Cashman asked them to place it to the left. Once the worker went out of the room, Joe shut the door, and Cashman hit the play button on the karaoke machine. It was Beyonce's 'to the left' song. I wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but then Cashman started singing 'to the left, to the left. Everything you own in the box to the left.' At first it was kind of fun, and I was clapping along, but then I realized what he was doing. It became especially clear when he took special delight in singing the 'I could have another you in a minute.' line, hitting all the proper notes in the process. Then he pointed at himself while he sang the 'you must not know 'bout me' line and then would point at me when singing the 'don't you ever get to thinking your irreplacable.' line. I just felt it was a little unnecessary."

Melky was demoted in a slightly different yet equally demeaning way.

"He called me in and Cashman had that karoake machine. He then started playing the Ludacris 'Get out the Way' song, only instead of rapping the real words he would say 'Move! Get out the way. You're blocking Brett Gardner so get out the way. Move! Get out the way. Hope you like Scranton 'cause you're going there today.' I wish it could have been done differently, but I guess that's how Cashman handles business."

What our investigative reporters found was that this has been a long standing trend with Cashman, who has demoted players in unnecessarily hurtful ways. Former Yankee pitcher Kei Igawa explained how his demotion was handled last season.

"Cashman wasn't even there in person to do it." Igawa explained through an interpreter. "He left me a card with my name on it sitting in my locker. Then when I opened it, it had the following haiku:

Your time here was short
No we did not enjoy it
Go lose in Scranton

"It was mean."

But did Cashman leave these players with any words of encouragement or special instruction when he sent them to the minors?

"He told me that I should work on not sucking." Explained Kennedy. "It was very unclear."

"He said to me that I will be in the majors next season as long as their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th back up options fall through. He then drew a picture of the outfield depth chart and had me listed after imaginary players such as 'Catch N. Throw', and 'Hits 4 Average'." Said Melky.

"He told me to not get comfortable in Scranton, because I would probably be pitching my way into Double A in no time." Stated Igawa.

Although Cashman was not available to comment, a source close to the situation explained that "We just needed to respect his [Cashman's] gangster."

Truthfully, it is the only thing his former players and us fans can do.