Big Picture: 'Hall of Famer' Brian Cashman Changes With the Times, Blocks Out Noise

George M. Steinbrenner Field (Tampa) – Brian Cashman walked into his office at the spring training facility for the New York Yankees and pulled up a TikTok video on his iPad. He had already seen this video but thought it was funny enough to watch it again.

The team's general manager laughed as the clip showed two men arguing with each other, before one of them threw his Big Gulp cup at a car. The liquid from the cup smothered the car windows, the men continued yelling, and the video ended.

Watching inherently silly TikTok videos is "a nice diversion from the noise," Cashman told me when we sat down in his office to discuss what it’s like being the longest-tenured GM in Major League Baseball. 

When he’s not scrolling, he’s busy building a championship-caliber roster, modernizing the organization with wide-ranging changes, and fine-tuning his baseball operations department.

The noise, in this case, is a relentless stream of criticism and title expectations. Cashman, too, said he has a ticking clock in his head, reminding him that the Yankees haven’t won a championship since 2009. Due to that drought, criticism of Cashman has become as predictable as October in the Bronx. Every roster decision by the Yankees GM is dissected. Every postseason exit is used as evidence that the architect of baseball’s most successful and scrutinized franchise has lost his touch.

Brian Cashman and Aaron Judge, two of the most talked about figures in New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images)

Debate around Cashman has played out forcefully in New York. He’s anatomized on talk radio, across social media, and in the stands at Yankee Stadium. The argument is familiar: the Yankees should win more and spend more, and they should think