Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton's Agent Responds to Brian Cashman's Remarks About Injuries

The agent for New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said players have "got to be made of Teflon" in response to critical comments made about his client by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

In a statement to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Joel Wolfe said players in New York "can never let your guard down even in the offseason."

This comes after Cashman offered a brutally honest assessment of Stanton, whom he described as "injury-prone."

"We try to limit the time he's down," he said, per Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News. "But I'm not gonna tell you he's gonna play every game next year because he's not. He's going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game. But I know that when he's right and healthy—other than this past year—the guy's a great hitter and has been for a long time."

Cashman isn't necessarily wrong. After missing only four games in his first year with the Bronx Bombers in 2018, Stanton has consistently been in and out of the lineup because of one injury or another. Between 2022 and 2023, he was out for 113 combined games.

From the Yankees' perspective, they have to assume the trend will continue for as long as he's under contract. They should plan on the 2017 National League MVP playing around two-thirds of the season and be happy if he goes beyond that.

There's nothing for Cashman and the organization to gain by being so publicly blunt about Stanton's durability, though. New York comes off as looking petty by placing additional pressure onto one of its own players.

Wolfe's statement illustrates how players and agents take notice of this kind of stuff, and that slighting the wrong player can have consequences.

For example, Japanese starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be represented by Wolfe as he makes the jump to MLB, and Wolfe may not provide the most flattering portrayal of the Yankees to the right-hander.

You wouldn't expect him to go so far as to tell Yamamoto not to sign with the Yankees at all, but it might be something Cashman and team officials have to address if the parties meet to negotiate a contract this offseason.