THE BLAME GAME

(In photo: Yankees hitting coach Alan Cockrell)
I wish Hal Steinbrenner would take a page from his late father and start holding people accountable and firing them. Heads should be rolling right now. Instead, he has time to give a press conference, defend Joe Girardi and point fingers at a select few. Heads should be rolling right now and it's time for some new leadership. Hal is certainly pointing fingers at everyone he can, but he should be pointing it in one other place.....at himself!

I can't sit by and watch this team continue to unravel. I sat at Chase Field for the series against the Diamondbacks and was looking for any sign of the team I once knew. I saw nothing. Instead, I felt like the Yankees stole my hard earned money because there was no heart on that field. There was no effort and if people stop caring then you need to find people who do. Plain and simple.

Hal has been so quick to point fingers at Mark Teixeira, Chase Headley, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino but he seems to forget the managers also play a part here. Girardi and Brian Cashman are safe. The managers are doing their job but the players are the problem. Hey Hal.....maybe it's time to take some responsibility sine you helped arrange everyone on this team!

Are the players at fault? Sure, but so are the managers. I tried to give Alan Cockrell the benefit of the doubt at the beginning of the season. I never really felt like he was the right guy for the hitting coach manager. Maybe it's because I remember his issues back with the Seattle Mariners but I just think that even though he has a lot of knowledge he can't seem to communicate that to the players, or even the media. Back in 2010 the Mariners fired him after their offense was the worst in the American League. The Yankees need to take a page from their history. I really wish the Yankees would've parted ways with him at the end of last season.

Why isn't Hal Steinbrenner calling him out, too? What is so great about him that he gets to fly under the radar? Yes, Hal....these guys are professionals. No one disagrees with that but no matter how seasoned a player is the team still needs a good coach. Cockrell may not swing the bat for these guys but he needs to be able to identify the issues and make changes. He's not doing that.

Cockrell has been very quiet through all of this. He doesn't speak often, but when he does I find myself scratching my head. Back in April he spoke with the media and said that the reason why the Yankees were struggling was because they were "pressing" at the plate. They were mentally psyching themselves out and not trusting their skills and it was weighing on them. However, the very next day he was quoted as saying that he didn't think the Yankees were struggling anymore and they were past it all. They struggled two weeks prior when they were on a losing streak.....but now they were back on track 24 hours later.

And while certain players were struggling a lot and under performing, he disagreed that Headley's performance so far this season was disappointing. Instead, he said Headley was hitting the ball very hard, especially left handed and just didn't have anything to show for it. Yet, he had no explanation why Headley didn't have any extra base hits until this month. He makes no sense to me.

If Hal wants to see some real progress moving forward he needs to do more than just point fingers at everyone else but himself. Part of being a good manager is figuring out what works and what doesn't and maximizing on the positive results. A manager needs to be able to do more than just re-arrange a batting order and put who is hot at the top. The Yankees have been rebuilding for awhile now. If we are being honest, the Yankees are not World Series contenders this year. We probably aren't next year either. We need new young guys that will be productive and consistent rather than veteran stars that get back end loaded contracts and we need new, innovative coaches.

Maybe the Yankees should approach this year like 1990 when they fired Bucky Dent after his disastrous start to the season. It's a lot like this one. At this point, I am not opposed to that. Is it drastic? Maybe. Or maybe, the Yankees should just hire a new hitting coach that was a player and who is not too far removed from his playing days and once was known as a great hitter.

I'm no expert, and I won't pretend to me. There are more issues with this team then I talked about, but this is what got me going. I also won't pretend to be satisfied and ignore the issues with this team. You fail and succeed as a team and a team is composed of both players and managers. Hal....you are part of the problem. Stop pointing fingers and fix it!



   
--Jeana Bellezza, 
BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ 
 





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