Bleeding Yankee Blue: IT'S ALL OR NOTHING

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

IT'S ALL OR NOTHING

Source: Getty Images North America

The Yankees gave it everything they had...I think. The 16-1 game on Tuesday night just about killed me. I saw a manager give up; not thinking there was anything to salvage and placing everything on a good showing at the elimination game last night. That strategy back fired on the 2018 Yankees and we as fans were disappointed with a 4-3 loss to the Red Sox closing out the American League Division Series and the 2018 Major League Baseball Season for the New York Yankees.

Source: Getty Images

Among the disappointments in this series against our division rival Red Sox are Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino. No excuses. They just were not able to perform. I can give Torres a pass as a rookie but the others, I am sorry, there are no excuses (including what time is game time in Game 3: Sevy, consult a schedule for God's sake). According to MLB.com, "While the players disperse for the offseason -- and in the case of the team's nine potential free agents, possibly longer than that -- and the final four teams vie for the World Series crown, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman will hold his organizational meetings to formulate a plan for the offseason."

Source: Getty Images North America

It is very likely that all of the players who disappointed us will be back for more next year, "but guys like Lance Lynn, Adeiny Hechavarria and Neil Walker aren't likely to figure prominently in the offseason plans," reports MLB.com. Recall the poor management decision to put Lynn into a game three that turned into the biggest nightmare for the Yankees, leading into last night's sense of urgency that wasn't. And that is the kind of style of play we saw the Yankees demonstrate throughout the ALDS Series. Boone seems to personify this kind of blahsay attitude for the team, which likely rubs off on them on the field.

Source: AP

Here is what leaves me shaking my head: Why was rookie of the year candidate Miguel Andujar sitting the bench in this Game 4? Why would you allow Neil Walker come up to the plate with the bases loaded in the 9th inning and not pinch hit the rookie sensation? "It was more CC and Porcello on the mound,’’ Boone said. “We loved that matchup. It’s probably how we would have done it even a few days ago,” reported the NY Post. I wish Boone would just pay attention to more than stats and even stand up for himself against Cashman. Sure, Andujar could be a better third baseman and I think he could be, eventually, but what he did this season, exceeding our expectations was worth the chance of his bat instead of Walker's in the lineup last night. Or how about this? Sit Stanton. Now that is an idea. And one more thing...just about last night...why didn't Aaron Judge leap for that Christian Vazquez home run like we have seen him do time and time again in that short porch, his short porch in right field? Not sure I understand what happened there.

Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America

Fans told me to not write a sappy post today about this being a successful year. Okay, it's not sappy, but we did earn 100 wins, break the regular season home run record and put up a potential rookie of the year for the second year in a row. Aaron Boone rolled the dice since coming back to NY for a series gone bad. And his hunches were way off base. Next steps, regroup, retool and refine. Could Sevy and Sanchez be gone? Andujar? Gregorius? Clearly, we need to make a change. Maybe the change is the manager who seems to have no grit or sense of urgency. We have several months to speculate.

Source: The YES Network

The Winter Meetings are in Las Vegas on December 9th, just under two months from today. Here's hoping we can fix this thing and by the way, I need to change my lock screen, "Chase for 28" for a while as I get over these horrible two days of Yankee mayhem. I know it's not the best news of the day, but it's not sappy, it's real, which is what we are about here at BYB. Looking forward to further discussion and interesting perspectives during a long hard off season.