Now here we are 6.5 games back again and back to fourth place after being swept for the SECOND time this season by the Red Sox. It's another low that none of us can really take anymore. It's a bad rollercoaster ride that I would really love to get off of.
Anytime Gerrit Cole is on the mound there is both great confidence and expectation that the Yankees are going to win. It was a chance to salvage one game, but it went downhill fast. Cole gave up four runs in the first inning including a three run home run by Rafael Devers. In the first inning Cole used his entire pitching arsenal and it was ugly. It all added up to Cole giving up six runs (five earned) on eight hits including three home runs in his worst start as a Yankee.
The Yankees are 21-23 against teams that are above .500, have allowed more runs in a game than they have scored and are now in their fourth losing streak of at least three games in less than a month. This is not a formula to get into the postseason. Here's what the Yankees record looks like against other teams in the AL East:
Red Sox: 6-0
Rays: 5-8
Blue Jays: 6-6
Orioles: 6-4
It's just another reminder of how bad 2021 has been for this team, and we are practically in July so time is quickly running out. It's time to be realistic and accept what has failed to start to fix it. This is nothing short of an organizational flawed concept everything from the General Manager (Brian Cashman), the manager (Aaron Boone), the entire coaching staff, the player development and scouting departments. It's not just one fix and Hal Steinbrenner is the only one who can pull his head out of his rear end and start making some changes. Not all of them all at once, in the middle of a season....but it's time to clean house.
Could Scranton beat the Yankees in a 4 game series? The Rail Riders may be a better ball club.
ReplyDeleteIt's obviously time for high level changes, the kinds only which a team's owner can make.
Rather than gripe I'll offer solutions. Fixing the Yankees this season would mean turning them into a team with a .650+ winning percentage. Is that even realistic?
Therefore the work starts now and the Yankees need to do a solid rebuild while getting the culture right on the field. Cashman's Yankees do not resemble the Yankee Way. He's been given ample budget and he has the second highest payroll in all of baseball. Cashman has announced he's going to be a buyer at the deadline. That right there is real red flag. A grievous error in judgment that ought to be the final nail in the coffin, which costs him his job.
Buck Showalter could be brought in as the GM and also the bench coach. Boone should obviously be let go also as he is proven in big games that he gets out maneuvered and he's built a culture of complacency and excuses.
All the Yankees really need from their manager, once Boone is gone, is someone who doesn't take any crap. I hate to say it but the media kind of needs that as well from the new Yankee manager. There's a lot of bad press out there right now and somebody very skilled and very tough with the media needs to be calling the shots both on and off the field, with Buck quietly giving him that lifetime of baseball expertise and experience to help him make real time decisions.
Mike Francesa is the perfect choice to manage the Yankees. Buck could bring in some professional baseball people and revamp the coaching staff. David Cone, John Flaherty & possibly A-Rod could all be candidates.
If these changes were made the media would be buzzing like crazy and there would be all sorts of revitalized interest in the Yankees.
Of course the Yankees could make some personnel moves also. Those are very easy. Trade or release Odor & Gardy. Demote Frazier & Andujar (trading either of them would be very difficult). Promote Park, Amburgey & Gittens. Maybe trade for a center fielder.
Park could play some shortstop and some center field. This takes some pressure off of Gleyber having to be the everyday guy & it also infuses the line up with the left-handed, contact hitting Park and gives the Yankees a left-handed leadoff hitter.
All Chris Gittens needed was some patience and an opportunity to get acclimated. The Yankees couldn't even give him that. Now we have Luke Voit running around letting guys score on pop-ups. Gittens fixes first base and his bat will definitely come around.
With Gittens at 1B, DJ LeMahieu is now the everyday 2B. Giancarlo Stanton is moved from DH to RF. Voit is the DH. Judge takes over in LF. Park & Amburgey handle CF & since Ambugey plays all three outfield spots he can give both corner guys a rest here and there.
Meanwhile, Buck can look to acquire some left-handed hitting help over the off-season if there's nothing tantalizing available at the deadline.
Buck could also keep an eye on Florial perhaps for a later season call up. These changes won't make the Yankees win the division this year and they probably won't make the playoffs either.
It's a hell of a lot better than watching Cashman yank Boone's strings while simultaneously trading away half the franchise in order to basically achieve the same thing my solution would achieve.
The benefit to my solution is The Yankee farm system doesn't get any worse. In fact it could even get slightly better. Buck may want to trade Chapman, Britton, Wilson & O'Day and whomever else and he should be encouraged to do so if the return is strong mid or upper level prospects who can help balance this badly out of whack ball club.
At all costs the Yankees should keep their good young pitchers, many of whom are having breakout years this year. That next window for the Yankees opens in 2023-2024.
For now, it's just time to right the ship.