YANKEES MASQUERADING AS A CONTENDER SINCE JETER RETIRED!

How's that for a headline? Am I wrong? I mean think about it. The Yankees were absolutely amazing in the late 90s and early 2000s. The team played like a team. They weren't fragile or made of glass. They didn't sit every few games. They played with heart and soul and they were fun to watch. Derek Jeter truly earned his pinstripes and his title as captain. He led the team and modeled good practices both on and off the field. Since his retirement in 2014, the Yankees have been a shell of themselves and this administration has been covering for their lack of leadership and inability to play like a contending team. In other words, the Yankees have been masquerading as a contender since Jeter retired.

"When the second half opened last Friday, the New York Yankees found themselves out of the postseason picture, a game behind the third wild-card spot and a game up on last place in the brutal AL East. Injuries and an underperforming offense have landed New York on the postseason bubble, and they're desperate enough that they changed hitting coaches just before the All-Star break," reported CBS Sports.

Source: AP

It is a punch to the gut but it is our new reality as fans. The Yankees are not going anywhere this season but back to the lab. And with their current management, it is the same thing, different year. Once the clock struck 2010, the Yankees began their slow decline from fame. In 2012 in the first game against the Detroit Tigers for the ALDS, Jeter broke his ankle and the rest is history. But his contribution to the game and the Yankees is indisputable. And he was part of the one of the greatest teams in history- the famed 1998 Yankees.

The 1998 Yankees was the most balanced, cohesive teams in Yankee history. Each of the 25 players on that team knew their role, and executed it. They had a great combination of talent, youth and experience, power and speed, and incredible righty and lefty pitching. They were the top in multiple categories and their leadership was experienced, providing just the right amount of wisdom to compliment the rise statistical precision. 

Now the Yankees put all of the pressure on two guys: Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole. And fill in the team around them, misplaying them, treating them like they are made of glass, and yes masquerading like they are going to be winners, while changing basically nothing about the team's makeup.

As NJ.com thoughtfully reports, "In fact, so far, this is the worst Yankees team of his six-year tenure. Month after month, week after week, series after series, the Bombers continue to advertise their mediocrity. On Sunday they finished getting schooled by the National League’s worst team, blowing two-run leads to the Rockies in the eighth and 11th innings." What is worse is that they seem to just brush it under the rug, like it didn't even happen, like it doesn't even matter.

"Stop glossing over the horrific losses, such as Sunday’s 8-7, 11-inning fiasco in Colorado. Stop pretending to be offended by fair questions about the Yankees’ pedigree. Acknowledge what everyone else sees and knows: this is a troubled, last-place team that needs tough leadership, not platitudes," reports NJ.com. I couldn't agree more.

I like most of the YES viewers have had enough of Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman. I have had my fill of their spin doctoring sound bites and "we'll get 'em next time" statements. They are all smoke and mirrors. They have no intention in getting better. They are pretending and until they get leadership that is going to play the players like they should be played and stop being their best friend and instead be their manager, the Yankees will remain soft, squishy and out of the playoff picture. They are not contenders; they are losers, and it is not going to get better. 

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof