THE BEST OF THE BAD, BUT WILL THAT LAST?

Let's face it, the American League is awful this year. As bad as the Yankees are, they shouldn't be playing THIS bad. We just hit an all new low folks, and it's as embarrassing as it gets.

What a way to ruin a holiday weekend. For the first time since 2014, the Minnesota Twins just won a series against the New York Yankees in New York. To make it worse, they scored 17 runs in the final two games. That is just something no one should stomach. I never like to throw a George Steinbrenner reference because let's face it I want the man to rest in peace but his son has completely destroyed his franchise. There is no more "rest in peace" possible for poor George. He's rolling in his grave right now.

And he should be. This team is going no where. At this rate, we all know the National League easily walks through anyone this season. We won't be a factor because the Rays will finish us off and the Rays are no match for a Nation League power house. We have an infinite list of problems to fix. Some of the fixes are obvious, but the "decision makers" as I call them won't make the necessary choices.

There are some obvious moves to make:
1) Fire Aaron Boone, bring in new blood
2) Fire Brian Cashman

3) DFA Camilo Doval and recall Yovanny Cruz
4) Send Austin Wells to Triple-A and recall J.C. Escarra
5) Get rid of Anthony Volpe....FOREVER! 

6) Whenever Jazz Chisholm returns, stop relying on him

7) Bolster catcher, bullpen, right handed bat and starting pitcher depth at the deadline

Ideally, I'd say send Chisholm packing with Volpe but the Yankees have other more pressing needs so I don't see it happening. The Phillies have proven you can fire your manager and come back stronger. There's no logical reason to keep Baboonie as a manager. We aren't winning with him. He's not adding anything valuable and he's not delivering the expectation of WINNING. 

That's what the Yankee legacy was. We had the expectation to compete and win every year. That legacy died a long time ago. Now it's about doing just enough to line Hal Steinbrenner's pockets with cash. To hell with winning. The Yankees don't know how to do that anymore. They don't evolve. They don't surround themselves with actual leaders that know how to win.

So now we continue to lick our wounds. We get to be the best of the bad....but I don't even think that lasts long. We have a four game series coming up against the Rays. As of Sunday we were four games behind the Rays thanks to our freefall of failures. After this series ends on Thursday that could be 8 games if the Yankees don't pull their heads out of their ass. If we go 8 games behind the baseball world as we know it comes to an end.

I've never felt this disgruntled before. I've had my stretches of angst but this is a whole new level. This is a bad team and it's a bad team build by bad "decision makers" that don't know how to right the ship. It's time to clean house so we can stop being one of the best of the bad. Even those days are numbered.

That may be in Hal's DNA.....but it's not in mine!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

YANKEES PICK WRONG AGAIN

When I wrote the other day that Aaron Boone's obsession with Anthony Volpe was alarming, I was already gearing up for this schmuck to keep Volpe up in the majors when Gerrit Cole and Jose Caballero were both ready to come back to the big team. There is something creepy and uncomfortable about the fact that Volpe can hang around the big club house with the big boys considering he just doesn't have the stuff of a major leaguer. Stop forcing this high schooler down our throat.  The Yankee fan base does NOT want this kid on the Yankees.  This isn't me being mean, this is me giving folks a dose of reality.

You’re basically saying the Yankees are operating with two entirely different standards depending on the player — and that’s exactly why fans are aggravated.

With Spencer Jones, the Yankees had no problem saying: “He needs more development.” Fine. That’s baseball. Prospects go back down all the time.

With Yovanny Cruz, despite the bullpen needing live arms, they still decided roster flexibility and organizational planning mattered more than letting a power arm help at the big-league level.

But when it comes to Anthony Volpe, suddenly patience becomes endless, standards become movable, and reality becomes optional.

And this is where the Yanks Go Yard quote you referenced hits hard:

"Yankees insider Joel Sherman previous suspected Volpe would be optioned back to Scranton to start playing other positions in an effort to become more versatile off the bench. Instead, we guess they'll be doing that in the big leagues?

That does seem like a bit of a risk given Volpe has only played shortstop for the Yankees. The other option is Caballero gets some second base/outfield reps to give Boone flexibility and give struggling players a breather."

That’s the entire argument right there. Why are they bending the roster around Volpe instead of simply acknowledging what fans are watching?

José Caballero looks like the more natural shortstop. That's it, the end. Better reactions, better athletic rhythm, more confidence, more instinctive movement. And shortstop is not a “developmental charity” position. It’s arguably the most important defensive position on the field outside of catcher.

So, if Caballero is currently the best shortstop on the roster, then the job should belong to him until somebody takes it away.

Instead, fans fear Aaron Boone will continue forcing the Volpe narrative because he already publicly labeled him “F’in elite.” Once a manager says something like that, every lineup card becomes a referendum on whether he’s evaluating honestly or defending his own prior statements.

And the thing that really drives fans nuts is the inconsistency. The Yankees were willing to challenge Jones. They were willing to challenge Cruz. But with Volpe, the organization still behaves like the original projection matters more than the current product.

I believe the solution honestly isn’t radical baseball thinking either:

• Send Volpe down.
• Let him learn second base.
• Pair him with George Lombard Jr..
• Reduce the pressure.
• Let Caballero own shortstop on the big team.

That’s not giving up on a player. That’s adjusting reality to fit the player instead of forcing the player into a role that may not fit anymore.

My broader criticism of the Yankees front office is something a lot of modern baseball fans argue about constantly. That Yankees rely heavily on projections, models, expected outcomes, and development curves, while fans are watching body language, confidence, instincts, fatigue, hesitation, and mental wear in real time.

Baseball people sometimes dismiss that stuff publicly, but internally? Teams absolutely need to know confidence and mental state matter. The question is whether the Yankees are willing to admit that the pressure attached to Volpe at shortstop may now be hurting both the player and the team.

By the way, the photo up top?

Inspired by the love affair from Ghost. If you know, you know.

YAY! THE YANKEES ADD DEPTH & STEAL A RED SOX GUY!

If you were waiting for the first flashy pick up for the offseason.... get comfortable, it hasn't happened yet. The Yankees made a move, but it wasn't particularly splashy. In fact, it was so opposite of splashy that it took a few days after it happened to hit the official roster page.

So there you have the official announcement on the roster page. Yovanny Cruz was a Red Sox guy and now he is a Yankee. On November 6th he elected free agency from Boston, and the Yankees signed him as a free agent two days later. He's currently pitching in the Dominican Winter League and he is set to report to Triple-A at the start of the season. Yay.

Last season he pitched to a 3.04 ERA in 59 1/3 innings, all out of the bullpen, for Double-A Portland. He's got some raw talent and a nice-looking fastball, but he needs to work on his control, he walked 44 batters, but he also struck out 72. So, he's got potential but that isn't a quick fix for a Triple-A promotion. If the Yankees can take some of his crazy stuff they might have a legit relief option. It gives the Yankees some depth, which any team always needs but is especially true for the Yankees because anything that can go wrong does seem to find a way to go wrong.

Cruz has some high potential but he is 26 years old and hasn't made an appearance in the majors yet. He still has his rookie eligibility and his minor league options. It will be interesting to see what his path looks like here. Will he stick around? He could choose to leave at the end of the 2026 season and opt for free agency again and do it every season until he gets the call to the majors and signs a guaranteed contract.

So thank you Yankees for the aging depth piece that hasn't even pitched in Triple-A yet. No offense, Cruz. For however long you are here I hope you do well. We are still raising our pitchforks and chasing Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner demanding for some real talent that can transform this team and help us win.

So, there's your first pick up. It's not flashy at all but if the Yankees can develop him more than at least we can stick it to the Red Sox by flaunting it. I'm looking for a silver lining here and some optimism here.... this is all I've got.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj