A CATCHER IN MIAMI IS STARING THE YANKEES IN THE FACE

For months, the Yankees told us they believed in their catching situation.

They sold fans on Austin Wells. They talked up J.C. Escarra. They praised the organization's depth. Brian Cashman and the front office projected confidence that the position was in good hands.

Reality has exposed that confidence as badly misplaced.

Whether it was overconfidence, poor evaluation, or simply refusing to acknowledge an obvious weakness, the Yankees entered the season with a catching plan that has completely unraveled. And the frustrating part is that many fans saw it coming long before Opening Day.

We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue has been sounding the alarm for months. In THE YANKEES NEED TO FIX THE CATCHER POSITION FAST!, we argued that Wells and Escarra had failed to seize the position and criticized the front office for believing the duo was enough for a championship contender.

Just days later, OUR CATCHING DISASTER ISN'T AN ACCIDENT, IT'S FRONT OFFICE INCOMPETENCE doubled down, arguing this wasn't bad luck—it was the predictable result of years of roster construction built more on internal projections than proven production.

Then came THREE BAD CATCHERS, BUT A BIG YANKEE PROBLEM, placing the responsibility squarely on the front office for entering the season believing a collection of backup-caliber options would somehow develop into a strength.

And BYB wasn't alone.

Other places are out there, The New York Post, NJ Advance Media, reporting that the Yankees received almost no offensive production from the catching position before shuffling J.C. Escarra to Triple-A and calling up Ali Sánchez, while Brian Cashman acknowledged other possibilities, including eventually using Ben Rice behind the plate.

It's a "catching crisis," noting that while Yankees catchers continued to contribute defensively through framing and game-calling, the offensive production had become one of the biggest holes in the lineup.

The point isn't simply that Austin Wells struggled. Prospects miss. Players regress.

The issue is that the Yankees bet an entire position on hope.

Hope that Wells would hit. Hope that Escarra could contribute. Hope that organizational depth would magically appear. Championship organizations don't build rosters on hope. They build them on contingency plans.

The Yankees had none. But there is a solution that many are not talking about. If premium trade targets become too expensive, there's another name the Yankees should have circled immediately:

Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks.

He isn't the flashy headline acquisition. He won't dominate sports-talk radio. But smart baseball operations often win around the margins.

Hicks checks almost every box the Yankees should be prioritizing:

• Excellent bat-to-ball skills and one of the better contact profiles among young catchers.
• Strong strike-zone awareness that consistently produces quality at-bats.
• Defensive versatility, with experience beyond catcher, giving Aaron Boone lineup flexibility.
• Multiple years of club control, making him more than just a rental.
• A player whose acquisition cost would likely be significantly lower than many of the bigger names expected to hit the trade market.

That's exactly the type of move smart front offices make before everyone else catches on.

Instead of paying a premium for the biggest available catcher, the Yankees could solve both their present and future by targeting a player entering his prime with offensive upside and roster flexibility.

The Yankees don't necessarily need a superstar behind the plate.

They need competence. They need consistency. Most importantly, they need a front office willing to admit that the original plan didn't work.

Because pretending the problem never existed is exactly what got them here in the first place.

THE YANKEES HAVE A MAJOR LEADERSHIP PROBLEM

At some point, Yankees fans have to stop blaming bad luck.

This isn't a slump anymore. This isn't "baseball being baseball." This is the product of years of questionable decisions made by the same three people: the Yankees front office, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone.

They built this roster. They continue to defend it. They keep sending the same struggling players onto the field and expecting different results. That's not patience—it's organizational stubbornness bordering on malpractice.

The definition of insanity? Watching the Yankees do the same thing every night and expecting October to magically look different. 

Anthony Volpe: Four years in and still "developing".  Volpe has become the perfect symbol of everything wrong with the Yankees. The organization keeps telling everyone he's learning. Learning what?  This is no longer a rookie making understandable mistakes. Volpe is in his fourth season, and fans are still hearing about his "development." At some point, development either turns into production—or it becomes a red flag.

Right now, the warning lights are flashing. His physical tools have regressed. His sprint speed isn't what it once was, his arm strength has looked inconsistent, and it often shows on routine plays. Too many throws come with a double-clutch or rushed release because he doesn't appear to trust his arm. Those split-second hesitations turn outs into errors. Then there's the bat.

June was painful. A .239 average. A .310 slugging percentage. A .635 OPS. Zero home runs. Five RBIs. Seventeen strikeouts. He finished the month looking completely lost, collecting just one hit in his final 17 at-bats.

Pitchers know exactly how to attack him. Breaking balls off the plate continue to fool him, and he still hasn't established an offensive identity. One week he's trying to hit everything 420 feet. The next he's trying to slap singles the other way. The result? Neither approach works consistently.

Yet every night Boone writes Volpe's name into the lineup as if accountability is optional.

At what point does "he'll figure it out" become "he hasn't"?

Apparently, not in the Bronx.

Then there's Ryan Weathers. Another case of Yankees hype getting ahead of reality. The Yankees acted like they landed a difference-maker.

Social media celebrated. Fans were told to get excited. Then... reality showed up.

Ryan Weathers has struggled with consistency throughout the season, carrying an ERA north of four while surrendering far too many home runs. His biggest issue is straightforward: his four-seam fastball too often lives in the wrong part of the strike zone.

High-spin fastballs are supposed to play at the top of the zone. Weathers leaves them down. Major league hitters say thank you.

When those pitches leak inside to right-handed hitters, they don't miss. They elevate them into the seats. As games pile up, fatigue has only magnified the problem. His command fades, mistakes increase, and innings unravel in a hurry.

The Yankees sold optimism. Fans got inconsistency. Another questionable evaluation by a front office that seems far more interested in winning press conferences than winning baseball games. Yesterday's game was atrocious. 

Oh, and Austin Wells? This guy is a disaster.  Remember when the Yankees convinced everyone Austin Wells was the answer behind the plate? How's that working out?

Offensively, Wells has spent much of the season buried near the bottom among qualified catchers. Hard contact has disappeared. Extended slumps have become the norm instead of the exception. Meanwhile, J.C. Escarra and Ali Sánchez haven't exactly forced anyone to forget the position's problems. The catching position is all the fault of the Yankees front office.

This was supposed to be a strength. That's what they told us. Instead, it's become another glaring weakness.

Coming through the minor leagues, scouts believed Wells' bat would carry him while his defense might eventually force him away from catcher. Instead, the defense has become more acceptable than the offense. Which raises a larger question:

Who exactly is evaluating talent inside this organization? Because this isn't an isolated mistake anymore.

It's a pattern and it starts at the top. That's the part many people don't want to hear. I am happy to say it. Anthony Volpe didn't decide to keep batting himself in the lineup. Ryan Weathers didn't create the expectations around his arrival. Austin Wells didn't crown himself the long-term solution.

The Yankees did. Cashman assembled this roster. The front office sold these players as answers. Boone keeps running them out there every single night regardless of performance.

When players consistently struggle without consequences, that's not just on the players. That's a culture problem. The Yankees keep rewarding potential while ignoring production. They preach competition, yet there rarely seems to be any. Good organizations make difficult decisions. The Yankees make excuses.

And so, if the Yankees are serious about winning, difficult conversations have to happen immediately. Bench struggling players. Upgrade positions that clearly aren't working. Stop pretending every prospect is untouchable. Stop hoping tomorrow magically fixes today's problems. Most importantly, stop accepting mediocrity because someone was once considered a top prospect.

The Yankees entered this season believing they had a championship-caliber roster. Instead, they've exposed the same flaws that have haunted this organization for years: questionable talent evaluation, stubborn roster management, and an unwillingness to admit when they've gotten it wrong.

Until the front office, Brian Cashman, and Aaron Boone are held accountable for those failures, don't expect the results to change. The names may eventually change. The disappointment will not.

THREE BAD CATCHERS, BUT A BIG YANKEE PROBLEM

The Yankees currently have a catching situation that can best be described as a three-ring circus — and unfortunately, nobody's laughing in the Bronx.

Two struggling catchers are on the major league roster, and the third, Austin Wells, is working his way back from the injured list. Wells was sidelined earlier this month with cervical headaches just before a series against the Red Sox, leaving J.C. Escarra and Ali Sánchez to handle duties behind the plate.

The problem? Neither has provided much reason for optimism.

Then again, neither has Wells.

And that's where the real blame belongs: the Yankees front office.

Virtually every Yankees fan saw this coming. The organization entered the season acting as if a collection of backup-caliber catchers would somehow turn into a strength. For one of the most successful and storied franchises in sports, settling for mediocrity behind the plate feels like an odd strategy. If the Yankees thought fans would embrace "good enough," they badly misread the room.

At some point, Wells will return. The question isn't whether he'll be back — it's how long the Yankees can afford to wait for him to figure things out.

If the headaches were contributing to his struggles, which I believe is why he's out, perhaps a healthy Wells can turn things around. But if he returns looking like the same hitter we've seen all season, the Yankees may be forced to confront a problem they never expected to have when spring training opened.

Wells has been one of the least productive hitters on the roster, posting a miserable .166/.278/.255 slash line. Simply put, the Yankees cannot continue getting this little offense from a position that already lacks impact around the league.

That's why trade speculation is beginning to heat up.

One name that continues to surface is Orioles star catcher Adley Rutschman. The fit is obvious. Baltimore has elite catching prospect Samuel Basallo waiting in the wings, while the Yankees are desperately searching for offensive production behind the plate.

Rutschman would instantly become the Yankees' best catcher. Through 51 games, he's hitting .265/.343/.481 with eight home runs and 15 doubles. With Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton currently sidelined, adding another legitimate bat has become an even greater priority.

Of course, talent is only half the equation.

Would the Orioles really trade a star catcher to their biggest division rival? Would the Yankees be willing to pay the enormous price it would take to make such a deal happen?

That's where this fantasy starts to get complicated.

The Yankees clearly need help at catcher. Everyone can see it. The bigger question is whether they have the courage to admit they got it wrong and make a bold move before the trade deadline.

For now, Yankees fans are left watching three catchers struggle and wondering how a franchise with championship aspirations ended up here in the first place.

Stay tuned.

OUR CATCHING DISASTER ISN'T AN ACCIDENT, IT'S FRONT OFFICE INCOMPETENCE

The Yankees' catching situation is not bad luck. It isn't a temporary slump. It isn't a "small sample size."

It's the predictable result of years of poor roster construction, blind organizational arrogance, and a front office that seems far more interested in winning press conferences than winning championships.

Let's stop pretending otherwise gang. For years, Yankees executives have sold fans on prospects before those prospects have actually accomplished anything. They've become experts at marketing potential while avoiding accountability for results. They did it with Anthony Volpe. Now they've done it with Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra.

Fans were told these catchers represented the future. What future? The numbers are staring everyone in the face. Escarra was hitting .186. Wells sits at .173. ONE SEVENTY-THREE. Think about that.

Those aren't "developing" numbers. Those aren't "future All-Star" numbers. Those aren't even acceptable backup catcher numbers. Those are numbers that get players replaced on serious championship contenders.

But this is where the Yankees have become masters of creating their own problems. Instead of addressing the issue years ago, they convinced themselves they were smarter than everyone else. They convinced themselves that production would magically appear because their internal evaluations said it would. It didn't and it hasn't. And now we're watching the consequences.

The Yankees finally acknowledged the problem by sending Escarra back to Triple-A and bringing up Ali Sánchez. But let's not pretend that move fixes anything.

Ali Sánchez isn't some hidden superstar waiting to save the season. He's simply the latest patch being applied to a leak that should have been repaired long ago. This isn't a catcher problem. It's a Yankee organization problem.

Good front offices identify weaknesses before they become emergencies. The Yankees wait until the house is already on fire before reaching for a garden hose. And this isn't limited to catcher.

This roster has warning signs everywhere. The Yankees have built a team that looks impressive on paper because the top of the roster contains recognizable names. That's great for television commercials. It's great for ticket sales. It's great for social media graphics. It's terrible for surviving a 162-game season.

Championship teams aren't built with stars alone. They're built with layers. They're built with contingency plans. They're built with quality depth. The Yankees have repeatedly ignored that reality. If one or two key players go down, entire sections of this roster become exposed. There are too many positions where the drop-off from starter to backup is enormous.

There are too many positions where the Yankees are hoping rather than planning. Hope is not roster construction. Hope is what organizations rely on when they don't have answers.

For years, the Yankees have operated as though they can outsmart basic baseball principles. They pour resources into analytics, endless projections, and theoretical upside while often ignoring the obvious flaws visible to everyone else. The result? A roster that constantly feels one injury away from a crisis. Look at the Judge situation. And now the bench that lacks impact.

A depth chart filled with question marks. And as you know, a catching situation that has become a league-wide embarrassment. The most frustrating part is that none of this should surprise anyone. People have been warning about these issues for years. Bleeding Yankee Blue has been warning about these issues for years. The lack of organizational urgency. The lack of depth. The overreliance on internal evaluations. The refusal to admit mistakes. The tendency to market every decision as genius regardless of outcome. The evidence keeps piling up. The excuses keep changing. The problems remain.

And let's talk about Aaron Boone, cause you knew I was going there. At what point does accountability finally reach the manager? Year after year, the same issues surface. Poor situational hitting. Questionable in-game decisions. A team that often appears to be going through the motions. A club that too frequently plays like it believes showing up is enough. At some point, leadership matters. At some point, culture matters. The Yankees continue to act like a franchise that deserves the benefit of the doubt simply because of what they accomplished decades ago.

Baseball doesn't work that way. History doesn't win today's games. Marketing doesn't win today's games.

Execution wins. Depth wins. Urgency wins. The Yankees have lacked all three for far too long.  Now, this isn't about hating the players. I root for the players. I want them to succeed. This is about the executives who built the roster. The executives who created the depth chart. The front office who looked at these catching options and convinced themselves everything was fine, who continue to act as though criticism comes from people who "don't understand the plan."

Here's the problem. We're seeing the plan. That's exactly why us fans are frustrated. The catching situation is awful. The depth is questionable. The roster has glaring weaknesses. And the front office that created these problems continues to operate as though it deserves praise instead of scrutiny. The Yankees may still win games. They may still make the playoffs.

But unless significant changes are made, the flaws are eventually going to surface when the games matter most. Because championship organizations prepare for problems before they happen. This Yankees front office waits until the problem is impossible to ignore. And that's exactly why so many fans have lost faith.

Not in the players. Not in the pinstripes. In the people running the Yankees operation. The front office built this problem, and until accountability finally arrives in the Bronx, don't expect the results to change.

Sorry Gang, just calling it like I see it.

THE YANKEES NEED TO FIX THE CATCHER POSITION FAST!

The Yankees have a catching problem, and it's becoming harder to ignore with each passing week.

Neither JC Escarra nor Austin Wells has managed to seize control of the position. Wells has not shown anything. Escarra's story remains one of the best feel-good tales in baseball, yet sentiment alone won't solve a lineup that desperately needs more production behind the plate. For a team with championship aspirations, the Yankees can't afford for catcher to remain an offensive black hole. This is a position we here at Bleeding Yankee Blue was concerned about in the off season. It's amazing how the Yankees front office thought this duo could actually work.  

Now there are reports that the Yankees's front office is expected to keep a close eye on the trade market for a right-handed hitting catcher who can bring legitimate thump to the lineup. The Yankees don't need another backup. They need a difference-maker.

One intriguing option is Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins. We've mentioned him before. When healthy, Jeffers has demonstrated the ability to punish opposing pitching, providing the kind of right-handed power that would fit naturally in Yankee Stadium. Minnesota's uncertain position in the standings could make veteran pieces available, and Jeffers' recent hand injury may lower his acquisition cost. If the Twins decide to listen on offers, the Yankees should be among the first teams calling.

Another name worth monitoring is Dillon Dingler of the Detroit Tigers. The young catcher has developed into one of the more promising offensive backstops in the American League, combining power potential with solid defensive skills. Detroit may view him as a long-term building block, but every player has a price. If the Yankees are willing to part with some young pitching or prospect depth, Dingler could become an attractive target.

Then there's the dream scenario: Adley Rutschman. Let's be realistic—an Orioles-Yankees blockbuster is about as likely as seeing Red Sox fans cheer for Aaron Judge. But if Baltimore were ever willing to entertain the idea, Rutschman would instantly transform the Yankees' lineup. His switch-hitting bat would add balance, his on-base skills would create more opportunities for sluggers like Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and his reputation as one of baseball's premier game managers would elevate the entire pitching staff.

For now, the Yankees continue to juggle Wells and Escarra while searching for answers. The problem is that October contenders rarely survive with uncertainty at catcher. If the Yanks are serious about making a deep postseason run, general manager Brian Cashman may need to stop patching the position and start solving it.

THE WELLS EXPERIMENT NEEDS TO END

There is a particular kind of agony unique to New York Yankees fandom: watching a player the organization anointed as a cornerstone quietly dismantle your faith in them, at-bat by excruciating at-bat, while the rest of the league politely pretends not to notice. Austin Wells is providing that agony in 2026, and he's doing it with uncommon efficiency.

It started ugly. Through his first eight games of the season, Wells was 4-for-24 — a .167 AVG with zero extra-base hits and zero RBIs. Not a single double. Not a single home run. Just four lonely singles rattling around in a stat line that looked like something an intern invented as a placeholder. For a catcher who slugged 21 home runs and drove in 71 runs just last season, this was not a slow start. This was a full organizational crisis dressed up in pinstripes. All the fans saw it. The front office pretends it's not happening.

Things have not improved. By the time Wells had logged 21 games, he was sitting at a .164 batting average and a .536 OPS — numbers that, to be clear, are not acceptable from your starting shortstop in Triple-A, let alone your everyday catcher in the Bronx. Among Yankees hitters with at least 40 at-bats, only the equally beleaguered Ryan McMahon posted a worse line. That's the company Wells was keeping: the guy who looks like he's never seen a major-league slider before.

As of this writing, he's "rallied" to a season batting average of .183. Wow. Remember when batting .240 was lousy?   Opposing hurlers have discovered that breaking balls are essentially kryptonite — Wells is hitting .125 against them this season, a dramatic drop from his .221 mark in 2025. Left-handed pitchers have been particularly ruthless: he's batting .125 against their four-seamers and whiffing at a 40% clip against their sliders. Last year he hit .310 against left-handed four-seamers. This year, .125. You could watch that number drop-in real time and still not fully believe it. You know I hate nerdy stats, but this is horrendous, folks.

The logic is simple, if brutal: if you know a hitter can destroy a fastball, you don't throw him fastballs. You throw him junk. And in 2026, "junk" has been doing to Wells what the 1927 Yankees did to opposing rotations.

MLB insider Joel Sherman, a man not given to fits of panic, admitted he is "losing faith" in Wells at the plate. He recalled the promise of Wells' early career — crisp swing decisions, hard contact — and noted that those qualities feel like they've "backed up a little bit." Sherman said what many are now thinking out loud: does Wells become a player you pinch hit for in the late innings? Do we trade this loser? That's not a question anyone in the organization wanted to be asking about their starting catcher in mid-May, but yet here we are. 

What makes all of this sting is the context surrounding it. Aaron Judge is slashing .268 with 16 home runs and a 1.057 OPS. Ben Rice — the backup turned fan favorite — is somehow batting .303 with 13 homers and a jaw-dropping 1.214 OPS. The Yankees, in spite of Wells, have been a dangerous offensive club when the big bats get going. But the catcher spot has been a sinkhole, and anyone who watches this team knows it.

The calls for a catcher shake-up are growing louder. Backup J.C. Escarra has been floated as a viable alternative — and perhaps most damning, it's becoming increasingly difficult to argue against giving him the job. Minnesota's Ryan Jeffers, batting .299 with a .899 OPS, has been mentioned as a potential trade target. Wells has three more years of team control on his contract, which means the Yankees own this problem for the foreseeable future unless they do something about it.

And try to make an argument that he's a good defensive catcher, and I don't really know how you can. Once known as a great defensive framer, does that really matter anymore now that the MLB uses ABS. It's kind of like AI taking over the graphics department at your company... you're no longer relevant. Being a catcher for the Dominican Republic and hitting a homer for them in the World Baseball Classic just a few months ago does not make you a complete player. Your time has passed Austin.

For us Yankees fans watching the standings and the calendar simultaneously, patience is a luxury that looks more expensive by the day. Austin Wells was supposed to be an answer. Right now, he's a question nobody in the Bronx knows how to solve.

Time to cut this bum loose.

YANKEES SWEPT BY THE RAYS & IT'S BOONE'S FAULT AGAIN

Anyone with an actual brain—and more importantly, anyone who understands the feel of a baseball game—could see this coming from a mile away. This Yankees start? Not surprising. Not shocking. Not even mildly confusing. It’s the same movie we watched in 2025, just with a slightly less shiny bullpen and a bench.

Sure, the Yanks came out hot. Great. Hang the banner. But some of us live in reality, not in whatever motivational poster clubhouse speeches are printed on. Because here’s the truth nobody wanted to say out loud except us here at Bleeding Yankee Blue: the moment Aaron Boone has to actually manage—not just smile and nod while things are going well—the whole thing starts to wobble. Are you reading this Jon Vankin from Newsweek? I would love for you to pick-up my story this week... because I've been preaching pure gospel about how bad Boone is and how it was going to go exactly how it has for the Yankees and this horrific manager. 

By the way, this is not a hot take. That’s a pattern when it comes to Boone sucking.

Any manager can look competent when the lineup is raking and the pitching is cruising. That’s not managing—that’s coasting. The real job starts when things go sideways. That’s when you need instinct, guts, and the ability to read the moment. And that’s exactly where Boone falls apart. Every. Single. Time.

Today was the latest masterclass in what not to do.

Down 5–4. Game on the line. Avoid the sweep against the Rays. Season momentum hanging by a thread. And who does Boone roll with? Ryan McMahon—while Paul Goldschmidt, a legitimate bat, sits there as the last option on the bench. First pitch to McMahon? Groundout. Game over. Rays crowd laughs. Boone's decision indefensible.

And no, this isn’t a one-off. This is Boone’s greatest hits album at this point.

April 5: high-leverage moment, Boone hands the keys to JC Escarra. Three pitches later—strikeout. Rally DOA.

April 8: Ryan McMahon, hitting a cool .077, keeps getting run like he’s being honored for lifetime service. Boone’s explanation? McMahon “had been on base four times in the previous three games.” That’s not analysis—that’s a cry for help.

April 10: Randal Grichuk gets the nod against a righty while Trent Grisham, a lefty, collects dust on the bench. Four pitches later—strikeout. Predictable doesn’t even begin to cover it.

And then today—back to McMahon again. Against a pitcher who eats hitters like him alive. Meanwhile, Goldschmidt watches. Again.

These aren’t tough managerial calls. That’s the scary part. These are the easy ones. The obvious ones. And Boone still manages to get them wrong. Because Boone doesn’t manage to win—he manages to avoid hurting feelings. He doesn’t feel the game, he tiptoes around it. And baseball punishes that kind of hesitation every time.

At some point, you have to stop calling it a slump or bad luck. This is who he is. A manager who cannot make the hard decisions, and honestly, sometimes can’t even make the easy ones. And this is exactly why this team isn’t going anywhere meaningful.

You think this holds up in October? In a short series where every move is magnified? We’ve already seen that movie too. 2 horrible moments come to mind.

2024 World Series Game 1—Boone trots out Nestor Cortes, fresh off an injury and over a month without pitching, to face the top of the Dodgers lineup. Predictably, it blows up immediately.

2025 Wild Card Game—he pulls Max Fried after 6.1 shutout innings on just 102 pitches. The bullpen comes in, gives up a backbreaking homer, and the game flips. Season altered because of one unnecessary decision.

And yet, here we are. Same mistakes. Same patterns. Same excuses. Same stupid manager.  Fans chanting “Fire Boone” aren’t overreacting—we’re exhausted. This isn’t impatience. It’s recognition.

Brian Cashman keeps building flawed rosters, Aaron Boone keeps mismanaging the pieces he does have, and Hal Steinbrenner keeps watching it all unfold like it’s acceptable.

It’s not.

This franchise used to demand excellence. Now it tolerates mediocrity dressed up as “process.”

And that’s the most disappointing part of all—because the problem isn’t just Boone anymore. It’s the fact that the people above him keep letting this happen.

Horrible sweep. Embarrassing.

BAD BOONE DECISIONS CONTINUE TO LOSE GAMES FOR THE YANKEES

Friday night’s 5–3 loss to the Rays wasn’t just another notch in a three-game skid—it was another reminder that the biggest problem in the Bronx isn’t always on the field.

Yes, Luis Gil had a rocky debut. Fine. That happens. But the defining moments of this game didn’t come from the mound—they came from the dugout, where Aaron Boone continues to manage like he’s guessing on a multiple-choice test and proudly circling “C” every time.

This is becoming a pattern, not a fluke.

April 5: high-leverage situation, Boone rolls with JC Escarra—three pitches later, strikeout, rally dead on arrival.

April 8: a .077-hitting Ryan McMahon keeps getting chances like he’s on a lifetime achievement tour. Boone’s justification was dumb. He actually said McMahon “had been on base four times in the previous three games.” That’s the bar now? Four times in three games? For a hitter batting .077?

And then Friday—somehow worse.

Down 5–3 in the ninth, the Yankees finally wake up. Giancarlo Stanton and Amed Rosario lead off with singles. Jazz Chisholm Jr. does his job, chaos ensues, runners move—suddenly, one swing ties the game.

This is where a real manager plays chess. But we don't have a real manager. We have Boone who plays rock-paper-scissors… blindfolded.

With a righty reliever on the mound, Boone sticks with Randal Grichuk while Trent Grisham—a lefty—sits on the bench watching the season pass him by. Predictably, Grichuk strikes out on four pitches.

And Boone’s explanation? Brace yourself:
“I like the righties against Baker. Had it been two outs, I might have gone Grisham.”

That’s not just a bad answer—it’s barely an answer. It’s the kind of logic that makes you wonder if lineup decisions are being made with a dartboard.

Then came the postgame philosophy lecture, where Boone said:

“Up until the last game of the homestand, we’ve been walking a ton, giving ourselves an opportunity, just got to get some guys clicking and obviously get that big hit... We’re not hitting a ton of longballs right now, but for the most part, approach-wise, I’ve been good…it’s going to happen sometimes from the offense. They’ll get it rolling and some people will pay the price.”

That all sounds nice—if you ignore reality.

Because here’s what Boone refuses to acknowledge: when you do get those opportunities, you can’t hand them to the worst possible matchup and hope for a miracle. Walks don’t win games by themselves. “Approach” doesn’t drive in runs. The right hitter in the right moment does.

Instead, Boone keeps rolling out scenarios where JC Escarra, Ryan McMahon, or a cold righty in a righty-righty matchup becomes the guy. Not because it’s smart—but because, apparently, it “feels” right.

That’s not strategy. That’s gambling. It's a guess. You need to give your team an opportunity. He's not.

Managing this team right now is like handing someone the keys to a Porsche and watching them say, “I like my chances,” right before driving it straight into a wall. And then afterward, they explain the crash by talking about how smoothly the steering wheel felt.

At some point, you stop calling it bad luck. You call it what it is: bad leadership.

The New York Yankees aren’t losing because they lack talent. They’re losing because, in the biggest moments, the decision-making collapses because of Aaron Boone. And until that changes, October isn’t the goal—it’s a fantasy. Mark my words, even if we make it to the playoffs, Boone doesn't have the brain capacity to guide us in a short series.  Trust me.

You cannot win a championship when your manager keeps explaining losses instead of preventing them. That's the bottom line.

SAME YANKEES, SAME PATTERN

It’s April. 

The New York Yankees are in first place—congratulations, you’ve achieved the absolute baseline expectation of being the Yankees. Hang the banner.

And somehow, nine games in, the noise is already unbearable. Not concern—panic. Not analysis—idiocy. Fans are foaming at the mouth over José Caballero like he personally tanked the season. The guy has played NINE GAMES. Nine. Not 90. Not half a season. Nine games, and people are ready to ship him to the moon because he’s hitting .129.

Meanwhile, Anthony Volpe hit .212 over a full 153-game season, and somehow that got a pass wrapped in excuses and blind optimism. That’s not loyalty—that’s delusion. The Yankee front office is full of that. Meanwhile Caballero already has 3 stolen bases. Volpe had 18 all last year. But yeah, tell me more about how Caballero “can’t play.”

You don’t sound smart—you sound clueless.

If you’re going to be mad, at least have the backbone to be consistent. The supposed cornerstone, Aaron Judge, is hitting .185. Where’s the outrage there? Or does criticism only apply to the new guy because it’s easier? Judge will be fine. Caballero will be fine.

You know who's not fine? The real problem: Aaron Boone. This guy is a walking, talking example of how to overthink yourself into failure. Nine games in, and he’s already making decisions that would get a Little League coach side-eyed.

You have Paul Goldschmidt—a legitimate, proven hitter—sitting on the bench in a moment where you need a clutch at-bat. And Boone decides, “Nah, I’m good,” and sends up JC Escarra to strike out and end the game. That’s not strategy. That’s incompetence.

At some point, it stops being “just April” and starts being a pattern of stupidity.

And the quotes? My God. Boone calling Volpe “F’in elite” last year was an embarrassment. This year, saying Escarra would be top 10–15 in the league if he played regularly? That’s not even spin—that’s straight-up fantasy. You can practically hear Brian Cashman whispering in his ear while he parrots nonsense to the media.

Boone isn’t managing a baseball team—he’s reading from a script written by a front office that clearly thinks fans are stupid. He is a puppet, there is NO QUESTION.

But here’s the truth: it’s April. This is when teams figure things out, patch holes, and grind out wins however they can. The Yankees didn’t properly fix their roster in the offseason, so yeah, things look messy. Fine. That part is reality.

What’s not reality is trashing a player after nine games while pretending the rest of the roster is above criticism. Going after Caballero right now isn’t just premature—it’s brain-dead. 

If you want to be angry, aim it where it belongs: at the decision-making, at the leadership, at the people who should know better and clearly don’t. I said it before, boycott, but you won't.

Otherwise, spare everyone the outrage. You’re not exposing problems—you’re exposing yourself for being idiots.

PAUL DEJONG IS THE YANKEES NEWEST BAND-AID SIGNING!

Okay, seriously what the HELL are we doing? The Blue Jays are out signing shiny new toys to their roster and we get the crappy insurance or depth piece scrubs that no one wants. This is what Brian Cashman can deliver with Hal Steinbrenner's penny budget.

Welcome to our new reality. While our division rivals get stronger, we just sit on our hands because Hal doesn't want to open his piggy bank. The latest proof is Paul DeJong as a freaking New York Yankee, yippee! You can read more HERE.

Again, Yippee! While we have dreamt of getting rid of Anthony Volpe, and would love to see it happen Cashman and company gives us another freaking scrub to the party. Hal said having a $300 million dollar payroll was "not sustainable" and that it would be ideal for payroll to go down, but that did NOT mean that was guaranteed to happen. The Yankees were still going to be in on big names....right.

We've all been gaslit. At this point, Tatsuya Imai signed with the cheating Houston ASSTROS, Cody Bellinger is still out there because the Yankees are playing hardball. We still need another starter and oh yeah....our bullpen is absolute crap! This season is going to be UGLY if the offseason continues like this.

Look, I know DeJong is just depth, especially while Volpe is out for the beginning of the season. DeJong is just a minor league signing with an invite to Spring Training that likely won't make the opening day roster but I am sick and tired of these lackluster depth pieces that are utter crap. I'm not saying depth isn't good....but the Yankees need to go out there and chase after the difference makers also and we aren't!

We aren't acting like the New York Yankees. This is not the picture of a hungry team trying to get back to a championship after 16 years! Now let's just add a bunch of crap depth pieces and make that bench even more crowded as we search for lightning in a bottle in hopes to complete with real powerhouse teams. It's STUPID! Two of the Yankees four bench spots are theoretically filled with Amed Rosario and J.C. Escarra so that leaves DeJong to compete with Oswaldo Cabrera, Jorbit Vivas, and Braden Shewmake for those last two spots. What a joke.

I'm beyond frustrated. I'm sick of the Yankees operating like the Athletics right now. If you want to win you have to make those big moves, also. I'm not saying make ALL of them, make strategic ones. The Yankees aren't making any and I am tired of biting my tongue!

This isn't a competitive team....this is bottom feeder all thanks to clowns Cashman and Hal!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE "WORK IN PROGRESS" YANKEES

I feel that's what fans get every year around Opening Day.  I have to say, it is what it is when we're talking about the Yankees injuries, but for the love of God, the fact that the Yankees are not reacting quicker when big guys like Gerrit Cole go down are beyond me. It's painful, it shows lack of urgency.  I can't stand it. But, it is what it is, right? We shouldn't expect anything more.  Almost like we have a tremendous off season and then when Cole went down, Brian looked at Hal and said, "Wow, when can I get a break?" and Hal looked back from his billions and said, "Quick, play up the J.C Escarra promotion and let's distract the fans!"  Nothing against Escarra, but we've seen this movie before.

Whatever the case, these are the 2025 Yankees. They are not scary, they are not good in some regards... they're there. Brian Cashman called the Yankees' current roster a "work in progress" on Saturday.

Oh, a work in progress? That’s a cute way of saying, "We’re running this franchise like a never-ending home improvement project that keeps getting delayed because someone forgot to buy the right tools." And by "someone," we mean Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner, the dynamic duo of indecision.

But wait! Cashman did toss out a little breadcrumb of hope, suggesting that a move—or at least the illusion of one—could be on the horizon. “We’re definitely keeping the phone lines open,” he said. “We are certainly trying to improve on the margins, if those margins exist.” If. Those. Margins. Exist. That’s executive-speak for "We’re doing absolutely nothing, but here’s a vague sentence to keep you entertained."

Sure, Cashman has a history of pulling off last-minute deals before the season starts, but will he actually do something this time? Hard to say. And with guys like Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez in the system, the last thing we want to see is for them to be shipped out. Planning requires effort and creativity at this point and well, that’s not really the Yankees’ strong suit these days.

One thing is clear: this team needs a third baseman or, at the very least, a right-handed bat that won’t make opposing pitchers salivate. Cashman himself even admitted he’d be "happier" with another right-handed hitter. The problem? Happiness doesn’t sign contracts, nor does it trade for impact players. What we’re left with is the baseball version of "We like what we have," which is just a fancy way of saying, "We’re unprepared, but here we go anyway!"

And let’s talk about Hal Steinbrenner’s silly excuse. According to him, the Yankees are in a tough spot because "buyers and lenders" make it hard to upgrade. Ah, yes. The billionaire's burden. As if the Yankees—a team valued at $7 billion—are some plucky underdog scraping together couch change to make payroll. Hal, buddy, this isn’t a yard sale. It’s Major League Baseball. Open the checkbook and act like you own the Yankees, not the Tallahassee Balloon Knots.

To the Yankee players, it's not your fault. 

We love you as our athletes, and you are doing your best. Your front office is failing you. The Yankees, as currently constructed, are a product of upper management’s indecision and apathy. The fans see it. The media sees it. The league sees it. The only ones who seem blissfully unaware are the guys calling the shots.

So here we are, the 2025 "Work in Progress" Yankees. We've been stuck in this endless rebuild-that-isn't-really-a-rebuild for years, and the slow-motion collapse of what was once the most feared franchise in American sports continues. And the worst part? It’s all happening right in front of our eyes.

What a damn shame.

IS THIS CATCHER ABOUT TO BACK UP AUSTIN WELLS?

Catcher, catcher, who will be the backup catcher?

There's actually talk about this and to be honest, I was too wrapped up in the rotation and infield and didn't realize we're kind of in a bad place in this position.

The Yankees have their starting catcher in Austin Wells... and that's about it.  Right now, the backup options aren’t exactly inspiring, no offense. The only other catchers on the active roster that I can see are J.C. Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez. Rodriguez, at just 22 years old, is still a work in progress, and Escarra, 29, has yet to make his MLB debut. Let’s be real—both will likely spend most (if not all) of the season in the minors. 

So, what’s the plan, Yankees?

Wells is solid, but let’s not pretend he’s the second coming of Jorge Posada. Catchers take a beating, injuries happen, and having a reliable backup is a must. That’s why the latest buzz about veteran James McCann is actually pretty intriguing.

McCann, a former All-Star, spent 2024 as the Orioles’ backup, hitting .231 with eight homers and 31 RBIs while mentoring Adley Rutschman. He’s a seasoned pro with over a decade of MLB experience and could be the perfect guy to not only provide depth but also help Wells develop.

Bringing in McCann would give the Yankees a steady, experienced presence behind the plate—someone who’s been through the grind and knows how to handle a pitching staff. Plus, he wouldn’t cost a fortune. It’s still just a rumor at this point, but honestly? This move makes a ton of sense.

Will the Yankees pull the trigger? We’ll have to wait and see.