The Yankees are getting more and more frustrating to watch for the fan base to watch. With all due respect to the players, playing Jahmai Jones in the leadoff spot on Tuesday was ridiculous, and if we’re honest, J.D. Davis has no business being on this team, never mind have him start at first base and bat fifth in the order. Why can’t they bat Wells in the lead off spot as a lefty bat against the lefty pitcher, and play Rice, another lefty bat, at first base? In Tuesday’s 3-2 loss, the Yankees went 5-for-31, good for a .161 batting average.
Both Jones and Davis struck out twice, going hitless in 3 at-bats each. The highlight of the game was a solo home run by Gleyber Torres. And with how that lineup was constructed, I’m kind of amazed that they got that much.
The trouble is that with the Yankees putting out a passable squad, and the organization not always showing confidence in their prospects, it shows many of the prospects that no matter how much hard work you put in, the organization may not give you a proper shot at the next level, never mind the Major Leagues.
There are so many prospects in recent memory that had their potential shot squandered while their stock solely dropped such as Deivi Garcia, Miguel Andujar, Estevan Florial, among others. Some thought it was a bad group of prospects and that the Yankees had changed the way they sought out players.
Now we’re starting to see that with the next generation of talent, with all four full-season teams holding winning records right around or under the .500 mark.
Between myriad injuries and prospect fatigue, so many of the top 30 names aren’t what we expected them to be this year.
Injuries are unavoidable. I get that. But it seems like as the years go on, the quantity and duration of injuries have been increasing. A few years ago, an outfielder experiencing a ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) was rare. The Yankees have experienced two such injuries within a year (Jasson Dominguez and Everson Pereira). You’ll get your freak injuries like what INF Caleb Durbin has experienced; he was hit on the hand and has been out since early into the season.
Are the injuries to blame for how teams are playing? They shouldn’t be. That applies from top to bottom. Look at the performance by the Yankees last year when Aaron Judge was out for much of the season. To say they limped through 2023 is kind. The roster construction in the Bronx overall is much better than what we saw last year. That somehow doesn’t equate to 1st place performance.
If you’re like me and follow the farm system closely, you want the Yankees to promote and play homegrown kids. They promoted a bunch of names in 2023 and have started to in 2024 as well. But if they want to pursue Juan Soto and lock him in for a long-term contract, they need to do a few things. I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but the Steinbrenner family ownership needs to show that they want to put a competitive team on the field. Is this team capable of winning a championship? Absolutely. Does this team look like they’re capable of winning a championship right now? Absolutely not.
With the potential of having a generational talent tied to one of the greatest franchises in sports, the Messi of baseball, you may say, the Yankees need to show they’re willing to do whatever they need to do to win a World Series. Inter Miami has not been a dominant team aside from Lionel Messi (he’s hurt currently, but that’s beside the point). Can you name another player on that team? I can’t without looking the roster up. Tying Juan Soto to the Yankees and Aaron Judge would not only bring in more merchandise dollars, but butts in seats. Tickets, concessions, parking, etc. The whole reason you’re running a team. The Yankees are big in the Caribbean countries, and having a Hispanic player they can identify with this year has been incredible for that fan base.
But does all that mean they should pursue a trade ahead of the deadline in about a week? I’m the wrong person to ask who they should trade for. I can tell you that salaries like DJ LeMahieu ($15M) are hurting the Yankees given their current performance. In his last 30 games, LeMahieu is hitting 8-for-44 (.182) with 3 RBI. Compare that to Oswaldo Cabrera, who’s hitting 17-for-65 (.262) with 8 RBI. Is that a whole lot better? Not really. But the dollars make sense there, and Cabrera has been performing much better of late.
I would like to see a package of LeMahieu with a few prospects for a relief pitcher. I have seen a few suggestions in moving Gleyber Torres. While the contract is a little pricey currently, his performance has been getting better lately. Torres is hitting .320 (8-for-25) in the last 7 games with 2 HR and 3 RBI, and .255 in the last 15 games with 5 RBI. If the Yankees were to lean on the farm system, Jorbit Vivas might be my go-to, but he was recently called up and never saw any time in a game. He just sat on a bench. Why call anyone up then?
With the hesitation of moving guys around to accommodate 40-man roster restrictions, Peraza currently makes the most sense. He’s hitting .276 in the month of July and at this point, anything is better than what LeMahieu is putting on the field. The Yankees are on the hook through 2026 (so another 2+ seasons of $15M/year), and he has a limited no trade clause (via Spotrac).
I don’t understand the hesitancy towards promoting prospects. It shows others in the lower levels that this is what you work for.
Is all of this a front office issue? Absolutely. Is Boone as manager complicit? I’m not entirely sure. Boone is the day-to-day face of the front office, if you will. The Yankees’ PR fall guy. Brian Cashman will speak to the media on occasion, and I’ve seen him from afar at the Yankees Player Development Complex in Tampa in rare instances, but he doesn’t face the media when the Yankees have a very disappointing loss… of which they’ve had too many this year. Boone is, at the very least, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I think the main problem is that while Boone can show frustration at reporters (who are just as frustrated, by the way), if there are “butts in seats” as I alluded to before, the Yankees FO will put out an over .500 team.
48,760 were in attendance Wednesday night for the second of the Subway Series games. 47,453 on Tuesday night. Assuming the average attendance is around 40,000, and the average ticket cost is $40, you’re taking in $1.6M/game, or about $129.6M/year. Now I realize that even if people didn’t show up to the extent of what we’re seeing in Oakland, we would still see more fans in the Bronx than what they’re seeing in Oakland. They’re two totally different markets.
But the point is that fans need to hurt the Yankees ownership in the wallet. Stop buying merchandise. Stop buying concessions at the stadium (supporting the small businesses outside the stadium is always a good idea anyway). Stop going to Yankees games.
If a manufacturer made a poor-quality product, people wouldn’t buy it. The same needs to be applied here. The Yankees are producing a poor-quality product and aren’t looking to make things better by calling up minor leaguers. The front office may say “it’s not that easy”, and it may not be. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that fans aren’t aware of.
But the “on-stage” product hasn’t been quality of late. The Yankees are 60-44 as of today, 52-29 a month ago (June 25) and 37-17 two months ago (May 25). That’s a 23-27 (.460) record in the past two months, and is how the Mets had performed up until May 25th.
At least Boone is acknowledging how poor they’ve been playing. “We’ve gotta play better, ‘kay? We have it right in front of us, we’re a really good team that has played shitty of late. We need to be better”, Boone was quoted saying during Wednesday night’s press conference.
The question leading up to the trade deadline next week is: what will the Yankees front office do to make this team better?
