Yankees in Name Only | The Cutting Edge W/JackKnife

Question for the Yankees front office.

I really don't have to the energy to type this blog out.  I really shouldn't be because the Yankees as an organization don't really put in the time or effort to be what the fans want them to be or expect out of them.  We want them to be an organization that strives to win, gives a crap about the results, and hates to lose!  

They don't hate to lose.

If that wasn't evident when they decided to bring back Aaron Boone, it was clear when they extended Brian Cashman today.  If that still didn't make it clear for you, Hal Steinbrenner's comments on what he calls the team's "success" should make it more obvious along with the fact that getting swept in the ALDS by the division rival Tampa Bay Rays (whose payroll is just shy of a third of the Yanks) just comes off like a minor inconvenience.  

Those might be considered success to franchises like the New York Mets whose fans spend 9 out of 10 Octobers hate watching the Yankees because their favorite team can't establish consistent playoff appearances.  But this is the Yankees, we are talking about.  This organization's mindset went from championship or bust, to just being happy to be there.  We're not supposed to be Patrick Star putting a rock in a snail race.

It's all a sham

At best, this organization gives the illusion that they care.  That's all this press conference was.  With that, perhaps comes the most insulting test of our intelligence when Steinbrenner said they're going "analyze, in a very objective way, what we think we did wrong."  I must say, I am very impressed with the lack of self awareness.  

One could point at Boone as the problem and have a good argument.  Another could point at Cashman as the issue and have a good case.  Well that doesn't paint the whole picture.  Cause in reality, it's all three of the stooges.  The one "managing" who doesn't have the team ready to basic baseball fundamentals, the one putting the poorly constructed team together, and the one who employs them and is complacent with the results.  

If I were to get into the would have, could haves, should haves (Bryce Harper) of the Yankees since 2017.  There's also a lot of shouldn't haves (Giancarlo Stanton) in there, but to go through all of them, we'd be here until pitchers and catchers report.  This statement is a cliche, and I use it ad nauseum, but doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.  

Three blind mice

The organization kept Boone after the disastrous collapse in game five of the 2024 World Series that was a result of poor fielding and lack of readiness to do basic baseball plays.  Those issues never left as evident by the first inning of game two of the ALDS this past season.  The Rays just simply just had to put the ball into play and make the Yankees field in order to defeat them, which was the Dodgers game plan two seasons ago.  It's as if knowing that we'd go on to lose the 2003 World Series isn't bad enough when looking at Boone's game seven home run in the ALCS.  Now, he's the symbol of the Yankees complacency.  

The downward spiral started when the Yankees didn't bring back Joe Girardi.  Despite a hiccup in game two of the 2017 ALDS, he more than made up for it with the way he managed that team to a 0-2 comeback to win that series to coming up just a game shy of a World Series appearance because a scandal ridden championship team was in their way.  Then the organization felt they needed a "new voice" and we got Boone who is by all definition a "player's coach" and while I'm not calling for a full on dictator (or John Tortarella for that matter) to be the bench boss, I'd at least like someone who will hold them accountable for their mistakes and tries to fix them.  

This organization kept Cashman, despite going on what is now 17 years without a World Series title.  "Oh, he won five rings."  He took over in 1998.  He, as well as Bob Watson, inherited a core put together by Gene Michael.  Let's not act like you hit a triple when you were put in to pinch run at third. 

Yeah he won in 2009 too, well George Steinbrenner I was still alive and was so mad about how the final season at the old Yankee Stadium went that they went on the most obvious spending spree available to them when the Yankees threw all the resources available at CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher.  Now, without that hatred of losing gone, Cashman was hesitant to sign Bryce Harper, who (obviously in hindsight) would have been a much better addition to compliment Aaron Judge in the lineup than Giancarlo Stanton.  Mostly because Harper is a lefty and would have thrived in a park with a short right field (as he does in Philadelphia) and Harper's been mostly healthy for the past decade, but that's a ship that's already sailed.  One may argue that failing to outbid the Mets to keep Juan Soto might be Cashman's biggest failure.  I'd say not even considering Harper is at least tied with it.

Say what you will about George, he was definitely wacked out of his mind on more than one occasion, just ask Dave Winfield.  But could I at least ask for Hal to show the passion his dad had for this team?  I want whoever runs this team to be angry when they lose.  I'm not talking about performative, "it's right in front of us," anger, I mean actual disappointment in yourselves to make meaningful changes.  Because if Steinbrenner was telling the truth in his quote above about what the Yankees did wrong, Boone and Cashman would have been gone eons ago.  Steinbrenner is the head of this organization, and we can be mad at Boone, Cashman, and the players all we want, but at the end of the day, Steinbrenner is running this organization. 

Where did the real Yankees go?

There's a reason why Aaron Judge had his comments feeling the Yankees didn't go all in.  Judge is certainly not absolved of any blame in this scenario.  However, the Yankees efforts the past decade or so since the retirement of the core four have been giving off the vibes that they are the Yankees in name only.  The Yankees would have solved the issues with leadership and roster construction years ago.  The Yankees in name only will run it back because apparently the postseason is a crapshoot.  Maybe by hurting Steinbrenner's wallet the fans can make a difference.

With an impending lockout, baseball might come to a screeching halt, but if we are getting a season next year, we can expect more of the same.  You want me to be happy because we eliminated the Boston Red Sox for two straight seasons?  Great, I loathe them, but the goal is a championship.  I'd rather the Yankees win the world series and not play Boston on the way than for them to beat Boston and just come up short later.  

Judge is right in his comments about going all in.  They're the Yankees, this is what's expected of them.  But the organization is slowly killing it's aura with the way they've treated their shortcomings the past few seasons.  Moral victories were acceptable for the 2017 team because they were so young, but after that, this team should have been able to accomplish more than just a World Series appearance in which they lost.  They had something great in front of them and squandered it. 

I'm sure my friend and colleague Zach Danielz is probably reading this saying "it's the 21st century Jack, your team isn't special anymore, welcome to the club like the rest of us," but I don't have to accept that.  I hate saying this because it's the ultimate avoid talking about the current team and their short comings card, but I think it's relevant in this case to say that the Yankees won the World Series 27 times.  Reminder, that's more than any of the other teams in the four major North American sports leagues can say for themselves and double the MLB team in second (St. Louis Cardinals [11]).  Unless the Yankees want to end up like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, or Jannis Joplin, then they should be arriving for 28, and not just happy to get by.  

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