Okay, So Maybe NOT 2021

 First of all, we're not even 10% of the way through the season yet. But yeah, it's looking grim.

This team is going to have a hot streak because it's a rerun of last year's team, which was pretty anemic except when in a fairly prolonged hot streak in the middle of the abbreviated season. But with 162-game schedule, that great run could very easily not be enough.

The 2021 Yankees are, so far, the 2020 Yankees but with more crowd noise, which has included people throwing things on the field out of disgust. The starting pitching has been bad (except Gerrit Cole, of course) and the relief pitching has been... let's say inconsistent. There have been base running errors, throwing errors, catching errors and mental errors. That's all just as bad as it sounds.

But good lord, the problem is the hitting. If you want to call it that.

As it turns out, the glue holding the Yankees together has been Luke Voit. Because Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks (don't get me started on Aaron Hicks), Rougned Odor (!) and even DJ LeMahieu have not been hitting. Gio Urshela is about the only semi-dependable bat in the lineup and he's usually hitting seventh.

Now, let's be sensible. Eight people in this lineup not hitting isn't going to last forever. But some of them (Torres, Hicks, Odor and I hate to say it but Frazier) could stay this way all year. The Gleyber Torres experiment seems to be a failure on all ends, as he's also making multiple errors in the field while not hitting. 

Odor, of course, is here because Voit is hurt and LeMahieu needs to play first. Jay Bruce, more power to him, understood he was taking up space and couldn't get back to what he once was, and he retired. Class act. You can expect Odor will evaporate sometime after Voit returns.

But what can be done to fix the dismal showing we've seen in the past 19 days?

I'm not Brian Cashman or Aaron Boone. Clearly. I write mystery novels for a living. But as an interested and long-standing fan, this is the view from the fifth tier:

1. See about eating a lot of the money and trading Stanton. He can't stay on the field and he has had one hot streak since joining the Yankees, which admittedly took place in the postseason. But with the Yankees insisting on staying under the luxury tax ceiling, they could use whatever money they can save on Stanton to find another shortstop and trade Torres. He's a second baseman and should play elsewhere.

2. Yes, trade Torres. You can't get top value for him now because he hasn't lived up to the hype, but he can still show a great deal of potential upside and someone will want to bit on it. It's a fantasy, but Trevor Story is in his walk year and the Rockies know they can't keep him. They might be interested. Best if an extension ala the Mets and Francisco Lindor can be arranged. Hang the luxury tax, Hal. Your dad would be spending his brains out. And I wasn't a fan of his, but it's true. 

3. I get that Judge is doing his best to stay healthy, but I don't believe he's succeeding. Even on the good plays he's making, he appears to be favoring the left side that was "sore" last week. Maybe if Stanton leaves you can give Judge more DH days. He's a wonderful right fielder when he's not worried about every play injuring him.

4. I'd trade Hicks and let Brett Gardner play center field. That's a very short-term solution and probably not a good idea, but I'm tired of Hicks looking distracted in the field and now at the plate. Especially left-handed, which is about 80% of the time.

5. I would NOT trade Gary Sanchez. I still believe there's a very scary bat in there and he's been doing a lot better defensively. Cole won't say that he only wants to pitch to Kyle Higoshioka, but it's the truth. Okay. That's why you have a backup catcher. The other four days of the rotation can be Sanchez's when his hand heals.

6. Any trades that are made have to result in another starting pitcher. Yeah, very small sample size, but the Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon bets don't seem to be paying off. Given that Domingo German (who should be shipped out just based on his off-the-field issues, as should Aroldis Chapman) is your plan B, more pitching is definitely indicated. Deivi Garcia looks good, as does Michael King, but they need to be in the minor leagues for one more season.

7. No, I wouldn't fire Boone. What do you think a manager can do to get a whole team out of a hitting and fielding slump? Miller Huggins couldn't light a fire under this bunch.

This is looming as a truly awful season and lord help us, the Boston Red Sox are in first place. Drastic measures are called for. In all candor, I don't expect that any of them will be implemented, but something needs to happen soon.