What a disappointment. And yet, in a sick, twisted way it makes sense.
The fact that the New York Yankees, a team in desperate need of upgrades at third base, first base, left and center field, whose all-star right fielder has to DH because his injury from two months ago still hasn't healed, did NOTHING at the trade deadline (and don't talk to me about the middling reliever they got for a prospect) speaks volumes. It's the way this team has operated for years, and there's no indication management even wants to change that.
In order to keep the Yankees beneath whatever arbitrary luxury tax deadline they're probably pennies under at the moment, they couldn't add significant salary. Because god forbid they don't make as much profit in the future as they do now, which is a ridiculous amount. Imagine how much they'd be making if they had a winning team.
That meant there would be no major trades unless the Yankees could rid themselves of a large salary like that of Stanton, Carlos Rodon (whose minuscule sample size means he might still find himself), Josh Donaldson, Anthony Rizzo, Frankie Montas, Harrison Bader or... I could go on... and that wasn't going to happen. There weren't even real impact players on the market, unless you count the two Paleozoic pitchers the Mets were unloading, and even they weren't going to help the Yankees score more runs, which is the real problem.
Yankee fans wanted to see some indication that management cares, and they didn't get it. We wanted to see people leave who aren't doing any good. We wanted to see players enter who might. Even if there was no trade, we wanted to see representatives of the farm system we've heard so much about like Pereira, Peraza, Wells and Spencer Jones rather than the walking wounded of Stanton, Rizzo, and LeMahieu.
The front office and Aaron Boone will tell us there've been injuries, and there have. The problem is the Yankees keep telling us they've healed when they clearly haven't. Judge isn't Judge yet. With the Yankees last in the standings and fading in the wild card race every day, he should take the rest of the season off, have the surgery on his toe and come back ready for 2024. LeMahieu should have gotten his foot fixed last offseason and didn't, and he's clearly not the same player. Rizzo had the neck issue after a collision at first base and insists he's fine. He's clearly not. Stop telling us players are ready when they're not. This season is shot. Give the club and the fans a shot at 2024. Let the kids play.
Bader and Luis Severino will be gone by next season. That's fine. The same is true of Donaldson, and that's great. Wandy Peralta might or might not be back. We're told Nestor Cortes is almost back, and we'll see which version of Nestor we get, same with Jonathan Loaisiga.
But the point is that this season is no longer the issue. This year has been botched, never more than it was at the trade deadline, when fans expected change and got nothing. The focus now needs to be on the future, so we don't have a succession of trade deadlines that are just as deflating.
Does Brian Cashman have to go? Maybe, if the Yankees are willing to hire a GM who isn't a slave to the analytics department and the luxury tax. You can't keep Stanton, Judge and Cole on the roster and stay competitive under the luxury tax. Since you're not getting rid of them (or Rodon) the tax has to be paid.
Does Aaron Boone have to go? Also maybe. I'm not sure he's been a major reason in the decline of the team over the past four years, but if his job really is to answer questions at press conferences after losses, well, the fans are tired of seeing his face and hearing his voice. You're not going to let the man manage the team, so maybe you need someone who's better at keeping the angry mob at bay.
Make no mistake - this was years in the making. The same team, give or take, has been trotted out since 2019 and the decline has been steep and swift. An overhaul was clearly needed. It didn't come.
Focus on next year and the years after. This year is over. And Kenyan Middleton isn't the answer.
