I No Longer Care Enough To Care Very Much

by Paul Semendinger

November 1, 2026

***

I became a Yankees fans, when, at nine-years-old in 1977, I watched them win the World Series.

I remained a Yankees fan because the Yankees represented some core values that were (and are) dear to my heart. The Yankees wanted to be the best. I also always wanted to be the best too.

I still strive for greatness. They Yankees, though, no longer do.

The Yankees once had the greatest name in sports. They had the greatest history in sports. And it was readily apparent that they wished to keep winning, to keep being the best. Greatness defined the Yankees. That made me want to be a Yankees fan.

The Yankees no longer seek to be great. They lose on the field. They lose out on the big free agents they supposedly wish to acquire.

They then congratulate themselves. They state what a great job they did. When the owner and general manager actually talk to the press (looking painful the entire time - as if answering questions about their team is a horrific experience), they state what great jobs they did. If there is one thing the Yankees are good at, it is self-congratulations.

Just look at this objectively. If you ran a company and the person in charge of your company failed to achieve the company's stated goal - for 17 consecutive years!!! - would you keep that person in your employ? Would you state that that employee is doing a great job? Of course not. It is absurd to think otherwise. The only way it makes sense for Brian Cashman to remain as the Yankees General Manager is to acknowledge that winning a World Series is not his true stated goal. One can draw no other conclusion. Brian Cashman is great at building a competitive team. He's has been a failure at building a World Championship for the last 17 years.

The Yankees might state that their goal is to win the World Series, but the evidence proves otherwise. (This same logic holds true for Aaron Boone who has failed at the task of delivering a World Championship for 9 years.)

The Yankees are content with being just good enough. They don't seek to be great. They'll take great if it comes, but they don't design their teams to be great.

On the field, the Yankees play an uninspired brand of baseball. But it's more than that, the Yankees play a boring brand of baseball. We see this every season - it's the same thing. The Yankees are poor at fundamentals. They rely far too much on the home run. Their base running decisions are awful. The manager seems to have no clue.

It is not longer enjoyable being a Yankees fan. The games are not fun to watch. The off-season isn't compelling. The trade deadline is always a letdown. None of these things used to be true about the Yankees.

The actions and statements of the owner and the general manager show clearly that the Yankees are content with this approach. There is no urgency.

We see other teams mocking the Yankees. We hear comments from other players stating how they don't take the Yankees seriously. As the Brewers just won the World Series, their manager talked about the Yankees as a "horse-blank" team and noted that the Yankees players only play for themselves. We see and hear this constantly.

It is apparent that there is a culture problem with the Yankees. This includes the front office. It includes the manager. And, as hard as it is to say (and admit) this also has to include the players on the team - including the team's captain. These people are all part of the culture - especially the players that have been part of the team during the entire Boone Era. Facts are facts.

Each year fans make excuses why certain free agents don't sign with the Yankees, never acknowledging what seems very clear - many players don't wish to play for the Yankees. For a player who wishes to win, there are other, better, places to play. That never used to be the case. The league knows, the players know, that playing for the New York Yankees is not what it once was.

The Yankees brand no longer stands for greatness. That went away long ago.

Hal Steinbrenner's lasting legacy will be that he destroyed the Yankees championship legacy. The Yankee logo and uniform no longer mean what they meant when he took control of the team.

Brian Cashman shares in that legacy. This is how they'll both be remembered forever in he sport. There will be the CBS Years and there will be the Hal Steinbrenner years. People will remember Michael Burke and Hal Steinbrenner in the same ways. It is all be the same in the history books - long periods of mediocrity.

Some fans argue that the Yankees are in the playoffs every year. They also point to a long period of records over .500. Those are cute talking points that are meaningless. It is easier today to get into the playoffs than ever before. This is what the Yankees bank on - fans being fooled year-after-year by a team that is designed to be just good enough to create interest. We also know that the American League is weak. Before the games are even played, the Yankees can basically count on having a .500 record. The team is designed to be just a little better than pretty good.

We also hear former player after former player stating that there is a problem with the culture around the Yankees. Some for players hint at it. Some state it outright. It seems to me that the owner and the general manager have contempt for the players who were great before they took over as if somehow acknowledging those players diminishes themselves. I have stated, for years, that the Yankees have a problem in this regard because so many of their former greats do not attend Old Timer's Day. That, in and of itself, speaks volumes.

In 2026, I watched many fewer Yankees games than I ever had before. I also didn't go to any Yankees games at the stadium. That won't change in 2027.

I am inspired by greatness. I am inspired by those who dare to be great. I am not inspired by a franchise content to be barely good enough.

The Yankees have lost me.

In short, I am done caring about what the Yankees do until the Yankees show me, not through empty words or a talk show host telling the fans that the owner wants to win, but through meaningful actions, that they actually wish to be great again. Bringing back Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone certainly do not show that greatness is the team's first priority.

I don't have any confidence the Yankees will do what is necessary to properly address the team to make them contenders in 2027. As such, I am not going to get caught up this winter in proposed trades and pretend roster building. I'll still share my thoughts on the way the franchise is moving. I'll still give my opinions. But I'm not going to get caught up with trade hopes and players I hope they sign. I have no confidence that the Yankees will make the necessary changes they need to make. They are content with how they now operate. They have made that point abundantly clear.

Maybe the Yankees will surprise me. But, I doubt it.

The Yankees celebrate being just good enough. I don't. And because of that, I don't care enough to care very much about the Yankees right now.