(Lots of) Perspectives

by Paul Semendinger

February 14, 2026

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It's been more than a week since I last published an article so I have a bunch to catch-up on.

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The Super Bowl was the "Snoozer Bowl." I enjoy football, but I don't get overly invested in it. I am glad I don't. This year's game was one of the worst I have ever seen.

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During the game, the announcers stated that the Seahawks' head coach shared with his team that he's not a good public speaker. It was noted that he wasn't hired to talk. He was hired to be a great coach - a leader and a winner.

I contrast that with the Yankees, who, by many accounts, hired Aaron Boone mainly because they believe he's good communicator.

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News Flash - Aaron Boone actually is not a good communicator. (He is also not a very good manager.)

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I don't watch the MLB All-Star game, but I would watch 456,000 of them consecutively before I'd watch one second of the NFL Pro Bowl which is now a flag football game.

Sometimes I think the people running sports leagues don't even like the sports they run.

"How can I make my sport look even more foolish? I know, let's have the professionals play a kids' game."

I hope Rob Manfred isn't thinking, "That's It! This year we will have the MLB stars play Wiffle Ball!!!"

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We have been warning about gambling and professional sports here at SSTN for a long time. Two gambling stories came out recently that received very little attention.

These involve Yasiel Puig and Emmanuel Clase. I recommend readers take a look.

The influx of big gambling is going to ruin professional sports.

This will happen sooner than most realize.

All it will take is the proof that a big game was rigged to seriously erode almost all the confidence fans have in the legitimacy of the sport.

One hears, in almost every game today, that people believe the fix is in. They don't have any proof. And, right now, it might just be talk. Still, people are already starting to doubt.

Once it is proven that a player or a referee or someone involved helped skew the outcome of a big game, all of that sport's legitimacy will erode immediately. People will then question every play and every game. At that point, it'll be over.

We watch sports because we believe that what is happening is real - that the competition is legitimate. Once people believe that it is not, there is no reason to watch.

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I made this next point the moment the Clase gambling story broke... one has to question the Yankees' Game 4 victory in the 2024 ALCS since the losing pitcher was Emmanuel Clase. He was involved, according to the article above, in rigging pitches in 48 different games.

It is reasonable to wonder if he also did that in the playoffs. If the Guardians won that game, the series would have been tied at two games each. He came into a game with the score tied in the 9th inning and gave up the two runs that lost that crucial game.

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It's now Spring Training. I wish I was more excited about the 2026 Yankees. I'm not. Fangraphs has them winning the division, but winning only 86 games. 86 wins seems about right.

Let's assume that Aaron Judge will be at least a 6-Win player. With that in mind, in essence, the team's fortunes lie with him. If Judge is simply very good, and not super great, the Yankees, by this metric, would be a sub-.500 team.

Since 2022, Judge has been super great. He's been as good as any player - ever. But, let's remember that in 2023, he had a 4.6 WAR season - and prior to 2022, while he was great, he averaged 5.3 WAR each season. Those are great seasons, but not super great like the Yankees will need.

Bottom line - a 5.3 WAR season from Judge probably isn't good enough for this team to compete for a playoff spot.

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Expecting a player to have a better than 5.3 WAR season is expecting a lot. Most great players, even in their primes, had solid seasons that weren't quite that good.

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I still don't like (at all) the idea of Aaron Judge playing in the WBC. He is far too important to the Yankees.

In a few recent seasons, the Yankees have sat Aaron Judge at the end of the season to rest him. The point being that a long season wears him down.

It seems also that Judge's lifetime .236 postseason batting average indicates that the wear and tear is real - and yet, in 2026, he'll be playing in more high-pressure games since he will be leading the USA team in the WBC.

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Quick Quiz - Name the last five World Series Champions.

Now name the last five World Baseball Classic Champions.

For this fan, at least, winning the World Series is vastly more important than winning the WBC.

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I made this point in the comments the other day.

The Yankees claim to have a firm budget, yet they spend foolishly on players like Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon (to name two of very many).

If the Yankees decide to spend big money (or even somewhat big money) on role players, they must also then spend bigger money on the better players that must surround them.

If they Yankees need to be budget conscious, then they shouldn't be making trades for expensive players who aren't very good. And yet they do that continually.

This all indicates (like so much) that the Yankees aren't not run very well.

Their overall decision making is very flawed, at best.

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Also in the comments a few days ago were arguments that the Yankees have been the best team since the advent of the playoffs in 1969.

No one is debating that. No one ever has.

But this was somehow used as proof that the Yankees of today are still the best. I do not understand the point. We all know the Yankees used to be great. WE also know that they are not great today. 1977 and 1996 and 2000 have nothing to do with the 2026 Yankees.

I have stated many times, that Reggie and Thurman are ancient history. As are Jeter and Pettitte and Posada and Rivera. Kids today don't care about them. Kids (and all fans) today want to see the players of today as champions.

Yes, the Yankees were great. The Yankees during the George Steinbrenner Era were very successful - more successful than any other franchise. (And yet, in these discussions so many want to somehow claim that George had nothing to do with that success.)

What is also true is that the Yankees of today, the Yankees of the 21st century, have not been baseball's best. They have won one World Series in the last 25 years. That's not a record to be proud of.

The argument is that is is more difficult to win a World Series than ever before. That may (or may not) be true, but, over the last 25 years some teams have figured out how to win multiple World Series. The Red Sox have won 4 of them. The Dodgers have won 3. The Giants have won 3. The Cardinals and the Astros have won two.

Since 2001, the Yankees have won as many World Series as the Angels, Marlins, White Sox, Phillies, Royals, Cubs, Nationals, Braves, and Rangers.

The Yankees of today are just any other somewhat good team. That's a fact no matter how anyone wishes to spin it.

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I also know the argument that is coming - some of those other teams tanked for a year or so. The Yankees never tank. They're always in it. They are? The Yankees played in one playoff game from 2013 to 2016. Sure, they finished over .500, but they weren't good in that period.

The 2023 (*thank you Edwin Ng) Yankees were 82-80. That wasn't a good season. They were one game better than .500. Sure, they didn't tank, but they also finished in fourth place 19 games out of first. That wasn't exactly competing. There isn't anything to be proud of regarding the 2023* Yankees season.

If the definition of not tanking is a host of seasons that keep the .500 streak alive for the sake of it, I'd prefer the team tank for a year or two to then have a run of success like the franchise used to have.

I don't think there is a fan anywhere that wouldn't trade 1990-1993 for 1996-2000.

The 1925 Yankees were 69-85. They then went to three consecutive World Series including 1927 and 28 when they won it all with what might have been baseball's greatest team.

All franchises, all organizations, sometimes have to take a step backwards in order to get things in order to move forward.

The Yankees of today work hard to simply run in place. It's the wrong approach.

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At the time time that some argue that it is more difficult to win World Series because the playoffs have been expanded, they also cite the fact that the Yankees are in the (easier to get into) playoffs as the proof of their success.

It's a contradiction...

Getting in the playoffs simply means the team is somewhat pretty good. It does not indicate that the club is championship level.

The Yankees of today, since 2010, have been somewhat pretty good.

I'd rather they strive to be great - as they used to.

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Today is Valentine's Day. I love the Yankees.

I wish the Yankees decision makers loved the team as much as so many of their fans and were as invested in winning as those fans are.

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Let's Go Yankees.

Even though I am not super excited about the 2026 season, I remain hopeful that in October I'll be writing, "I am so happy I was wrong about this team."