by Paul Semendinger, October 10, 2020
***
They came too late and then it ended too soon.
Remember when the Yankees were synonymous with success and winning? That isn’t the case any longer. At all.
Year-after-year, series-after-series, the Yankees reach the post season (sometimes just barely) and come up short.
It is obvious, as obvious as the nose in the middle of one’s face, that something is wrong and that something needs to change. The Yankees’ approach is not working. At all.
This is the third consecutive year that the Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, has been outmanaged in the playoffs. This is the result, the direct result, of bringing an inexperienced manager onto the biggest stage in all of baseball. Year-after-year, we see the same things: questionable decisions (and for some decisions, the word “questionable” is being very generous), a lack a team approach or strategy (it seems to be “just go up and hack and try to hit the ball as far as you can”), and poor fundamentals.
If the bizarre managerial decisions are being made at the organizational level, then it’s also time for the organization to admit that and to also admit that that approach isn’t working. If that’s the case, the people making those decisions need to stand up and say, “Aaron Boone is the manager, but he’s just the guy down in the dugout, we tell him what to do,” or “Aaron Boone is one of a number of decision makers on this team. He is part of the planning team and he follows a strategy we all lay out ahead of time.” They also then need to say, “This is not working (at all). We need a new approach.”
If Brian Cashman (who I think is an excellent general manager) is making all these on-field decisions (as some say he is), then it is time for him to admit that he might be great at acquiring players, but he is not a field manager. It’s either him or his field manager, or both, who get outmanaged year-after-year-after-year.
I believe that the fanbase has lost confidence in Aaron Boone. He has not been able to get the Yankees to the finish line in any of his three seasons. And the Yankees don’t look good not getting there. Is it time to find a new manager?
For many years, Brian Cashman has failed to improve the obvious and critical needs the Yankees have had by making the necessary trades at the trade deadline. The teams he have created have not been able to get to the finish line. Is it time to find a new general manager?
In case anyone is counting, this is the 11th consecutive season that the Yankees have not only failed to win the World Series, it’s the 11th consecutive season that they have failed to reach the World Series.
The Yankees’ organization has to be very thankful for that 2009 season because with out that outlier, this would look much worse. Like this: Since 2003, the Yankees have been to the World Series one time. Once.
The Yankees have won one World Series since 2001. One.
Again, without that 2009 season, one in which the Yankees moved Heaven and earth and spent big and crazily and did everything they could to win, this century has not been a great one for the franchise.
For an organization that likes to pride itself on success and greatness, this isn’t success and it isn’t great. This has been a failure on many levels.
Maybe it’s time for the Yankees to once again spend big and crazily and to do everything they can to win. Maybe it’s time for the Yankees to actually stand-up and say, “We are going for it, 100%, in 2021.” Maybe it’s time for them to then make the deals necessary to make that happen. I think the fanbase is completely tired of hearing the general manager say at the deadline (as other teams are wheeling and dealing) that the trades would have hurt too much, that there was nothing out there, that they tried and tried, and that they wish they could have done something…”
You know what hurts too much? Losing in the playoffs year-after-year-after-year.
For years and years it has been so clear that having a bunch of big giant right handed home run hitters who swing for the fences is not an approach that works if the goal is to win the World Series. (Or maybe, more pointedly, it doesn’t work with these big giant right handed hitters who swing for the fences…) Teams need balance. The Yankees have none. There is no balance. There is no approach. They need a few high quality lefty bats. They have none. This has been apparent for years. Twice this series, the Yankees have sent up Mike Ford in a big spot against a premier relief pitcher. It is no surprise that both times Mike Ford failed. He was overmatched. Completely. That’s not his fault. That’s the organization’s fault. Mike Ford should never have been forced to bat in those spots.
I’ll address this again later today, but the turning point in the game last night was the top of the first inning. Against a tired pitcher, the Yankees went down in order seeing a grand total of only eight total pitches. That is inexcusable on the Yankees’ part. It was clear that there was no game plan, no approach. No strategy other than “Swing big.” This allowed the Rays to use their strength, their deep bullpen, exactly as they wanted, probably as they hoped. That is when the game (and the series) was lost.
Under Joe Girardi, I always felt that the Yankees were fundamentally sound and that there was a solid game plan. That plan didn’t always work out. But it seemed there was a strategy; a plan. At least those teams didn’t seem to beat themselves. This team does. Year-after-year.
The end results, except for 2009, were the same under Girardi as they have been under Boone, but the way the Yankees got to that point seemed different. During Girardi’s tenure, the Yankees seemed to over-achieve. Those didn’t always have all the pieces. Those teams found a way. Under Boone, the Yankees seem to underachieve.
And now we get set for another long, lonely, and empty winter. Remember, these years, these exact years (not next year or the year after) were the years that the Yankees were supposed to be winning it all, or at least winning it sometimes. Each year that the Yankees don’t reach the promised land is a year that the core gets older and older and it becomes more and more evident that this plan, this grand plan, just didn’t work.
***
I would like to thank our wonderful fanbase and readers for another enjoyable season. In just over two weeks, we will have completed our third full year here at Start Spreading the News. Thank you for being part of this with us. This is a labor of love. Thank you for being part of it with us.
I would also like to thank our wonderful team of writers who make this all possible day-after-day-after-day. They are amazing. And they are the best.
We will, of course, be here with daily content day-after-day all post-season. We’ll share the disappointments, the frustrations, and the hope as the 2021 season inches ever closer.
I can’t wait!
Thank you to all, and…
LET’S GO YANKEES!!!
