Perspectives on the Yankees

by Paul Semendinger

November 4, 2026

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I have a collection of thoughts on the Yankees, so let's get right to it.

• I know there is this idea that the Yankees should keep Giancarlo Stanton around because he's a big time hitter (when healthy). That simply isn't true. I am not going to speculate on who the Yankees should get to replace Stanton, but keeping Stanton on the team would be yet another indication that the Yankees are not serious about putting a World Championship quality team on the field in 2027.

  
  

• First, Stanton is never healthy. Keeping him on the team clogs a roster spot. It prevents to team, as it is being built, from acquiring a different player, whether that's a player they might trade for or bring up from the minor leagues. Stanton cannot, in any way, be counted on to help the club. At all. This is obvious on its face, but here are the stats over the last two seasons

  • 2026 = 138 games missed (85% of the season)

  • 2025 = 85 games missed (52% of the season)

    
    

• Further, Stanton will be 37-years-old in 2027. He is not getting younger. And he didn't stay healthy when he was young.

  
  

• Stanton also isn't a big threat in the batter's box when he does play. Over the last five years, he is batting .225. His On Base percentage in that time is .301. He has slugged .475 in that period. His OPS+ is just 113. Again, this is over FIVE seasons.

  
  

• Now some might say that Giancarlo Stanton is a 3.3 WAR player. They would be correct in saying that. Yes, Stanton is a 3-WAR player. That is, he has accumulated a total of 3.3 WAR over the last five season combined. Yes, combined. In other words, in total. You are reading that correct. In total, for each of the last five seasons, half a decade, Giancarlo Stanton has been worth fewer than one win per season. A team serious about winning cannot employ such a player. This is obvious on its face.

  
  

• During Hal Steinbrenner's (terrible) press conference, he stated that losing Stanton in 2026 was part of the reason the Yankees didn't win. Stanton hasn't played even 115 games in a season since 2021. Counting on Stanton being a factor was terrible planning and delusional thinking. Building a team that counts on a player who is a shell of his former self as a hitter and who cannot stay healthy is not, in any way, building a championship roster. Rather than thinking that the team might have won if Stanton played, Steinbrenner should be asking Brian Cashman why he even thought Stanton being a factor was a possibility.

  
  

• Some fans are blaming George Steinbrenner for the Yankees current troubles. George has been long gone for a long time. The Yankees problems today have nothing to do with George Steinbrenner. Hal Steinbrenner is his own man. Brian Cashman too. The decisions they make today have nothing to do with George Steinbrenner.

  
  

• Some fans have praised Brian Cashman for building a great core of young positional player talent. That might be true. There is young talent to be excited about. But we are a long way, a long, long, long way from stating that these are players ready to perform well at the big leagues with any certainty. To state that this young group is battle-tested and ready to win is far too premature. This is what we all hope is true, but, again, this sentiment is far too premature.

  
  

• The following homegrown Yankees all have a career OPS+ that is under 100 (meaning below league average) (also meaning certainly not championship caliber): Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, and George Lombard, Jr. Yes, Ben Rice has become a star, but, to date, like Aaron Judge with the group before, he just might be the outlier. Spencer Jones did well enough, but let's also remember he was exposed in the playoffs. All the teams saw that. Jones has a hole in his swing that he's never been able to fix. In 86 games as a Yankee, he whiffed 105 times.

  
  

• I love the optimistic hope about Austin Wells' second half. "See, he can hit!" And maybe he can, but 2026 was the third season, in a row that his supporters are stating that his performance was hampered by injuries. "If only.." Well, at some point (just like Giancarlo Stanton) a player needs to actually perform with the bat. Wells never has. His batting average has gone down season to season. His OPS+ has gone down season to season. At some point a player has to produce. And, let's be fair, Wells has not. Maybe he'll be healthy in 2027, but to count on that is to count on something that has never happened at the big league level for Austin Wells. Planning a team around hope, and hoping for something that has never happened, is just not quality roster building.

  
  

• I have been told that many people here enjoy my other writing that has little to do with the Yankees. I do not post on my other site on a daily basis, but if one wishes to read about other topics of interest, please check out www.drpaulsem.com

  
  

• I am very please to report that I have finished writing Volume 2 of West Point at Gettysburg. This will be heading to the publisher soon for their review, edits, and revisions. Tim Kabel and Mike Whiteman have worked diligently with me to edit the chapters as I have progressed through my research and writing. I cannot thank them enough for their outstanding work.