Here’s a familiar visual, the Yankees are heading home for the offseason. Here’s another one, there’s a shakeup coming in the Bronx.
So, the latter, has yet to be confirmed. But, after watching this team lose to Boston in the American League Wild Card Game, 6-2, there should be no doubt a change is coming. There must be something done here, because this just isn’t working.
It’s run its course.
For the second time in four years, the archrival Boston Red Sox have eliminated the Yankees from the postseason.
Manager Aaron Boone has guided the Yankees to four playoff trips in four seasons. Impressive but incomplete – because Boone has failed to reach the World Series.
Here’s a number for you — $36 million
That’s how much money the Yankees paid Gerrit Cole this season to lead their pitching staff to the promise land. It’s how much money they paid for him to be their ace – their stopper – where the buck starts and stops with him.
The Yankees needed more from Cole than what he gave them in this year. When they needed him most, in this Wild Card Game, he failed to deliver.
In a game where the Yankees arguably had the better bullpen, they didn’t need Cole to go the distance. Just give your team a strong six innings, keep your boys in it long enough to battle back. But they couldn’t even get five innings out of him. Boone had no choice but to pull his ace – in the third inning of the biggest game of their year.
It’s going to be a long winter for Cole, as it should be. On the flipside, he made $36 million this year. And just for a reminder to the fan base, there’s seven more seasons for Cole — at $36 million per year — to figure it out.
Moving forward for the Yankees, time for some difficult conversations
Before we go forward, it would be unfair to leave out the infamous Green Monster at Fenway Park for robbing Giancarlo Stanton of two home runs. The red-hot Stanton eventually connected on a long ball, but to right field this time.
Make no mistake about it – the Green Monster was MVP of this game.
Third base coach Phil Nevin – you know what? I’m not going there today; I don’t have enough Alka-Seltzer on standby to get through it.
With the Yankees now settling into another offseason without a championship, or deep postseason run, all eyes will look towards Hal Steinbrenner.
The Chairman and Managing General Partner of the Yankees has his work cut out for him. Steinbrenner must decide how much more of this is enough before it’s time to change it up.
My question to him would be – Well, how much more do you need to see?
The Yankees are not even the best team in their division anymore, it’s not even close. It was Tampa Bay winning the division this year, again. It was the Red Sox knocking them out of the Wild Card Game – a game the Yankees didn’t qualify for until the last day of a 162-game regular season.
Tampa Bay, with half the payroll of the Yankees, will be good again next year. Boston is arguably a year ahead of schedule in their progression, and we know they’re not afraid to spend money this winter. Furthermore, the Toronto Blue Jays put the division on notice they’re coming.
Boone said they’ve got to get better – better where? Does anyone believe that’s going to happen?
With this same group of players? With the same manager? And dare we go there – with the same general manager? Because, yes, Brian Cashman also gets heat for this year’s failure. At what point does Steinbrenner say it’s time?
Do you give this team one more year — in that division — to “get better”? Not based on what we saw in 2021.
The Yankees need another shakeup. Because you can’t keep justifying what they’ve been for the last few years – a lukewarm baseball team.
