I Asked, You Answered: Here’s How You Fixed the Yankees
Earlier this week, I asked you, the loyal Yankees fans (and haters...that's where I fit) and 104.5 The Team listeners to place blame on a specific area of the Yankees roster. The discussion was between Levack and I, with Levack saying the blame belongs on the offense for not producing, while I assigned blame to the (rest of the) starting pitching.
I wrote a post about the conversation, and presented statistics that indict both sides for their lack of performance. You look up and down the line-up, and you see players underperforming compared to their usual career numbers. You also look at the rotation, and you see Gerrit Cole pulling on the rope by himself, with at least four other arms watching him do it.
So, I decided we needed to come to a consensus. The question "who's to blame" is more meant to identify the type of player Brian Cashman and company should be targeting.
Let us begin...
First, you need to identify the issue before you attempt to solve it. We now know that four players can remain. Their identities are hidden for their own protection, so we may never know who's on the chopping block.
Now we know, however, that a lot of overhauling needs to happen.
We have a vote for the offense. The players to which you're paying large amounts of money need to step up and do what they're paid to do. Stanton, Torres, Sanchez...there is a long list of "big boppers" who have not properly bopped yet this year.
This person assigns a bit of blame to each party, and I can't blame them. The starting, aside from Gerrit Cole, just hasn't been at an acceptable level this season. That said, the offense has also struggled to get the "big" hit in big spots.
A vote for the manager? Now we're getting somewhere! It took until his ejection Monday night in Baltimore for Aaron Boone to show the kind of emotion that can motivate a team. Maybe that length of time was too long to overcome.
Let's even go a step higher, says this answer. Brian Cashman has had his chances to construct the perfect ball club for years, and it still hasn't come together all the way. You have pieces, but are they not the right fit? Cashman would be to blame for that.
I think we've made some really strong progress here today. Let's do this again, sometime.