In my years growing up as a Yankees fan, the month of October was always full of anticipation. Anticipation for the big moments and the drama and the expectation of excellence.
Yes, I’m aware I grew up watching one of the great dynasties in baseball history, but the last five years of Yankee baseball make you appreciate that group so much more.
Those Yankee teams of yesteryear rose to the occasion in pressure situations. This Yankees team finds ways to disappoint.
Last Tuesday, everything was on the line. It was “win or go home” and the Yankees couldn’t have laid a bigger egg.
Gerrit Cole was shellacked and couldn’t make it out of the third inning. The Yankee lineup outside of Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo was nowhere to be found and had no answers for Red Sox pitching.
Once again, the Yankees fell short in a year that had World Series-or-Bust expectations.
The reality of last Tuesday night and, quite frankly, the entire 2021 season is that this current group as currently constructed is simply not good enough.
The roster that was put together by Brian Cashman is flawed. It is one-dimensional and players are going in the wrong direction as far as their development over the last few years.
In the dugout, it’s become painfully obvious that Aaron Boone seems completely overmatched. He has no sense or feel for the game.
Boone’s limitations as a manager are highlighted anytime his team matches up with Alex Cora’s Boston Red Sox. Cora can handle a game, Boone can not.
Aaron Boone is not the only reason the 2021 Yankees underachieved this season, but he is clearly not the right man for the job. His contract expires after the World Series, and the Yankees need a different type of manager.
One of the major changes for this team in the offseason should be in the dugout.
A new leader is not the only place to look. This Yankees lineup is simply not athletic enough or balanced enough and way too inconsistent.
The front office needs to find two-way players that have been lacking from this team for way too long.
The moves made last offseason are not acceptable. The division is too good and their rival to the north keeps finding ways to win in October.
There was a time when Yankees fans were able to chant “Who’s your daddy?” at Red Sox fans. The tables have turned.
The Red Sox have eliminated the Yankees twice in the last four seasons, and now await the winner of the Houston and Chicago White Sox ALDS for a chance to go to the World Series.
If that doesn’t bother every fiber within you as a Yankee fan, I don’t know what to tell you.
It’s time for change.
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