We can all agree the Yankees’ slump has officially turned into a hair on fire crisis. The weekend against the Red Sox was a disaster. And now a showdown with the Orioles, who’ve devoured the Bombers like plankton, is just four days off.
But you know all this. You’ve already rounded up the usual subjects.
Hal Steinbrenner: Weak. Soft. Cheap. A disgrace to his father’s memory.
Brian Cashman: Can’t put together a championship roster. Fire him now.
Aaron Boone: Can’t manage. Get Joe Girardi out of the YES booth.
Earth to haters: no one’s selling the Yankees. No one’s getting fired. Get real.
If you want to legitimately pop the hood, start by asking how the Yankees could’ve won 70 percent of their games by June 14, best percentage in the major leagues, and then turn into baseball’s worst team in less than a month.
I put that question to a couple of executives on Monday. Not surprisingly, I heard variations of That’s baseball, Suzyn, as well as a spirited defense of Cashman’s roster construction.
“Tell me one thing Cash did wrong,” is what one of them said, citing the acquisitions of Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, as well as the signing of Marcus Stroman.
“The Yankees were never getting (Shohei) Ohtani, and (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto (who the Yankee were pursuing) went out and got hurt,” the exec said. “So Cash pivoted. Those moves were the right ones.”
“And don’t forget about Snell.”
The left-hander, who somehow morphed into Sandy Koufax on social media this winter, signed with the Giants. Yankees fans savaged Steinbrenner for daring to stand up to agent Scott Boras. Cashman was roped into the hate, too. Just because.
But Snell pitched to a 9.51 ERA in San Francisco before suffering groin and adductor injuries. He’s been out since June.
General managers are paid to be right about bank-breaking free agents. Cashman told Steinbrenner Snell wasn’t that good. He made the correct call. Stroman was the better, more affordable option.
But Cashman’s picks over the winter aren’t paying the same dividends lately. Stroman has regressed, as has the rest of the rotation. The starters were 35-13 in the first 72 games, 3-13 since.
And the offense? Dead. The Yankees were second in the majors in OPS on June 14. They’re now 21st.
That’s partly because Aaron Judge (2-for-20) and Soto (11-for-56) are slumping. Verdugo and Anthony Volpe are next to invisible. And Cashman failed to build a guard rail for DJ LeMahieu’s regression.
That’s left no one to compensate for Giancarlo Stanton’s inevitable, annual, month-long injury. Cashman predicted the slugger would end up on the IL. He was right about that, too.
Maybe Cashman thought Verdugo was Plan B, except he’s batting just .204 with a .573 OPS over the last month.
The upshot: the Yankees don’t have a cleanup hitter. Could that be the root of the problem?
Speaking of Stanton, one of the execs said, “he was so under the radar because of Judge and Soto, it’s like he was (the Yankees’) secret weapon.”
It’s a crazy thought. No one has been booed harder than Stanton over the years. No one has taken more abuse. (And no one’s been injured as much, either). But this was turning into Stanton’s breakout year as a Yankee.
With runners in scoring position he was batting .292 with a .363 on-base percentage, .583 slugging percentage and .946 OPS.
Stanton was coming through when it counted. He was on his way to a 40-home run, 100-RBI season.
At least until June 22, when the fates decided Stanton had enjoyed enough success. Both he and the Yankees went down in flames.
Stanton popped a hamstring. The Yankees have since lost 10 of 13.
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The bad news is that Stanton is still 2-3 weeks away. Who knows how much more damage the Yankees can inflict upon themselves in the meantime.
A bad week against the Rays and Orioles might just sabotage the Bombers altogether. If they go into the All-Star break 6-7 games out, Cashman will be under immense pressure to make a blockbuster move at the deadline.
At the very least, that means selling cheap on Gleyber Torres. There’ll be calls to release DJ LeMahieu, even with two-plus years and $37.5 million remaining on his contract.
The heat on Boone will grow exponentially as well. Unlike LeMahieu, the manager isn’t owed a dollar after this season. His contract expires in October.
Fans who think Cashman needs to go are even more adamant about Boone, who’s failed to win a pennant in his seven years. Cashman is fiercely loyal to Boone, but the decision to give the manager another contract will be Steinbrenner’s alone.
Execs who hear of the public discontent inevitably react the same way: disbelief.
While Boone might be replaceable, they insist Cashman is not.
“The problem is that (fans) have grown too familiar with Brian,” said one. “He’s been around a long time, so they take for granted how good the Yankees are every year.”
Even though Cashman isn’t on social media, he’s aware of the negative drumbeat. So is Boone. Neither seems outwardly affected by it.
For one, the summer isn’t over. The deep slump has cost the Yankees first place, but the 2024 season still has another three months to carve its legacy. The Bombers’ roster won’t look the same on September 1.
Regardless of Cashman’s moves at the trade deadline, the Yankees are guaranteed to be reunited with three key injured players.
Stanton, right-hander Clark Schmidt and prospect Jasson Dominguez.
If you think the Yankees are cooked, you might want to wait a little longer.
Or as one MLB exec advised, “do not bet against these guys.”
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Bob Klapisch may be reached at bklapisch@njadvancemedia.com.