Yankees: A Season Built On False Starts And Empty Vows

The Yankees give us hope, and then in a matter of 48 hours, they squash it as reality hits us in the face that this is not a good team at all.

Two days ago, Yankees fans responded in kind to a hope-charged article that appeared here on the morning before game one of the Boston series.

From Let’s go Yankees! – the refrain today is likely to be “Yankees, be gone”, and it’s not because we are fickle as fans.

Instead, it’s because the Yankees are the ones who are fickle.

The Yankees are up, down, and all over the place but there’s always one constant that follows them everywhere, and that’s the fact they don’t hit when hits are needed.

Good teams like the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays do that almost daily. They scratch and claw for a run any which way they can, and they win games because they do.

Yankees Season: A One Game Microcosm

Last night’s loss, for example, is a microcosm of the Yankees’ plight year.

Between hit (9) and walks (4), the Yankees put thirteen men on base, hit into two more double plays (Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez), and stranded nine, managing only two runs against a Boston team that handed the Yankees a gift by scoring only four runs themselves.

The pitching, as usual, was there with Jordan Montgomery receiving credit in the books for a Quality Start, with six innings while allowing only three runs, but as we know the idea is to score more runs than the other team.

Yankees: We Hear The Talk And We Walk The Walk

We hear the talk, so we walk the walk as the Yankees sound good when they speak freely and with authority about “almost there”, “we’re starting to swing the bats well”, and “look at that Sanchez guy.”

But we’re not stupid because from what we see on the field, all that talk is nothing but empty vows in between false starts like the final game against KC, just before the Yankees left for Fenway.

Can anyone say they are surprised the “Bombers” dropped both games to the Red Sox, though? Genuinely, surprised?

Blasphemy, You Say?

Call me a naysayer or a realist; it doesn’t matter because this is not a good Yankees team. In fact, it’s not a team at all. The Mets are a good team, and if you watch any of their games, the culture and camaraderie are explosive, and they win because of it.

I know that’s blasphemy for a Yankees fan to hear, but can anyone deny it’s not true?

This afternoon, the air will once again be filled with tempered hope that Gerrit Cole can prevent another embarrassing sweep at the hand of the Red Sox.

But let’s say real because the damage has already been done, and the team will leave Fenway as losers (of the series), which means a lost chance to pick up ground in the AL East standings.

It’s not too late, and it’s certainly not too early for the Yankees to “do something.”

But as many have said and I concur, this is a poorly constructed team.

Not only that, but the fact is every team in the league knows it too, making Brian Cashman’s job to conduct advantageous trades all the more difficult.

Yankees As Sellers, Not Buyers – Hoorah!

Because the Yankees are the Yankees, expected to make the playoffs every year, how would you feel, though, if Cashman conducted a wholesale effort to rebuild the team at the deadline?

It would mean cutting out the deadwood, as good as some of them are, in return for nothing but top-level prospects who are no more than a year away from contributing to the Yankees.

Clint Frazier, Jameson Taillon, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, Brett Gardner, Rougned Odor, Aroldis Chapman, and possibly more (Stanton if a team will take him for a bag of peanuts), would all be gone.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Would the Yankees do it, and if they did, would you, as part of their fanbase, be in an uproar?

It’s smart, and in some ways, the only thing they can do now because even if they somehow worm their way in as a Wild Card (they’re 4.5 games out), there’s no way they’ll get far.

False starts and empty vows – I’m done with it and ready for a new and younger Yankees team…

I don’t who this guy is but he nails it…

Here’s What Readers Are Saying…

Andrew Pal This team is a reflection of its front office. Dull, monotone, no sense of urgency and devoid of passion. The latest word from Cashman on trade talks is that he’s engaged, but nothing is close to happening. Pretty much the same thing we keep hearing from him 90% of the time. Watching this team play is like watching paint dry. But at least they’ve achieved their most important goal, avoiding the luxury tax.

Kevin Durocher All the Yankees have done is make the red sox look good, and they’re not that good.

Michael Miracco Yes, but the good thing is that they’ll turn it around again, they just need to stay within striking distance, so that they can be in the race towards the end of the season.

Glenn Robert Straffi True fundamentally they are not a great team too many stupid mistakes on the base paths and in the field. Example Voit allowing a run tie score on a sacrifice fly to first base.

Manuel Arroyo For me this Season it’s over. No more excuses and bring guys like other teams that move the ball, less SO , more RBI with men on base, etc

Christian Pryor I mean they can still do something, but every day more and more you lose hope. We can’t beat Boston or Tampa. And that’s basically the season. Have to start beating the teams in front of us. Not the damn royals in or Orioles

Cujo St Bernard Christian Pryor Completely agree. I thought they were turning the corner and this series has just proven me wrong.

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