Yankees 2021 Season Thread

[Fan_since_Boggs]

How do the Yankees fix this mess of an offense in the offseason? It isn't going to be easy. Moreover, it wouldn't make sense to let Cashman fix it, since he is the architect behind this mess to begin with. To make matters worse, the Yankees have a weak farm system as it pertains to position players and so they can't turn to the farm system for help--Dominguez is many years away from the big leagues. The prospect Peraza might be ready next year and he could be the SS while moving Torres to 3b. The Yankees are stuck with LeMahieu who had a big year last season and Cashman turned around and gave LeMahieu, an aging player, too much money. I guess the Yankees could move Torres to second base, keep Gio at 3b, and use LeMahieu as a super-utility guy. The Yankees have a black hole in LF (Frazier sucks) and a black hole at catcher. Hicks will return to CF next year. G.Stanton's contract can't be moved and I don't see the Yankees trading Judge, a popular homegrown player who is hitting well this year (albeit his biggest numbers came against the Orioles Triple-A pitching staff). The lineup is too right-handed, too many strikeouts, too slow, too injury prone, and they play poor defense. How do you fix this?

 

I guess the Yankees could look to trade L.Voit and Andujuar for some left-handed hitting, assuming that Voit and Andujar produce this season and stay healthy, increasing their trade value in the offseason.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Fan_since_Boggs

[jacksonianmarch]

My bet is Cash gets an ultimatum and we see a big left handed bat added to the lineup before august. The question will be, will it be enough

[moonslav59]

I only said fire Boone, now, but I assumed Cashman would get the axe by the fall. too.

[jacksonianmarch]

I only said fire Boone, now, but I assumed Cashman would get the axe by the fall. too.

 

If we aren’t in playoff position, I definitely think so

[moonslav59]

If we aren’t in playoff position, I definitely think so

 

An early exit from the wild card slot might be enough.

 

Boone should have been long gone.

[Bellhorn04]

An early exit from the wild card slot might be enough.

 

Boone should have been long gone.

 

Boone has a .605 winning pct., is 3 for 3 in playoff appearances, and this season is far from over.

[Bellhorn04]

I think most of the blame for the current Yankees woes has to go on Cashman and his roster construction.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

The traditional move would be to fire the manager first and if nothing changes, the GM is replaced in the offseason.

 

I've got a good name to replace Boone with: Lou Piniella! Sweet Lou is only one year older than Tony LaRussa. If not Piniella, the Yankees could try to hire Yankee great Yogi Berra. On the other hand, Yogi died in 2015 and so hiring him now would be somewhat problematic.

[dgalehouse]

I think most of the blame for the current Yankees woes has to go on Cashman and his roster construction.

The powerhouse Yankee teams of yesteryear always featured an array of strong left handed hitters. Somehow, Cashman has gotten away from that . Their lineup is almost entirely right handed.

[jacksonianmarch]

The powerhouse Yankee teams of yesteryear always featured an array of strong left handed hitters. Somehow, Cashman has gotten away from that . Their lineup is almost entirely right handed.

 

Can't agree with this post enough. The Yanks used to destroy hard throwing righties. Now, we get shut down by them. And there are a ton of hard throwing righties on every team

[moonslav59]

Can't agree with this post enough. The Yanks used to destroy hard throwing righties. Now, we get shut down by them. And there are a ton of hard throwing righties on every team

 

That’s on Cashman, and although bright Yankee fans, I know oxymoron here, knew one weak area of the team was left side hitting on a team playing half their games in a park built for lefties, you all thought you had the best roster in the AL and a deep farm.

 

I still think Boone should be the first to get axed.

[Bellhorn04]

That’s on Cashman, and although bright Yankee fans, I know oxymoron here, knew one weak area of the team was left side hitting on a team playing half their games in a park built for lefties, you all thought you had the best roster in the AL and a deep farm.

 

I still think Boone should be the first to get axed.

 

Why?

[moonslav59]

Why?

 

He sucks.

 

They did have the best roster and farm in the AL.

 

They continually underperform expectations.

 

The manager should go first. If that doesn’t work, the GM is next.

[Bellhorn04]

He sucks.

 

They did have the best roster and farm in the AL.

 

They continually underperform expectations.

 

The manager should go first. If that doesn’t work, the GM is next.

 

I don't know. I think Boone is a bit of a doofus, but in his only 2 full seasons they won 100 and 103.

 

This year's team is on Cash, IMO. Bad roster construction, as we have discussed. And the farm help seems to have dried up.

[moonslav59]

I don't know. I think Boone is a bit of a doofus, but in his only 2 full seasons they won 100 and 103.

 

This year's team is on Cash, IMO. Bad roster construction, as we have discussed. And the farm help seems to have dried up.

 

I don't disagree that Cashman needs to go, too, but everybody- even Sox fans- thought the Yankee roster was the best in the AL. It seems weird to be now saying the roster was and is crap.

 

Every AL roster had some serious weak areas. That's one reason I felt we had an outside chance at doing something special, this year. We all knew the Yanks had a weak defense, weak left side hitting and some questions in the rotation.

 

Now, that they are struggling, we suddenly say their roster sucked all along.

[Bellhorn04]

I don't disagree that Cashman needs to go, too, but everybody- even Sox fans- thought the Yankee roster was the best in the AL. It seems weird to be now saying the roster was and is crap.

 

Every AL roster had some serious weak areas. That's one reason I felt we had an outside chance at doing something special, this year. We all knew the Yanks had a weak defense, weak left side hitting and some questions in the rotation.

 

Now, that they are struggling, we suddenly say their roster sucked all along.

 

Not true. People were talking about their roster construction after a few games this year. The home run or strikeout offense approach and the bad defense.

 

You can check on this thread for yourself.

[moonslav59]

Not true. People were talking about their roster construction after a few games this year. The home run or strikeout offense approach and the bad defense.

 

You can check on this thread for yourself.

 

I did not deny they had weaknesses or that they were mentioned, but just about everyone thought their weaknesses were less than every other AL team or that their strengths outweighed the weaknesses enough to think they had the best opening day roster in the AL.

 

Now, people are saying it sucked all along.

[jacksonianmarch]

Nobody denied the yanks had weaknesses. They just had less weaknesses than the other teams on paper. And nobody could have predicted their rotation/pen would be so good and their offense so bad. That’s why they play the games

[Bellhorn04]

I did not deny they had weaknesses or that they were mentioned, but just about everyone thought their weaknesses were less than every other AL team or that their strengths outweighed the weaknesses enough to think they had the best opening day roster in the AL.

 

Now, people are saying it sucked all along.

 

I don't think anyone is saying it "sucked all along".

 

Personally, I'm just saying that if the 2021 Yankees underperform, it's probably more Cashman's fault than Boone's.

 

Look at the first base position.

 

Yankee first basemen have a .529 OPS. .529! Whose fault? Well, I think Cashman is the guy responsible for Mike Ford and Jay Bruce.

 

Cashman is the guy who thinks Torres is an adequate major league shortstop.

 

Cashman is the guy who loads up on big muscular injury-prone hitters.

 

With all that said, the Yankees are still very much alive this year.

[moonslav59]

I don't think anyone is saying it "sucked all along".

 

Personally, I'm just saying that if the 2021 Yankees underperform, it's probably more Cashman's fault than Boone's.

 

Look at the first base position.

 

Yankee first basemen have a .529 OPS. .529! Whose fault? Well, I think Cashman is the guy responsible for Mike Ford and Jay Bruce.

 

Cashman is the guy who thinks Torres is an adequate major league shortstop.

 

Cashman is the guy who loads up on big muscular injury-prone hitters.

 

With all that said, the Yankees are still very much alive this year.

 

I don't doubt Cashman is more deserving than Boone, but to me, they both are long past "deserving," and usually trying to can the manager to "light a fire" is worth a try, first.

 

They both should have been gone, already.

[bkzwhitestrican]

Just a week ago the Yankees swept the White Sox, who had the best record in the AL coming into the series. They were 23-9 since their lousy start and things were looking up. Since then they were swept by the Tigers and have gone 2-6. So which version of this team is closer to their true form? It's still hard to say. To me the pitching is good enough, even without Kluber (barring an injury to another starter). They'll just have to mix and match every 5th game, maybe have an opener along with Garcia/King. Given that their bullpen is their greatest strength it shouldn't be like every 5th game is an automatic loss.

 

Defense and baserunning have been lacking, but ultimately the offense is the #1 problem by far. A bad error or getting thrown out at the plate might lose you a game or two, but continuous bad hitting will lose you every game that your pitching isn't excellent. With a third of the season already gone I don't think that we can assume hitters will snap out of it anymore. Cashman needs to make a move for either a CFer or middle infielder (or both). They can't keep running Gardner and Odor out there everyday and expect the offense to hit.

[dgalehouse]

The saving grace for the Yankees is their bullpen. You simply cannot overstate how important the bullpen is in today's game.

[Kimmi]

I don't know. I think Boone is a bit of a doofus, but in his only 2 full seasons they won 100 and 103.

 

This year's team is on Cash, IMO. Bad roster construction, as we have discussed. And the farm help seems to have dried up.

 

As I've said about the Red Sox teams that finished in last place, I can't really blame this on Cashman when pretty much every projection system, both human and computer, had the Yankees winning the division by a lot. The GM's job is to build a team that looks good 'on paper'. He can't control what happens on the field.

[Kimmi]

I don't disagree that Cashman needs to go, too, but everybody- even Sox fans- thought the Yankee roster was the best in the AL. It seems weird to be now saying the roster was and is crap.

 

Every AL roster had some serious weak areas. That's one reason I felt we had an outside chance at doing something special, this year. We all knew the Yanks had a weak defense, weak left side hitting and some questions in the rotation.

 

Now, that they are struggling, we suddenly say their roster sucked all along.

 

I agree. I'm not sure that anyone really questioned their offense coming into the season.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

The manager should go first. If that doesn’t work, the GM is next.

 

This is the approach we often see in the NFL as well. The head coach goes first; if the team continues to suck under the new coach, the GM is next to go.

[Bellhorn04]

This is the approach we often see in the NFL as well. The head coach goes first; if the team continues to suck under the new coach, the GM is next to go.

 

The Red Sox haven't always followed this approach (the departures of Cherington and Dombrowski).

[moonslav59]

I agree. I'm not sure that anyone really questioned their offense coming into the season.

 

Exactly, and now Cashman is to blame for the s***** offense we all thought was top 3.

[Bellhorn04]

 

Exactly, and now Cashman is to blame for the s***** offense we all thought was top 3.

 

Somebody has to take the blame. For you it's Boone.

[Bellhorn04]

The funny thing is, the Yankees could go on a hot streak and suddenly look like contenders again. They beat the Rays last night, they're leading tonight, they have Cole going tomorrow, I think.

 

It's such a long and up and down season.

[moonslav59]

Somebody has to take the blame. For you it's Boone.

 

It’s both, and I felt that way before the season even began.