Where Do The Yankees Go From Here?

Yankee ace Gerrit Cole only managed to last 2+ innings as the Red Sox dominated their rivals 6-2 in the AL Wildcard Game. Cole made no excuses despite pitching through a hamstring injury that he suffered on September 7th. After pitching to a 5 ERA last month, he came up small in a win-or-go-home game in a park where he had issues all season (14 Earned Runs in 18 Innings Pitched, allowing 7 HRs at Fenway Park.) To make matters worse, Boston starter and former Yankee Nate Eovaldi trolled them by picking up right where he left off in the 2018 postseason to earn the win, continuing his status as a "big game pitcher."

The problems for the Yanks go far beyond a failed start by their ace and a bad send by their third base coach (Phil Nevin) in a playoff game. They were up and down all year, hit into a ton of double plays, ran the bases terribly, and never seemed to play with an edge. The organization has become "tired" from the top down. It is the same people that say the same things over and over.

"The league has closed the gap on us. We've got to get better in every aspect" is an actual quote from Yankee manager Aaron Boone after the loss. Last time I checked, the Yankees haven't won, none less reached a World Series since 2009. New York was within one game of a World Series in 2017 and then proceeded to let go of their manager. They have only regressed since. The New York Yankees have been eliminated by the Astros, Red Sox, Astros, Rays, and now Red Sox again in consecutive seasons. This is just maddening to the fanbase when you see your rivals constantly one-up you.

The Yankees are second in payroll and have not been able to get over the hump. This, while a team like the Tampa Bay Rays are ranked 26th in payroll are doing what they do and have become the class of the AL East. Brian Cashman among others have had the reigns of this franchise for 20+ years and things have gone completely stale. As a fan of this team, I have decided I will no longer pay attention them until they reconfigure from the top down. Brandon Kravitz and I discuss this in the podcast clip below.