It’s a series of questions that haven’t been asked in recent years. It may be premature to ask them now, in early August, with roughly 50 games left to play.
Still, here goes:
Are the New York Yankees an official also-ran in the American League this year? Is their six-season streak of making the playoffs about to end? Most important, is this the season they finally finish last in a five-team American League East?
The unofficial word coming out of the Yankees clubhouse is, “No.”
But their actions – and the results – say otherwise.
Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed last week, and Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman acquired reliever Keynan Middleton from the Chicago White Sox for a pitching prospect and paid cash for Texas Rangers’ swingman Spencer Howard.
That’s it. Two minor moves. No splash. No trickle. A couple of under-the-radar acquisitions that seem befitting of a club on the periphery of the AL Wild Card race.
And that’s what these Yankees, despite boasting the second-largest payroll in baseball, are.
The Bronx Bombers already have spent 23 days in last place in the American League East in 2023, including as recently as Aug. 4. They are currently fourth in the division and fifth in the AL Wild Card race.
It’s un-Yankee like. So, you keep expecting them to get hot and take their supposed rightful spot in the playoffs mix.
“If we have a good three weeks or if we have a good four weeks, I mean, I’d like to string together a good seven weeks, but I try to keep it in perspective,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said recently. “As bad as a month like June was, or it felt, we were 11-12. That’s not sinking, that’s floating.”
The Yankees were 10-15 in July and began August with a 3-3 record. The club’s only winning month – besides a 1-0 March – was May, when they were 19-10.
How Aaron Judge’s health impacts New York Yankees
They should have that kind of run within them again, but it seems like they take one step forward and two back. Consider Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ best player.
Judge missed nearly two months due to a torn ligament in his right big toe. He returned July 28, though he admitted he wasn’t back at 100 percent. He wouldn’t give a percentage of where he was health-wise, joking he’s never been good with numbers.
Judge went hitless in his first game back, went 3-for-5 with a homer in his second and then fell into a 2-for-21 slump in his next seven games.
Manager Aaron Boone was ecstatic to have Judge return, but also knows he needs to be careful with his superstar. And that Judge needs to recognize that, too.
“I think he understands he needs to be a part of that process, understanding the importance of him being out there but also understanding the importance of him giving himself a chance to be the best version of himself the rest of the way, too,” Boone said on the day Judge returned.
In Judge’s first eight starts, he was the designated hitter six times. The Yankees don’t want to push him, but they realize he is indeed the straw that stirs their drink. They are 34-24 in games Judge starts and 24-30 in games he didn’t so far this year.
Even if Judge gets to full strength as the rest of the season unfolds, the Yankees have plenty of other roster worries. Giancarlo Stanton has played in 62 of the Yankees’ first 112 games in 2023. Although he has 17 homers, he has slashed .206/.281/.465 heading into Monday, certainly not what’s expected of a $32 million man. And it’s clear Stanton is far from healthy based on a viral video this weekend of his jogging around the bases on a play at the plate, where he was easily tagged out without sliding.
First baseman Anthony Rizzo has been placed on the IL with post-concussion syndrome that stems from a collision that occurred in late May. Lefty Carlos Rodón, who signed a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees this offseason, has made just six starts due to forearm and back injuries, has a 7.33 ERA and was forced from his last outing due to hamstring tightness.
Starter Nestor Cortes just returned from a shoulder injury that cost him two months, and Domingo Germán is now on the restricted list to receive treatment for alcohol abuse. He will miss the remainder of the season.
Injuries happen to all teams during a 162-game season. And the Yankees are an older club, which makes health issues more likely. Regardless, their fans aren’t politely accepting excuses. Not with the perception that owner Hal Steinbrenner is more concerned with luxury tax penalties than a World Series title, something the Yankees have captured only once since 2001.
No rebuild in the works for New York Yankees
Being over .500 in August is simply not good enough in New York. Not for a club that won 99 games in 2022 and then were swept in the American League Championship Series by the Houston Astros.
“Yeah, it’s a large market to please. Sometimes you’ve just got to embrace it. You’ve got to look at it as you’re extremely lucky to be competing for the city of New York,” said Cole, who grew up as a Yankees fan. “Sometimes you’ve got to roll with the ebbs and flows a little bit. But, honestly, it’s a blessing. It’s what all players want, to play meaningful games every day.”
Things are more complicated for the Yankees now. They don’t rebuild. Not all the way down to the bricks, anyway. Yet the Baltimore Orioles, who are currently in first place in the AL East, are now benefiting from a complete rebuild from 2018-21. And the Tampa Bay Rays have continually traded away players in their prime for talented youngsters, which has yielded a consistently formidable squad. Add in the big-money Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, and the Yankees know they can’t take off a year. Or more. It’s not acceptable.
Do that and the Yankees easily could end up in the AL East basement at the end of this year, something they have never done in the five-team division format. Their most recent last-place finish was in 1990, when the AL East had seven teams. The year after that, 1991, the Yankees finished fifth of seven teams – which is the most recent season in which they’ve placed fifth or worse.
In the five-team divisional format, which came into existence in 1994, the lowest the Yankees have finished is fourth in 2016, which is also the last time they failed to make the playoffs. From 1994 until last season, the Yankees won the AL East 16 times and finished second 10 times. In that span of 29 seasons, they have two third-place finishes, one fourth and zero fifth.
Could this be the year that the Yankees sink all the way down? Sure.
But blink now and things could change completely. These AL East teams could swap positions in a month. There’s so much talent from top to bottom. Due to the new scheduling this year, however, these teams play each other six fewer times than in previous seasons. The Yankees, for instance, are already done facing the Orioles in 2023 (they lost seven of 13).
The obstacles are there. The clock is running out. Yet these are the Yankees. No one has made a living of counting them out for the postseason.
“The reality is we’ve got to start putting both sides of the baseball together at the same time and start figuring out how to execute just that little bit more,” Cole said. “We’re working the processes here, but the reality is you’ve got to score, and you’ve got to prevent them from scoring in certain situations, and ultimately, we have to get better at doing that.
“But we’re not far off. And we’re chasing it.”
Dan Connolly is an MLB Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.