Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame Injuries for the Yankees failure in 2023 By: Hank Indictor
I've been seeing and hearing it all on Twitter. "If only Aaron Judge didn't run into a slab of concrete, this team probably would be in the playoffs." Of course, this could also be true because of their other injuries, but losing Aaron Judge hurt the most. Mainly because it cost him another MVP award and possibly even a chance to duplicate his incredible feat of 62 home runs from just one year prior, in addition to the fact that he carries this team! And while I can't say this take is a stretch, there was more to what happened than what fits the story. And quite frankly, the 2023 Yankees were a special kind of pathetic. One of the biggest payrolls in baseball and a team that trotted out an AL Cy Young award winner as well as a perennial MVP only managed to win 82 games and came dangerously close to finishing in last for the first time since Bush was President (That would be the father, not the son). So, for this Yankees post-mortem, it would only be fitting to bring the Top 5 Reasons. So, let's get right to it.
5. Aaron Boone: Those who know me know that I believe Boone needs to go and should never have gotten the job in the first place. That's not to say he's the reason for their failure, but he's certainly not the main one. In my eyes, he's only the least of their problems. And I just found out he'll be back next year…..WHY?!?!??
4. The AL Competition as a Whole: Okay, even if we were to assume that the Yankees would've been better with a fully healthy squad, this is a division that, for much of the season, had every single team above .500. Tampa got off to such a hot start that even when the Yankees had a healthy Judge and Rizzo they already were eight games out of first by the end of April. Not to mention, they were 4.5 games behind Baltimore for 2nd. Am I saying they wouldn't have stood a chance? Anything can happen after only one month. But both of the above teams also faced their moments of injuries and adversity, and yet they still made the playoffs. And how about we go beyond just the division and talk about the Texas Rangers, who made it to the playoffs despite losing not 1 but 2 pitching aces who were expected to put them over the top? But you want to know who else had several excuses and still has a chance to win the World Series? The Houston Astros: Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez missed a combined 120 games. And look at what happened to their starting pitchers: Lance McCullers was finished in June after having flexor tendon surgery, and Luis Garcia had Tommy John surgery. Ultimately, they have a deep enough team and are arguably the gold standard of baseball, like it or not. The bottom line is everybody deals with injuries. The Yankees just weren't built deep enough to overcome their injuries. Therefore, you can make a case that the Yankees had what you call the fallacy of a predetermined outcome. So why couldn't they, at the very least, overcome Judge's injury?
3. The Lineup and the Starting Pitching: Just how bad was this lineup? As a team, their slash line was a disgusting .227/.304/.397 with an OPS of .701. I'll cut Anthony Rizzo some slack because it was clear that he was playing while concussed; however, when Giancarlo Stanton was healthy, he looked utterly lost at the plate. When Aaron Judge was injured, this team trotted out an outfield with players such as Jake Bauers, Billy McKinney, Franchy Cordero, and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa. Oh yeah, and don't get me started on guys like Mr. Warning Track Power, Josh Donaldson, and Aaron Hicks, who somehow got Mr. Miyagi's healing powers as soon as he went to the Orioles. I mentioned in a previous blog that the Yankee's offensive numbers were similar to that of the 1968 team. And incidentally, this year, the Yankees team finished one game worse than that team, one who didn't have a DH and whose best player was an aging Mickey Mantle, whose injuries had taken a significant toll on his body. And now, let's get to the starting pitching. Gerrit Cole and, to a lesser extent, 2nd-half Michael King were the only redeeming factors for the Yankees this season. Afterward, it gets "ugly with a capital U," in the words of JaguarGator9. Clarke Schmidt was so mid that, at one point, he was the 2nd best pitcher on the staff despite an ERA well over 4. Before Luis Severino's season mercifully ended with an oblique strain, he finished 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA. One should also ask how much worse Domingo German's season would've been had he not thrown that perfect game and if he was allowed to keep pitching after August despite his issues. And last but most certainly not least, remember Carlos Rodon, that big free agent signee that was supposed to beef up the rotation? Let's just say he turned out to be a combination of Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa, which can happen when you sport an ERA of 6.85 and miss the entire first half of the season. Even if Nestor Cortes was healthy, this pitching staff had few stable foundations. Way to waste a historic season from Gerrit Cole! The real question we should be asking ourselves here is how this team did even finish above .500, and if it weren't for the extra Wild Card Spot, they'd have been eliminated much sooner than within the last week of the season. Take away Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole completely; this team is worse than mid! But remember there are two people responsible for this failure.
2. Brian Cashman: This is the man I've ripped on repeatedly, and I stand by my criticisms of this douchebag. He's clearly past his expiration date, and quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of people bringing up his past accomplishments. Yes, he won 4 World Series championships, but the first three were mostly with players drafted and acquired by Stick Michael and, to a lesser degree, Bob Watson. Since the current manager hit some famous home run, that is probably why he even got the job in the first place; the Yankees haven't been the Evil Empire they've been made out to be. 2009 was their only championship and their only pennant of the last 20 seasons! (And that's not even getting into that awful reverse sweep). Want to know what's worse? Since that fateful series where Jeter broke his ankle, the Yankees have won 2 Division Titles! Sure, they've had several Wild Card appearances, but as I said, the playoffs have since expanded, and the addition of a 2nd Wild Card was designed so that more teams would have a chance to get to the postseason. HOW IS THIS ACCEPTABLE FOR A TEAM WITH SUCH A HIGH PAYROLL?!?!?! It all starts with the guy who, several times, could've added several big-name pitchers and somehow avoided lefty batters like the plague for many years. Brian Cashman should have been fired three years ago!! Oh, but don't you worry; nothing is going to change.
1. Hal Steinbrenner: At least not as long as this man is still in charge. This jerkoff is the definition of insanity as he allows Cashman to keep returning and thus continue to make one significant acquisition, run back the same team, and then call it a day. This is a "businessman" who is so delusional that he thinks his team has a chance to compete and wants to ensure all those Chicken Tender Buckets are selling! And people wonder why I have little faith in the Yankees going forward. Say what you want about George Steinbrenner, but I miss the days where the Yankees had an owner who truly wanted to put out a winning product!