The Yankees did not "collapse"
At the beginning of the month of September, the Yankees were
very much in the race for an American League Wild Card spot, and even had a
chance to win the division. Since then, they have dropped off big time. They
now basically need to win each of their remaining games to even have a shot at
making the playoffs. While it sounds pretty devastating to most fans,
considering how close they were, it really shouldn’t be a surprise.
Photo Credit: Paul Bereswill
Throughout the first
half of the season, the Yankees were stuck in mediocrity. With respect to a few
surges in both directions, they sat around the .500 mark for a good chunk of
the year. If Brian Cashman and the Yankees’ front office truly thought this
team had a chance to make the playoffs, they would not have made the trades
involving Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, and Carlos Beltran. After that busy
trade deadline, the Bombers went on a hot streak in August, headlined by the
emergence of Gary Sanchez. It was then countered by a cold streak in September,
leaving the Yankees right back where they started.
The last man to blame for those September struggles should
be manager Joe Girardi. Fans are very quick to get on his case for every little
decision such as giving a starter too early of a hook or bringing in the wrong
relief pitcher when it doesn’t produce a desired result. People forget about
all the good decisions he has made that got the Yankees here, such as what he
has done with Luis Severino. Has he made mistakes? Absolutely, but he is only
human. A team with a perfect manager who never made a bad decision would win
almost every game, regardless of the players. That ideal skipper does not
exist. Girardi deserves to have his name up there with the Joe Maddons and Buck
Showalters of the baseball world.
Girardi has gotten too much of the burden for
Yankees’ losses and not enough credit for the their wins. Maybe some of the
blame should fall on Dellin Betances’s shoulders for blowing so many saves; it’s
not Girardi’s fault for going to his best relief pitcher. If a logical,
objective baseball fan looked at the Yankees’ roster, it would be hard to
believe this team even finished above .500. Other than Masahiro Tanaka, the rotation
consisted of average at best guys led by Michael Pineda. On offense, Gary
Sanchez was the only player to finish with a batting average above .275. Sanchez is
also tied for second on the club in home runs. Not taking anything away from
how great Sanchez has been, he’s only been at the big league level for a two
months.
This
great run that the Yankees went on was destined to come to an end eventually.
You just have to think of it as a pleasant surprise. Ever since August 1st,
the Yankees knew they were essentially giving up on this year to play for the
future. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have traded their assets and brought up the
kids prior to the expanded rosters. On the bright side, this was a great sign
for the future. If the Yankees can put the right pieces together in the
offseason, they could be built for a postseason run next year.
Article by Jeremy Siegel
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