Mystique? Aura? Allure? That's All Dead With The Current Yankees. They're Just a Regular Ol' Team That's Succumb To Complacency

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Here we are once again, the day after the Yankees' season reaches an abrupt end. Another year where I sit here like the sucker that I, crushed that this team fell apart when tasked to perform under pressure in the big moments. And why is that? A bunch of reasons which all can fall under one umbrella — complacency. 

After losing last night, the Yankees have tied the longest championship drought in their franchise's history, 17 years. In that time the urgency to improve during the offseason and the trade deadline has faded. The clear goal of winning the division has been put on the back burner. Instead the priority has simply become making the postseason and hoping for the best. They'll tell you that isn't the case, but actions speak louder than words. They realized they still make money hand over fist at the games even without the World Series titles, so why bother? If you've followed this team over the year last nine years you see it first hand. The whole allure and mystique of the Yankees is dead. They're just a regular ol' team now. 

I've had years in the past on Yankees funeral day where I'm desolate inside. I can't speak to anyone, rendered virtually catatonic. I don't want to wake up in the morning on those days. 2017 and 2019 come to mind against the Astros. Losing to Boston in 2022 rings a bell. Of course 2024, but that was the World Series so that's always going to hurt the most. These last two postseasons against Toronto and Tampa though? Embarrassing no doubt, but unexpected? How could it be? They're just getting out-classed by better teams and it comes at no shock to the fans. The only people surprised are inside the house who are oblivious to what's happening in reality. That's why at this point I'm just numb to it all. Obviously I want them to win the World Series desperately, but when you witness them refuse to change their ways and make the proper additions to the roster/coaching staff you can't realistically expect the results to magically change. 

So how do you fix this? 

Let's start with the unrealistic. Brian Cashman does not deserve to have this job. He hasn't for quite some time. Sure he has some good moves here and there, but it's his job to assemble this roster and it's simply nowhere close to good enough for a $310M payroll. You just got swept by the team with the 3rd lowest payroll in the sport. You got embarrassed, just like you did the year prior against the Jays. Trent Grisham inexplicably made $10M more than the highest paid Rays player. Him receiving the Qualifying Offer was a horrible decision. The Ryan McMahon trade was a complete whiff and once again 3rd base remained a position that plagued this team. At the trade deadline he failed to properly improve this offense and in the end that was the cause of death for the season. While Luis Garcia Jr. was a good addition to the team, he didn't help solve a position of need. They were in a position to add anything they could get, but the holes on the team remained. Heliot Ramos was brought over to help vs. left handed pitching, but he was such a bad defender that Boone was terrified to insert him into a game late. He didn't play in the ALDS, forcing Grisham to hit against lefties. Those innings were a breeze for lefty Ian Seymour, who totaled 4.1 IP of one run ball in the series. The Rays ran circles around this team the same way the Jays did in 2025 and the Dodgers in 2024. It's the same old fucking story. 

We're way overdue here, but Aaron Boone cannot continue to manage this team. Is he a solid regular season manager? Sure, you could even argue he did a really good job this year without Aaron Judge in the lineup for a large majority of the season. Then the postseason rolls around and he's got McMahon at 3rd for both games in the Trop when he's proven to you all year he's not an MLB player anymore. He's leading off Trent Grisham last night, who somehow earned five at bats, all of which he would made an out in. Rice ending the game on deck as Grisham failed to drive in Jazz was a special fuck you twist of the knife. That's shaking up the lineup to him, moving the worst statistical leadoff hitter to the leadoff spot and getting your best hitter Ben Rice less at bats. Good luck handling that one Tampa! 

For me it's not necessarily about the results or decisions with Boone this year, but more with how we're now nine years into his tenure with zero championships and only one World Series appearance. He's 27-30 lifetime in the postseason and 9-25 against teams against teams with a higher seed than them. Plenty of managers have been fired in the last nine years who deserved better than Boone. He doesn't improve anyone's ability in that clubhouse. There's no motivating. No edge gained. It's a stale clubhouse that runs wild without accountability or a killer instinct. But don't worry, everyone likes him in there. 

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And that's by design from the front office. They hired Boone to be a player-first manager to counter Girardi's hard-nosed tactics that made players uncomfortable. Read those Cam quotes, the guys love him, and why wouldn't they? They're absolved from criticism or punishment from the manager. Instead he goes in front of the media everyday and takes it on the chin, conjuring up every excuse in the book so that he publicly doesn't blame his guys. Is it Boone's fault that Ryan McMahon is on the roster? No. Is it his fault Cashman gave Grisham $22M to play centerfield? No. Can he control Aaron Judge getting hurt? Obviously not. There's only so much a manager can do when your roster isn't good enough, but at the same time this clubhouse needs a new voice. A kick in the ass to show everyone that these results won't fly anymore. Will Boone be the manager in 2027 if there's a season? I would guess so since it's his final year under contract. Girardi got 10 years and I suspect Boone will get the same. They don't fire anyone. They're content with the results and believe things will change for the better because they simply can't be the ones who are wrong. 

Until they have this wake up call and an actual overhaul happens they will continue to get the same results. Why? We're nine years going on this and there's no reason to think differently. 

Assuming Cashman and Boone are back for 2027, whenever the season starts, the first move they make must be extending Matt Blake. Pay him whatever he wants. What that guy does with the pitching staff is genuinely unbelievable. I wish they could get a hitting version of him with the bats, but you gotta keep him under any circumstances. 

Grisham, Jazz, and McMahon must be out of the picture. It'll be easy to wave good bye to the first two as their deals are up. Do NOT offer Jazz the qualifying offer. Excited for those two to crush it in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. McMahon is somehow owed another $16M. I don't think they'll salary dump him based on previous year's moves, but I suspect he'll be DFA'd at some point in the first half. It's time to big farewell to Giancarlo Stanton. Finally we've reached the final year of his deal and the Marlins are on the hook for $10M of his $25M owed. It's time to pull the ripcord. Thank you for the postseason memories that unfortunately never amounted to a title, even though he did more than his part. It's time. No more wishful thinking that he's going to stay healthy and be an impact guy. It's over. If we do this song and dance again and clog up a roster spot I will lose my fucking mind. 

The problem here with needing to make additions is that the free agent class is as weak as possible since most agents aimed to avoid their clients being up during the lockout. That means trades will have to be made once the lockout ends. Do I have faith in them making the necessary adjustments to bolster the roster and make them a true World Series contender? Of course not, how could you? That's not the objective anymore. It's just make the postseason and we'll see what happens. That's the current state of the New York Yankees for you. Just a regular team. No mystique. No aura. No pride. These are the dark ages.