Major upheaval should be in the cards for Yankees this offseason
The New York Yankees have been a franchise built on success since their very first World Series victory in 1923. The team has won 27 championships, the most of any professional sports franchise, but over the past decade the team has seen nothing but mediocrity and failed expectations. As a die-hard Yankees fan, I am tired of spending my spring and summer months getting excited for the playoffs as the team performs to or even exceeds expectations every regular season. I am sick of having my hopes crushed as the team is sent home early in the playoffs every year and looking towards the next season even though nothing ever changes. This season was the breaking point, and a new era of Yankees baseball needs to start immediately.
The Yankees have not been to a World Series since 2009, when they won versus the Philadelphia Phillies, who are coincidentally fighting against the Houston Astros in the World Series this week. That was thirteen years ago, and, for reference, I was in the second grade watching my first ever season of baseball. This thirteen-year championship drought is the Yankees’ second longest in history only after their nineteen-season drought from 1977-1996.
The team has made the postseason every year since 2017, in which they came within one win of a World Series-berth but were cheated out of it by the Houston Astros. Nevertheless, the team fired manager Joe Girardi, who led them to a championship in 2009, that offseason. Executives hired Aaron Boone, a former player with no managing experience, to take over the position with a new, young core of players coming up for the team.
This new core, captained (unofficially, but we’ll get back to that) by outfielder Aaron Judge, has been an American League powerhouse over the past six years. However, New York has lost to Houston in the American League Championship Series, the last playoff round before the World Series, three times in the past six seasons. The Astros’ sweep of the Yankees in four games this season was the final straw for me and many other fans; major changes finally need to be made.
Yankees’ chairman Hal Steinbrenner has already stated that manager Aaron Boone will be back for another season next year; a disappointing decision in the eyes of many fans. More importantly in this day and age, the general managing position has become a question for the Yankees. The general manager has the final say in roster decisions, as well as in front-office personnel, including the hiring or firing of the team’s manager. Brian Cashman, the current general manager of the team, is the longest-tenured in the franchise’s history—he was hired in 1998 as a 31-year-old with a fresh outlook on the team, and although he has led them to four championships, the standard of mediocrity has lasted too long; it is time for someone who can see through a new lens to take over.
Once the personnel changes are decided, the first thing the team needs to do is re-sign Aaron Judge and name him captain. Recent comments by pitcher Nestor Cortes have fired up the fanbase, as he described Judge as the clear leader of the team who deserves the title of “captain.” The outfielder just had one of the best seasons of all time and losing him would be absolutely devastating to not just the team, but to this fanbase that has connected with Judge on a level not seen since Derek Jeter.
While multiple Yankees are hitting the market this offseason, the team should absolutely re-sign position players Anthony Rizzo, Andrew Benintendi, and Matt Carpenter, as well as pitchers Luis Severino and Chad Green. The shortstop, catcher, and starting pitching positions need to be upgraded for this team to succeed, and there are available stars at each that the Yankees should pursue in the coming months.
Many other fans and I have grown tired of the same non-reactions to inferiority by the Yankees, and if the team wants to win with this core, they need to make major changes both on the field and off.