The Bronx is Boiling: Where Did the Yankees Go Wrong?

Well, folks, here we are. The Yankees are miraculously 76-72 and five games out of the Wild Card race. It has been an emotional roller coaster ride of a season, and we are on the cusp of The Captain’s last 14 games in pinstripes. Unlike most other Yankees fans, I’m holding out hope that there is a little Derek Jeter magic left in the tank.

The reality of the 2014 season, is that the New York Yankees fell below expectations. Their big free agency plunge in the off-season didn’t pay instant dividends. So is 2014 a failure?The Bronx is boiling, and I need to blow some steam.

WHERE DID THE YANKEES GO WRONG IN 2014?

There was a lot of things that didn’t go the Yankees’ way in 2014. There were a ton of injuries, and several misses in the free agency market. At the end of the day, the Yankees are still right there in the hunt, no matter what the Twitterverse or skeptics want to tell you. So why couldn’t the Yankees just get this season going? It was like an old lawn mower. You keep pulling the cord, and it revs up nicely for a few minutes, but then sputters out and goes flat.

Good pitching beats good hitting…

Yankees fans cannot blame injuries for the 2014 season’s struggles. Sure, the rotation lost four of their five starters for much of the season. The plain and simple truth, is that most Yankees fans didn’t even want their “ace” C.C. Sabathia going into the season anyway. Ivan Nova was a huge question mark after his up and down 2013, and the Yankees took endless amounts of criticism for re-signing the ageless Hiroki Kuroda. My point is, even if Nova and Sabathia stayed healthy, there is no guarantee that the Yankees would be any better off today than they are. We aren’t talking about Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke here.

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What 2014 showed us, is that the Yankees need a makeover in the pitching department. Masahiro Tanaka is the only strong point. Michael Pineda has looked sharp, but let’s face it, this guy could get hurt getting out of bed tomorrow. I wouldn’t mind seeing Kuroda back on the cheap in 2015, but now is the time to cultivate the two big arms the Yanks have in the minors (Luis Severino and Ian Clarkin) and return to relevancy.

You still need good hitting…

The Bronx Bombers were horrendous this year. They hit a meager 135 home runs in one of the most home run-friendly ball parks in baseball. They are ranked eleventh with their .246 batting average, THIRTY points below the league leader. There are only two teams in the entire American League with less hits than the Yankees’ 1231. And no one has scored less runs than the Yankees 575. That’s right, folks, the Yankees are dead last in runs in the American League. That is NOT Yankees baseball.

This team simply does not know how to manufacture runs. They live and die by the long ball, but they have no feared long ball hitters. These aren’t the 2010 Yankees that you had to go through Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher. This is the 2014 Yankees where Martin Prado is our most feared weapon. Which leads to the next point.

It’s time someone is held accountable.

I think Brian Cashman did one of his best trade deadline jobs in his tenure as GM of the Yankees. Brandon McCarthy and Martin Prado are two huge reasons that the Yankees are even alive, and Chase Headley seems like a nice addition for the future. However, the Yankees did nothing before the season to address second and third base, settling for Brian Roberts, Kelly Johnson and Yangervis Solarte. Whether you believe in Cashman or not, there is no denying that he is on the hot seat. When a system fails, the man in charge has some explaining to do.

The same can be said about Joe Girardi. A lot of people are saying that he has done a remarkable job considering what he has been given with injuries and slumps this season. Really?

I know it is tough, and no one wants to be the guy to do it, but Derek Jeter had no business batting second for the entire season. Having Jacoby Ellsbury in his natural lead-off spot and a healthy Brett Gardner in the two hole could have changed the ability of this Yankees team to get on base, reek havoc and score runs. Instead, the Yankees two hole hitter is batting .251 with a .300 on-base percentage. I’m not saying he had to pull Jeter, but batting him fifth or sixth probably could have changed things.

I don’t see any reason why the Yankees retain Kevin Long. This guy has killed one of the most power happy offenses in baseball over the last 20 years. Remember when Curtis Granderson was good? Has anyone seen any adjustments made at all with the Yankees offense floundering to new lows? Some people defend Kevin Long, I simply can’t.

There needs to be a change in this organization to get better. Does it mean you have to fire Cashman or Girardi? Not necessarily. Does it mean they need to swallow their pride (and their wallet) and part ways with some garbage? Hopefully.

This team has gone out and proven that sometimes statistics don’t tell the whole story, because if they did, the Yanks would be in the basement. But if the Yanks are complacent, and think they have the right pieces in place to move forward, we may be heading to the late 80s and early 90s dark ages again.