Yankees: 3 players NYY must ditch before 2021 season

1. Gary Sanchez

It’s time for the Yankees to cut bait with Gary Sanchez, and it’s also time to stop thinking about it.

In 1995, the Yankees carried a young core of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte along with them through their first playoff run in a decade and a half.

It began well. It ended with devastation.

New York carried a 2-0 series lead to Seattle, where they proceeded to lose a trio of games, saving baseball in the Pacific Northwest, and devastating an over-performing team that no one knew was on the lip of a dynasty.

The first major organizational move that offseason? Cutting bait with popular offensive catcher Mike Stanley, and acquiring a road-grader in Joe Girardi. He wasn’t exciting, but he was chiseled out of granite.

This time around, the Yankees are lucky — Sanchez isn’t even that popular.

Since the end of 2017, Sanchez has hit .186, .232 (.207 in the second half!), and .147. His best-ever full-length playoff series? Glad you asked: .200 in the 2018 ALDS against Boston. He sports a -1.1 win probability added in his postseason career. His playoff energy is worth less than nothing.

At a certain point, the power has to stop tantalizing the front office. The playoff contributions aren’t there. The defensive ability is non-existent. The clock is ticking for New York’s Mike Stanley move for a new generation.

Yankees: 3 moves that will make NYY a dynasty again

The Yankees still do not resemble their dynasty counterpart teams of the past. This situation can be rectified by making three savvy personnel moves.