Yankees: 3 players NYY must ditch before 2021 season

The Yankees have to get rid of some serious “talent” before the 2021 season. They have players who simply aren’t fitting.

The Yankees, expected to be the clear-cut favorites in the American League entering whatever the 2020 season was, instead limped around, for the most part. They lost close games. They lost blowouts. They let bad teams off the hook. They let their rivals dictate the narrative. Except for three beautiful games to start off the postseason, they were who we thought they were in early September.

And so, entering 2021, changes must be made.

Some pieces should be kept consistent. DJ LeMahieu, for example, needs to return. James Paxton should probably be extended the qualifying offer. Luis Severino will be back by mid-summer. All of that should help.

But anyone who watched the 2020 season must agree that lower-paid pieces on other teams (ahem, Mike G*ddam*ed Brosseau) performed more admirably for far cheaper than the seemingly effortless Yankees did on many occasions. These three players have likely run out of leash, if the front office has the fortitude to make the move.

3. Jonathan Loaisiga

The Yankees need to find a more enticing middle innings guy than Jonathan Loaisiga.

Repeatedly, we’ve advocated for Jonathan Loaisiga to get higher-leverage innings as the season has dragged on.

We are here to acknowledge that we were incorrect to advocate for such a thing.

Loaisiga, upon returning from a mysterious illness, struggled to regain his touch for the fastball, living far too often over the heart of the plate with his four-seamer instead of attempting to catch the edge with his two-seamer. Fenway Park Houdini Game aside (remember GARY SANCHEZ tying that one up?!), Loaisiga did the same thing down the stretch he’s done over the previous two years: Fail.

Everything about Loaisiga screams proto-Ramiro Mendoza, but somehow, the allowance of runs appears to be a foregone conclusion when he enters a late-and-close game. And without the ability to squeeze even one inning out of him when the rest of the ‘pen is tired, let alone two, it feels like the Yanks can’t bank on his potential anymore. Unfortunately, the last few weeks were his chance to prove he could acclimate to the role.

0.1 innings, one hit, one earned run, and two walks against Cleveland. 1.2 innings pitched, two hits, and another earned run against Tampa Bay. Two strikes, and years of wasted potential, and you’re unfortunately out. Dangle him to a team that thinks they can maximize his arsenal.

2. JA Happ

Yeah, um…do I even need to explain this? No more JA Happ in Yankees pinstripes.

Aaron Boone got plenty of guff for his JA Happ maneuver in Game 2 of the ALDS, but we can’t fully examine the move without acknowledging…it might’ve worked if Happ weren’t involved. Happ isn’t…he isn’t good.

Down the stretch, Happ continued to tantalize by fooling us with excellent starts against the playoff-bound Blue Jays and (gulp) Mets, lowering his ERA to the point where we somehow all forgot the ultimate hittability of his velocity-diminished fastball.

Happ isn’t a part of the solution, and with his low-threshold vesting option not vesting, the 37-year-old should apparate elsewhere, in favor of any number of lower-cost, mid-tier free agents or top prospects.

Clarke Schmidt will need a rotation spot, as will Deivi Garcia, most likely. The team will require veteran experience in the five-man unit as well, and someone like Mike Minor can provide everything Happ thought he still had in his arsenal more consistently. Perhaps they even splurge for Trevor Bauer? Whoever the Yankees replace Happ in the rotation with, it must be someone who is theoretically useable in a playoff game.

If Happ had been that level of competent, Game 2 would’ve turned out differently. It was still winnable, with almost anyone else on the mound.

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.