Yankees: What we learned from the postseason and what’s next

Here’s what we learned from the Yankees’ latest postseason failure.

Like so many Yankees fans, I was crushed that the team did not reach the ALCS. The team’s failure to advance has led many pundits to second guess and criticize the management of the club and deride some of the players for subpar performance.

Skipper Aaron Boone has been a target of the critics, yet he’s 236-148 in three seasons as New York’s manager — a truly impressive record, especially given the enormous number of injuries with which he has had to contend.

Many of the injuries have been to key players and have been serious. He successfully navigated through them and the Yanks have reached the postseason every year under his leadership.

Hired after the 2017 season, Boone was given a three-year contract with a team option for 2021. Hal Steinbrenner announced that the club will keep Boone for the 2021 season. This is a no-brainer. The players like Boone a lot, the chemistry on the team is good, and the Yanks play hard for their Field General.

A number of analysts have also criticized general manager Brian Cashman for interfering with the on-field management of the team, including during the postseason. However, firing Cashman would be a terrible mistake.

He has made several brilliant personnel moves (e.g., obtaining Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, and DJ LeMahieu for bread crumbs and signing the best pitcher in baseball, Gerritt Cole) during the past three years. He is largely responsible for pulling this impressive team together. Apologies to the critics, but Cash is not going anywhere.

The Yanks played a gritty and talented Rays team with a superior 2020 win-loss record to the very bitter end. The ALDS vs the Rays could have easily gone either way, and it unfortunately came down to one bad pitch by Aroldis Chapman.

Don’t forget, the Yankees were down Luis Severino, James Paxton, Domingo German and Tommy Kahnle, all of whom would have given the Bombers the edge. But in the end, they lost.

So what did we learn, and what’s next?

The postseason brought to light certain weaknesses that must be ameliorated before the start of the 2021 regular season if the team hopes to make it all the way to the World Series next year.

In terms of starting pitching, the addition of Severino and German, assuming they will perform to their full potential, will make the club a lot stronger, though Sevy won’t be back until June or July.

The Bombers should boast a stronger starting pitching staff next season. Following Cole, Severino, and German in the first three positions in the rotation, the Yanks will be able to plug Deivi Garcia and Jordan Montgomery into the fourth and fifth slots. Both are still maturing and developing, and they showed great promise during the shortened 2020 season. We can reasonably expect them to perform even better in 2021. This is all assuming that Masahiro Tanaka or James Paxton do not return.

I remain impressed with Jonathan Loaisiga, who is only 25 and continues to develop. Perhaps he will move from the bullpen to a starting role? He’s been bouncing back and forth between multi-inning and single-inning outings, and it’s clear he can’t handle high-leverage relief appearances. Maybe a spot in the rotation will do him well.

Having starting pitchers who can consistently go deep into games will also help increase the effectiveness of the bullpen. The stronger the starting rotation, the more rested the bullpen arms will be.

While the relief pitching corps is solid, the club will miss Kahnle, who will be out for the entire 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in early August. The Yanks therefore should pick up an effective relief pitcher in free agency during the offseason, perhaps someone like Liam Hendriks (or Blake Treinen). If Adam Ottavino can regain his form after a disappointing 2020, he will bolster the bullpen, too.

Young Nick Nelson is a dark horse to join the bullpen next year if he can develop consistent command of his pitches. He was lights out when he was able to find the strike zone, even when pitching to elite hitters.

Those are all feasible possibilities for the pitching staff, especially given the expected turnover.

The Yankees have too many righties and don’t play great defense.

Clearly, the Yankees’ lineup is comprised of too many right-handed hitters. The team should attempt to add at least a couple of good left-handed batters (or switch hitters) this offseason. Otherwise, opposing teams will continue to take advantage of their lopsided lineups.

And why doesn’t this team have more lefties? What’s the point of the short porch in right field?

Brett Gardner, perhaps the best left-handed hitter on the team, may not return next year. If he doesn’t, then this issue will become an even more important one for the Bombers to address during the offseason. Even if he does, the club still has a need here.

In addition, the Yanks do not have an adequate mix of home run hitters and contact hitters. This lack of diversity is a problem because their home run hitters tend to strike out a substantial amount, which makes run production susceptible to big droughts.

Of course, when the team’s home run hitters are yanking the ball out of the yard consistently, life is good. However, when one or more studs go into an extended slump, it becomes increasingly difficult to score runs. Contact hitters tend to get on base a lot, and having home run hitters coming up more often with men on base is a huge advantage.

One of the reasons the Yanks did not win more games during the summer or advance to the ALCS is because too many of their hitters did not come through with men on base at critical times during games. Having a couple of more contact hitters in the lineup would have probably reduced this problem.

On top of that, the Yankees were a very bad defensive team. Gleyber Torres committed too many errors and was one of the worst fielding shortstops in the AL. The outfield made plenty of errors/gaffes, and we already talked about Sanchez.

While the Yankees are a superior team and already have the core personnel, when healthy, to remain World Series contenders, they still need to make changes in many departments of the roster if they want to take the next step. It sounds crazy, but these issues with the offense, defense and pitching will not solve themselves.

The front office needs to make adjustments and they must be taken care of before 2021.

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