MLB insider goes scorched earth on coddled Yankees roster during Red Sox series

If the New York Yankees had added one engine with as much intensity as Alex Bregman this offseason, perhaps things would be different. Perhaps he'd be able to do the "audit" all by himself and rearrange this team's championship DNA right under their noses. But ... he went to Boston. And until the Yankees can find someone like that, their intensity level will be controlled by Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman, who would prefer not to turn up the temperature too much, if that's okay with you.

That muted, positive-tinged attitude is how the Yankees found themselves under Joel Sherman's microscope again this weekend. No one has more of a license to go after the Yankees than Sherman, who found himself nose-to-nose with Cashman's ill-conceived blanket Anthony Volpe defense at the 2024 GM Meetings (no update on that, by the way). And go after them he does, any time he gets a chance to when their lack of fundamentals show.

A golden door opened for Sherman again after the Yankees' 12-1 loss on Saturday to the Sox, which ballooned in the late innings and decided the four-game series. In the wake of that crushing-but-not-surprising defeat, Sherman took aim at all the platitudes and secrets the Yankees try to blindfold their crowd with, showering the team in "praise" after another high-profile failure.

It was ... an evisceration.

Joel Sherman destroys Yankees with kindness after pathetic effort vs. Red Sox

Perhaps Sherman's sharpest line was reserved for Volpe, who the team refuses to even lightly bury amid prolonged struggles. "Did the Yankees hide Volpe and Dominguez on Saturday?" Sherman asked rhetorically. "Nope. Volpe was in the lineup to go 0-for-3 and stretch his recent streak to 1-for-28 while also committing an error. You see 1-for-29 and an MLB-high 17 errors. Boone and I see Jeter."

Woof.

Sherman mostly turned his laser on the braintrust that chortles like sea lions when the Yankees get fat off inferior opponents, then calls the doldrums against better teams "all part of the evening-out process". It's true! Seasons are long. Opponents vary in talent level. Except ... when you reach October ... if you reach October ... and everybody is the Jays, Sox, Tigers, or Astros ... you don't get a "week off" to get fat and refresh. You just get bounced, and get three months off to get fat on piña coladas.

At this point, the Yankees have proven that they're a team that doesn't take top-tier opponents as seriously as they should, and doesn't have the wherewithal (or the ability) to make bold decisions to boost their potential. Kudos to Sherman for sarcastically laying it on thick. Hopefully, it doesn't fall on deaf ears.