4 offseason decisions the Yankees are paying for right now

Every New York Yankees fan knows the reason behind this team's struggles, and it's the manner in which the roster was constructed. It all started with the Giancarlo Stanton trade in 2017 and it's continued with ill-advised moves, such as the Josh Donaldson trade, the extensions for Aaron Hicks and Luis Severino, and the continued faith in Gleyber Torres, among many other things.

It's all become more and more evident with Aaron Judge out of the lineup. The Yankees rank 30th in every major offensive category without the reigning MVP, and flashes of competence here and there won't change the overall opinion of the team.

It feels like each and every offseason we can pinpoint a handful of specific moves that have either set the team back or didn't properly prepare them for October baseball, which is disheartening because last year's 99-win team shouldn't have turned into whatever this is. Then again, fans all saw the fatal flaws with the 2022 squad, so are we really surprised?

General manager Brian Cashman did it again, though, and every dope on their couch can easily pinpoint what offseason decisions have cost the Yankees so far during what was supposed to be a promising 2023 campaign.

4 offseason decisions the Yankees are paying for right now

Expedited Decision on Anthony Volpe

Though many of us were in support of this and Volpe has since turned it around after having his boys over for some chicken parm, the Yankees once again failed to execute. If they believed in Anthony Volpe that much, they'd better have had the proper system(s) in place to ensure his development and growth at the next level.

A somewhat promising April has led to Volpe somehow becoming one of the worst full-time players in baseball up until a couple weeks ago. Is it Dillon Lawson's fault? Is it the front office's fault for jumping the gun too early on Volpe, who had limited Triple-A experience? Or is it simply the history of this team's inability to maximize the talent in their farm system and have it translate to big-league success?

The problem with the Volpe decision was that the Yankees knew they were putting themselves in a difficult position. They wouldn't be able to go back on it and option him to Triple-A. They resigned themselves to the reality that they'd be stuck with him even if he was batting .186 with a .605 OPS in mid-June (which he was!)

Fans are holding out hope Volpe is a franchise cornerstone, but perhaps a little more tact/preparation here could've saved the Yankees in both the short- and long-term. On the bright side, his chicken parm turnaround has been remarkable. Now we just need to see him build off of that over the next few months to avoid the difficult questions popping back up.

Not Finding a Way to Get Rid of Josh Donaldson

When Josh Donaldson homers in 2023, the Yankees are 0-6. When he's awful, the Yankees lose anyway. When he's away from the team for an extended period of time, the Yankees couldn't look better.

But there was no way the Yankees were admitting defeat on one of the worst trades in recent franchise history. Come on, you know them better than that by now.

What if they decided to get ahead of one horrific scenario, though? Just one. Jettisoning Donaldson in the offseason when he wasn't viewed this unfavorably (the way he is in late June) was definitely a possibility. Maybe the Yankees needed to attach a prospect to him in a trade. Maybe they would've had to pay down some of his salary. Whatever it would've taken, it would've been worth it.

They knew they had DJ LeMahieu stuck here for the next four seasons, and he's just as capable of a third baseman (and a better hitter, even though he's dreadful right now, too!). They knew they had Oswaldo Cabrera as a budding utility player (even though he's regressed). They knew they had Isiah Kiner-Falefa as their true veteran utility player, who's best at third base. There were so many options to absorb a Donaldson departure.

Instead, after importing a vocal Yankee agitator, the team stood by him after a career-worst season that didn't offer any indication of a bounce back -- it was actually definitive proof of a guaranteed decline. He can't hit 94 MPH fastballs over the heart of the plate. He has nine hits on the season, seven of which are home runs (none of which have translated to team success), and he has a 72 OPS+ to follow up his 95 mark in 2022. But it was all worth it to trade Gary Sánchez because you were afraid to non-tender him, right?

Not Trading Luis Severino (or Declining His Option)

Luis Severino will never become the 2017-2018 version of himself, at least not in New York. Only the front office and a few delusional fans don't believe that to be the case, as everybody was fooled by his 19-start 2022 showing where he was totally solid.

It was the first time since 2018 that the right-hander possessed any sort of trade value, and the Yankees had a premier opportunity to pick up his $15 million team option and trade him to upgrade their roster elsewhere, especially since they were signing Carlos Rodón and investing more money in the rotation. In theory, they didn't need a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Rodón, Nestor Cortes, Severino and Frankie Montas. It was nice to see on paper, but they could've taken a little from there to address a little of something over here. Though declining his option would've seemed a bit crazy, there was no evidence it would've been $15 million well spent. Sevy had pitched in 26 games since the start of the 2019 season. Was anybody seriously expecting 32 starts and ~180 innings after all that?

Plus, anybody thinking Severino wouldn't deal with injury issues in 2023 after dealing with them nonstop since 2019 was simply trying to fool themselves into envisioning a much more pleasant reality. And when Sevy went down in spring training and was out until May 21, everyone knew nothing good was going to come out of it.

After one solid and one promising start, Severino flew off the rails over his next four, rebounded two outings ago (though it wasn't exactly "impressive"), then arrived back at square one after getting rocked by the Cardinals in a game where he didn't even give the Yankees a chance. He's potentially dealing with mechanical issues and mental obstacles. Not something this team can afford from a supposed "key" player.

This will be a very regrettable move unless Sevy turns back to the clock and helps the Bombers on a deep playoff run, because he's as good as gone after 2023 -- something everybody knew once 2022 concluded.