Anonymous Yankees player's complacent comment summarizes everything wrong with NYY

Pending an out-of-character October where they "get hot," the defining moment of the 2024 Yankees (and the 2020-2023 Yankees) might've just dropped in an explosive Bob Klapisch column.

Klapisch, the long-time local columnist, did not mince words while discussing the state of the all-in-but-not-really Yankees with 22 games left to go, calling the team "delusional" about their current status in the East, American League, and MLB in general. They used to be the hunters. For generations. They are now the almost irrelevant hunted, and they do not appear to care, shrugging off spears and arrows by pretending they are not there.

Want to get truly enraged? This quote Klapisch pulled, from a casual conversation with a "Yankees veteran," says it all.

Yankees veteran doesn't understand why everyone's freaking out about Yankees

Yes. The Yankees are going to be "fine," probably. But what is "fine," exactly?

They seem likely to make the postseason, for one thing, but even that berth isn't guaranteed. Not having the drive and desire to fight tooth and nail to the finish line to make that opportunity a certainty is embarrassing enough.

But they had a golden chance to improve their seed and win the AL East, an opportunity which appears to be slipping further away by the day. Is that "fine"? They appear likely to come up short of their first goal, with a few left ahead of them, and seem content to finish second. Is that "fine"? Why should anyone trust them to flip a switch in October when they see no need to flip one in August, all while loosening the reins to their division crown?

The fact of the matter is that this team believes that, despite three months of below-.500 evidence, they are good enough, as constructed, to win a World Series. Belief in yourself is a good thing. But a lack of urgency and a determination that all will work itself out in the end is no way to reach the mountaintop. Does this "Yankees veteran" sound hungry to you? Or do they believe the pieces will eventually fall into place because ... well, because they're the Yankees?

Remember when a traumatic 12-2 loss to the White Sox wasn't viewed as a wake-up call by Alex Verdugo? Which fellow Yankees veteran decided to agree with him and echo those sentiments to Klapisch again this week, following another near-month of uninspired baseball? Detachment and leaving things up to fate appears to be a clubhouse epidemic.

Meanwhile, while you're waiting for everything to turn out a-ok, another pack of wolves will be eating your lunch. They've already been doing so for months. And you've been inviting them in for five years running.