Yankees scapegoats: 1 to fire, 1 to put on the hot seat, 1 to be patient with

The New York Yankees haven't gone on a firin' spree since the days of George Steinbrenner, but did undergo a mini remodel a few years back when both Aaron Boone lieutenant Phil Nevin and hitting coach Marcus Thames found themselves out of a job in an attempt to shift the culture.

It seemed to work ... insanely well for the first half of 2022, but all's been rolling downhill ever since. The Yankees have been a roughly-.500 club since the 2022 trade deadline -- or, more specifically, they fell way below .500 in August, rallied in September, found themselves embarrassed in the ALCS, and are in danger of drowning yet again following Aaron Judge's toe injury.

Something has to change, given the spotlight that's eternally on this team. But how many heads must role? And will it really make much of a difference?

If this season ends in turmoil, out of the playoffs, the Yankees might have to make some high-profile changes yet again to appease the masses. How far will they go, and who has the best chance of staying?

Firing Yankees Scapegoats: Who should go if Yankees miss 2023 MLB Playoffs?

1 Yankees scapegoat for the hot seat: Dillon Lawson

Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson seems to have done admirable work in the Houston Astros' minor-league system in the mid-2010s, and was part of an effective revolution in the Yankees' minor-league ranks from 2018-2021. When the Yankees promoted him to be their big-league hitting coach, they thought they'd found the man who was responsible for so much accelerated offensive development below the MLB surface.

They might've picked the wrong guy yet again.

Lawson's Yankees haven't made a tangible leap from the middle-of-the-road offense that wrapped 2019. Through June 2022, he looked like a world-beating genius, but that team's horrific second half (non-Aaron Judge division) and 2023 swoon have left him reeling and taking postgame hostage interviews in front of a brick wall at Fenway.

Lawson's simplistic message -- "Hit Strikes Hard" -- is prime fodder for the media if his team is struggling. Certainly, his philosophy goes deeper than that, but it's an easy phrase to latch onto when things aren't working. Anthony Volpe seeking swing solutions at a chicken parm dinner rather than in several meetings with his hitting staff also isn't a fantastic look/endorsement of trust in Lawson.

If the Yankees are raking, "Hit Strikes Hard" sounds like a powerhouse motto. If they're flailing, whiffing, and hitting the ball into the ground, it's laughably reductive. Lawson might not be actively hurting the team's patchwork offense, but he's not helping much these days (though, yes, the cast also stinks). He'd be the easiest name to dismiss if the end of the season matches the first half.

1 Yankees scapegoat to be patient with: Aaron Boone

Be honest with yourself: Most of the time, when you conjure up the words, "Fire Aaron Boone!" there isn't really a reason behind them. You're just furious with the way a certain game played out, or you're consumed by this possibility you've created that this team "just can't get over the hump" with Boone in charge, a logical fallacy that can never be proven, and grows clearer in your mind with every title he doesn't win.

Boone's in-game management and bullpen decisions leave a good deal to be desired, and there's certainly a lingering worry that he'll never be able to out-maneuver a master tactician in a head-to-head matchup. But wouldn't you have said the same about Dusty Baker just a few years ago? It remains unclear if Boone improves this team's chances of capturing a ring. Ultimately, the Yankees can do better. But, of all the problems with this team's ethos, it's certainly reductive to pin the franchise's entire malaise on his "fine-not-great" stewardship.

Was Joe Girardi a great manager? Absolutely not. His moribund 2013-2014 rosters overperformed and finished over .500, but Boone's trainwreck of a 2019 roster, filled with hundreds of injury replacements, won 103 games. He was chased out of town when he lost the next generation, led by his public distrust of Gary Sánchez. The same thing happened to him in Philadelphia last season, when he was replaced by former Yankees lieutenant Rob Thomson, who immediately took his same, dead roster to the World Series. But ... he won a World Series, didn't he? He rode the binder, he employed a three-man rotation, and he won a World Series. Boone's peak may very well have been 2019, when he legitimately guided a bizarro world Yankees roster to the edge of a title. His fate may have been completely different if Mike Tauchman hadn't gone down in September, unable to replace Giancarlo Stanton in the ALCS, a legitimately crazy thought. He certainly hasn't done enough to earn the leash he was given this offseason by the Yankees' brass.

But, more often than not, Boone isn't the problem when the offense dies or the player development staff can't translate a prospect's minor-league production to the majors. He's just the face of it all. In another year, he might meet his expiration date, But it's tough to pin this 2023 slumber on him, unless you think some random firebrand veteran voice could wake Josh Donaldson up overnight. Remember when you all wanted Buck Showalter? He might be available again soon.