The New York Yankees are the biggest mess in baseball

The New York Yankees sit at 44-46 and in 4th place in the AL East. But don't let the record fool you, the Yankees have been a lot worse than their record lets on. Both from a fan's perspective and a statistical one. The Yankees should be sellers in the trading deadline. Should be building for the future while selling their more coveted players(yes even Andrew Miller). Yet from most reports the Yankees front office seems to be conflicted. That the front office believes that the Yankees can somehow make the second wildcard(despite you know being 5.5 games back). This illustrates the divide between an exasperated fanbase and a arrogant front office. One of these are being practical and realistic. This group knew going into the season that the Yankees were goi g to be bad as currently constructed. The other is being irrational and unreasonable. They had convinced themselves that nothing was wrong with the team. Now here we are.

The common perception of Yankees has always been that they are arrogant and brash. Of course this has been correct. I mean  90s  dynasty Yankees fans can be obnoxious and arrogant. I know cause I am one. But the one thing that the Yankees fans are not is stupid. In fact one of the best baseball blogs is riveraveblues, a Yankees community that does tremendous analysis. But that is beside the point. Most Yankee fans knew that the Yankees should be rebuilding, should just hit reset before the season even began. That the young players like a  Rob Refsnyder, Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin, Gary Sanchez should have all been on the main roster. Not the likes of Dustin Ackley or Chase Headley. That CC, Teixeria, etc were over the hill. That trading for Chapman was stupid.  That 2016 should have been a year to flush the system and start building towards the future. 

Then there is the front office. A front office and ownership group that has treated Yankee fans like complete morons especially this year. Hell Hal Steinbrenner just came out on June 21 and said "we'll be right smack in the middle of it come July". So where do the Yankees sit now that it's in the middle of July? Well besides the atrocious record, the Yankees are 22nd in runs per game, 20th in home runs per game, 22 in walks per game, 20th in team batting average, and 23 in on base percentage. And what about pitching? They rank 16th in era, 29th in strikeouts per game, and 1st in walks per game. Yeah so when Steinbrenner talks about being right smack in it come July he must have been talking about being in mediocrity. And here is he problem, the front office refuses to admit their mistakes. Refuses to admit they have mishandled the farm system and any attempts at rebuilding. This is the same front office that in a clear publicity stunt signed Nick Swisher. How's that working out for them? The way this front office treats this fanbase should anger Yankee fans. And yes George was an ass at times to the fans, but atleast he cared, atleast he knew how to adapt to the game of baseball. Hal and Randy Levine have not shown they are capable of that.

Joe Girardi is either incompetent or too proud. I do not know what is worse. Just look at one of his latest quotes "I think it's the record that's going to be the biggest reason we aren't sellers, that we get back in this race and we play better and more consistently". Does Joe Girardi not have access to the stats that was posted above or does he have too much tunnel vision to realize that the Yankees need to rebuild? That in layman's terms this is one of the worst Yankees team to ever be put on the field in recent years. Yet Girardi does not seem to ever admit that. For every justifiable complaint leveled against this team, Girardi makes up an excuse. When he was asked about why the likes of Refsnyder or Romine haven't gotten more playing time over veterans, Girardi blamed the veterans contracts. Yes the manager of the New York Yankees is more concerned with the contracts of players than winning. He doesn't seem to grasp that the young players have outplayed the veterans this season. After the Yankees miss this playoffs this year, Girardi needs to be fired. He has shown a lack of desire and ability to handle a rebuild. 

So how would I recommend the Yankees rebuild? Well first and foremost, move Andrew Miller. Yes, I know he has been one of the best relievers in baseball. Which is why he will be coveted. Ship him to the Dodgers who are contending and grab one of their prospects(the Dodgers had the number 1 farm system according to baseball prospectus). Then ship off Chapman off to the Rangers, who are in desperate need of a shutdown reliever for the post season. The Rangers have arguably the deepest farm system and the Yankees could get a good haul. Then trade Nova and Beltran to a team with a top 12 farm system. You see, the Yankees can make off with so,e very good prospects this trade deadline if they were smart. But don't be surprised if they don't do any of this because the Yankees have no idea what they are doing. 

Yes, it may be hyperbolic to call the Yankees the most dysfunctional team in baseball this season. But with reports of inner strife between the front office and the business side, not performing on the field, and backlash from the fanbase, it is hard to argue against it. The Yankees need a complete overhaul from management to selling players off at the trade deadline. If changes aren't made, the Yankees will fall back into the mediocrity of the 1980s Yankees.