Why Won't The New York Yankees Rebuild?
The Yankees need to realize something. Something that the fans have readily admitted: The Yankees need to rebuild. There the so called dirty word rebuild is now put into the forefront of this conversation. Let us all be frank with one another Yankee fans, the 2016 New York Yankees suck. At the time of writing this article the Yankees sat 24-25 and 6.5 games back of arch rival Boston in the AL East. The hitting has been absolutely atrocious this year. Sadly the pitching has not been much better. There is a dark grey cloud that is hovering over this franchise. But this did not have to be. You see the Yankees should be rebuilding, letting the young kids play and seeing exactly if these young players have a future with the club, giving them time to develop and get used to the speed of a major league game. Yet the braintrust of the Yankees did not do this. Instead opting to put a bunch of band aides over a gaping hole.
To say that the Yankees offense has been a disaster is an understatement. Through 48 games, the Yankees have managed just 184 runs. As a whole the batting average is .236. Much maligned centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury leads the team with a .286 average. That's right Ellsbury is the leader in average. Carlos Beltran leads the team in homeruns , hits, and RBIs. Ladies and gentlemen, when old man river Carlos Beltran is your best hitter then you as an organization have done something terribly wrong. Of course some apologists will say oh injuries, the injuries have hurt this team. And Yankee fans have heard this excuse for how many years now? No the injuries have not been a problem or contributor to the garbage heap that is this offense. Well maybe Greg Bird, but knowing Girardi he would start the corpse of Lyle Overbay over Bird. No the problem is a lack of planning and not learning from lessons past.
Dustin Ackley is the world's best ponzi schemer. He has somehow convinced Brian Cashman to give him a contract. And where has all of that money gone? Down the toilet, like Ackley's career. Despite the fact that Ackley is at his best a double A prospect, he has gotten significant playing time. So how has the Mariners reject done this season? Well he is batting a stunning .148 through 29 games. He has 4 RBIs, with 0 homeruns. How many extra base hits has he recorded this season? 0. Ackley has somehow turned Yankee stadium into AT&T Park. His wins above replacement(WAR) is at -.02 and his offensive War is at -.06. For the uninitiated when a player is in the negatives ft hat means they are worse than a minor leaguer. When Stehen Drew looks like a better option, you as a front office has failed on multiple levels. This leads me to the player that will be called up to replace Ackley who is now on the DL.
I cannot stand Nick Swisher. Cannot stand his gimmick and the fact that he has sucked the past few years. Swisher adds nothing to the Yankees, even on a minor league contract. His power has decreased, he is older, and he has recently been cut. The move by the Yankees is head scratching to say the least. His stats last season were beyond miserable. Swisher batted .198 in Cleveland and .195 in Atlanta. Combined he had 6 homeruns and 25 RBIs. Now take into account that Swisher will be a year older and his skills are on pace to deteriorate more. He hit .185 in May in triple A so that's an upgrade? Is he really an upgrade over Austin Romine who has split duties while Tex has been injured. The answer is no. Swisher will fail and the Yankees will continue to sink into mediocrity.
Buck Showalter once said that he wondered how Brian Cashman would do if he was in charge of a team with a smaller payroll. Well we have seen how well that has worked out as the Yankees have reduced payroll. 1 brief playoff appearance since 2013. He has brought in the likes of Stephen Drew, Dustin Ackley, overpaid for Ellsbury, the list goes on. Brian Cashman has never been a proactive GM, he has always been reactive. The signing of Swisher shows just how lost Cashman is when it comes to constructing a successful roster. Now he is trying to just keep up with the other general managers in his own division. Of course even if the young players are called up they won't play. These players are instead relegated to the manager's doghouse.
They say that mediocre people like mediocre things, well there is no better example than Joe Girardi. Maybe Girardi cannot get over that he was replaced by a young player and that is why he hates young players. Whatever the case Girardi's refusal to use young position players boggles the mind. Want a prime example? This year Rob Refsnyder played in 1 game. In that game he went 1-3 with a double that had earned 2 RBIs and had shown the plate discipline that has been lacking in this team. Yet Refsnyder NEVER PLAYED ANOTHER GAME. So here he was, halfway to Ackley's RBI total for the season and he never played again. This is beyond being stupid, this is moronic. Sure Refsnyder doesn't have a position, but can you tell me what the fuck Ackley's position is? Yes, Refsnyder is not the end all be all, but he sure is better than Dustin Ackley. How Girardi can continue to make excuses is baffling.
Yankee fans I want you to get out of your chairs. Go to your windows and yell:I'm mad as hell and I won't take this anymore. Maybe Aaron Judge, Refsnyder, Mason Williams, Mateo aren't the players we think they are. Maybe they will be busts, but how will we ever know if the Yankees refuse to play these young prospects. The Yankees have gone from being the best run organization in baseball to the American version of Aston Villa. It's time for the Yankees to rebuild and it starts with playing these young players.
