It’s been a disappointing past few years for the Yankees. They lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Astros in 2019, were eliminated by the Rays in a winner-take-all in 2020 and lost to their arch-rival Boston Red Sox in last season’s American League Wild Card game.
After a subpar start to the 2021 season, they kicked things into gear around the trade deadline, acquiring both first baseman Anthony Rizzo and platoon player Joey Gallo among a few other, less notable deals.
After being just five games over .500 a couple of days before the deadline, the Yanks finished with a very strong 92-70 record and made the AL Wild Card. However, when it comes to the Yankees in the playoffs over the last decade, they just can’t seem to get back to the World Series.
For a team that’s used to touting the number 27 and being the envy of the rest of the baseball world, times are looking tough for the Bronx Bombers. They have been virtually silent over this offseason and are now continuing to have to wait to make any notable deals due to the continuation of the lockout.
A Disappointing Offseason
The Yankees have made no moves this offseason other than to designate outfielder Clint Frazier for assignment, ultimately losing him to the Cubs, and to sign outfielder Ender Inciarte to a minor league contract. The inaction over this past offseason has had Yankees fans baffled and wondering what exactly General Manager Brian Cashman is waiting for.
There were rumors that they were in the running to land all-star shortstop Corey Seager, but he signed a huge deal with the Texas Rangers and Carlos Correa probably botched his chance at playing in the Bronx after publicly insulting Derek Jeter.
They’ve also missed out on every free agent pitcher of note, and even lost Andrew Heaney who was one of their deadline pickups. You know things aren’t normal when the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are having a better offseason than the Yankees.
Now even Aaron Judge’s future in the Bronx is up in the air after he stated he’d only sign an extension with the Yankees before the season starts and no real concrete deal has been proposed to the slugger. On top of that, other than Gerrit Cole, their starting rotation does not exactly inspire confidence.
It’s not a great look when Jordan Montgomery is your no. 2 starter.
Where The Yankees Stand Now
After last season, the Yankees are in the most competitive division in baseball. Four teams in the AL East finished with 90+ wins and there’s no reason to think that the competitive nature of the AL East will not continue in 2022.
With the exceptions of Judge, Cole, Stanton and LeMahieu this isn’t a team that seems like it’ll do much in 2022 if we’re going by the numbers.
The Yankees’ best course of action is to go back to being the Yankees as soon as the lockout ends. That means signing either Freddie Freeman or Anthony Rizzo to play first, extending Judge, signing a couple starters and picking up a bullpen arm.
For a team with an active payroll of over $200 million, this should not be a tall task. They have the city of New York, Yankee Stadium, and the prestige of being the Yankees at their disposable too.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Yankees do take a proactive role in the free agency pool post-lockout. Right now fans should be livid with the inaction of Brian Cashman and ownership in general.
This is a team that struggled to stay in the playoff race up until the last six weeks or so of last season, so it’s time that they jump in front of that trend and make an active effort to sign guys who will help them win ball games. The most Yankee move they could make would be to sign Freddie Freeman and maybe even Clayton Kershaw too.
They aren’t going to be nearly as bad as the Orioles or Twins, but if this team doesn’t shape up and make some moves post-lockout, it’ll be the same old song in 2022 sans playoff appearance.
