Rant of a frustrated Yankee fan

I realize that this rant doesn’t really belong on a blog about (mainly) Dutch baseball. But I have to vent my frustration somewhere. Nowadays it is hard to be a Yankee fan (much to the amusement of the many Red Sox fans that I know).

When I woke up this morning and checked the baseball scores, I saw a 1-0 defeat of the Yankees vs the Rays. So far nothing to be surprised about. I knew they were eliminated for the AL East title. Even that didn’t make me upset, because from the start of the season I never had high hopes. But when I checked the box score, I got furious. Once again our starting pitching had done a good job and once again they were betrayed by the hitters: NO run support whatsoever. The Yankees got six (lousy) hits without scoring a run. In fact the Rays did even worse hitting wise but at least they scored a run.

Who is to blame for the state that the Yankees are in?

Is the Yankees’ brass to blame?
Don’t get me wrong, I think that I am one of the few Yankee fans that realizes that it is impossible to win it all every season. But what did the front office expect? That Derek Jeter’s final year would bring the people to the Stadium? That acquiring some over the hill players would solve their problems? That trading away a young player like Solarte, who plays his butt off, for another old guy would be a sparkplug to the lineup? *Sigh*

To me it seems that this ownership only cares about making money. Why else would they have built a new version of Yankee Stadium. A new version with a lot of luxury suites. A new stadium where the prices are quite a bit higher than in the old one.

Let me tell you one thing Steinbrenner family; If you will put a similar lousy product on the field next year, you won’t make any money. I never agreed with the way your father did business; Spending outrageous to get big names. Trading away talented players for over the hill veterans. But right now he would roll over in his grave if he could see the way you are running this once proud franchise.

Are the players to blame?
A player like Teixeira strikes out most of the time despite the fact that the Yankees acquired him to hit homeruns. The weird thing is that he does hit homeruns, but besides that he does get on base hardly. Every time when he gets at bat, I expect a strikeout or a dribbler towards first base. Every basehit that he gets is a big plus. Isn’t it ridiculous that you are happy with an unexpected basehit from the guy that is the meat of your lineup?

What annoys me most is the fact that no player  doesn’t seem to give a damn about losing. That no player doesn’t seem to care if he strikes out. Maybe they are so accustomed to it that they have become totally numb. In my playing days I played because I loved the game. I played for fun. But I got ticked off when I struck out. I felt sick when my team lost. I don’t see sentiments like that with this Yankee team.

Or are the coaches or the manager to blame?
I think that players are responsible themselves for the way they are hitting. But if they don’t hit, a hitting coach should step in and improve something. What does Kevin Long do to improve the batting? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Otherwise the batters would have improved.
I cannot really blame Joe Girardi. He has to work with the material that the brass is bringing him.
A few months ago, I read an interview with Girardi in which he stated that young players that were called up from the minors didn’t know how to lay down a bunt or didn’t know how to run the bases. These are elementals in baseball. IMO there is something terribly wrong with the farm system then.

Adding all these things, I realize that there is not just one person to blame. I realize that there is not just one solution.
First of all the Yankees must clean up their organization: Top to bottom. Get rid of the coaches in the minors, get rid of those who  make the acquisitions (Brian Cashman that is). Get rid of the hefty contracts of underperforming players. And maybe get rid of the ownership; in other words, Maybe the Steinbrenners should sell the club.
If the Steinbrenners decide to stay, I hope that they realize that the way they have run the club this season, isn’t the solution and won’t bring them a championship any time soon.

The Yankees  made a few good acquisitions in McCann (though he is underperforming at bat as well) and in Tanaka. It is time to rebuild the team around these players. I know it takes time to rebuild a team, to rebuild a farm system. But I rather take a couple of losing seasons, knowing that things will get better than muddling through like they have done the last four seasons.