Well well well, here we are again. Don’t pretend you’re surprised, frankly I’m disappointed with myself getting excited about them. But that’s what we sports fans do, believe in spite of what we know to be true. My love for New York Yankees and their history and tradition brings out the worst in me, I willingly own that. I believe the standards should be sky high, as do all Yankee fans, because they as a franchise set and sell that standard every year. It is the now seemingly ancient myth this franchise is built on. Win at all costs, and if you can’t, we’ll find people who can.

Is it obnoxious to the outsider? Sure, of course it is, but no fan of any team should apologize for wanting to win year in and year out. Especially in a baseball landscape where owners refuse to do what it takes in over half the markets in the league. The Yankees of course operate like these sorry teams as well, just in a different way, by being accepting of the garbage we have seen on the field the least few weeks for years now. They don’t enforce any standard at all, which begins in the dugout with “manager for life” Aaron Boone.

Aaron Boone is a nice guy, the Yankees have told you as much since they hired him in 2018. They’ll tell you the players love him until the cows come home and that he is a fabulous communicator. What they never highlight is what exactly he does to help the team win day to day. He’s terrible at deploying a bullpen, fills out the lineup card blindfolded with the help of “analysts” from the front office and rambles on incoherently with the media. But these pale in comparison to his biggest flaw, which is his consistent inability to hold this team and its previous iterations accountable. Whether it’s because he doesn’t know how to or just won’t is unclear, but it’s blatantly obvious he doesn’t keep them honest at all. And if you think he does then tell me why plays like these have happened consistently since he took over.

I could dig up highlights of Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, Greg Bird, and a ton of other guys not hustling, make mental errors, and giving up at bats if I wanted to. You can add Anthony Volpe and DJ LeMahieu to the list, as the base running clinic you see above is enough to ask how they became big leaguers to begin with. But don’t worry Boone had a few stern words and a tidy postgame defense lined up for that joke of a play. Stuff like that should get you a seat on the bench immediately, I don’t care who you are. A manager with standards would sit Volpe today…but Boone never brought those with him to begin with.

I get most managers and coaches defend their players to the end, but Boone’s unwillingness to call it like it is once in a while is insulting to the intelligence. In some cases he is being let down by his core players like Volpe, LeMahieu, Torres, and Verdugo, but the even more astounding reality is that Boone falls on the sword in defense of players who don’t belong here. Defending Trent Grisham for the lack of hustle you see above, while he is hitting .159 is flat out comical. Stumping for Jahmai Jones and playing him against lefties when he is 2 for the century is mind blowing. You can say he doesn’t have better options on the bench due to injuries all you want, that’s just an indictment of this front office.

If Brian Cashman can’t find replacement level major league players from other teams or within the organization then he truly is finished. Their reluctance to call up someone who actually wants to be here and will play hard, especially with Ben Rice excelling at first, is confounding. We’ll likely see someone come up from triple A now that Gleyber Torres is hurt, but that’s the minimum of what should happen. Get somebody else up here with some energy and jump in their game. I can accept losing, but when it’s losing due to lifeless play then it’s time to take a look in the mirror.

The once vaunted Yankee bullpen has collapsed on itself, a collapse led by its closer Clay Holmes, who people like to claim doesn’t need to be replaced. His performance Friday night was inexcusable given how badly the Yankees need a win last night. For he and Tommy Kahnle to be taken deep by two of the Red Sox lesser hitters was flat out embarrassing. With all due respect to the Red Sox, the Yankees in their injury diminished state have far more talent than them, but that talent was out hustled by Boston. This was a game that if the Yankees won, it would have been a stolen win, given how poorly the bombers played. They only scored their runs because of some sloppy Red Sox fielding and a couple of walks. Boston to their credit and despite their problems have gained 9.5 games on the Yankees in just three weeks.

Outside of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Ben Rice, and Luke Weaver, no one should feel good about how they’re playing right now. The Yankees are in complete free fall and don’t look capable of getting out of it. Friday nights horror show will be followed up by two more with Boston before a trip to play the surging Rays and first place Orioles, who could pull away before the break if the Yanks don’t wake up. Their needs at the deadline include a closer, a set up man, at least one infield bat, and some bench help. Even that may not be enough to overcome Boone’s ineptitude in the dugout or their complete lack of heart. The definition of insanity is playing out once again, just as it did in the let down second halves 2018, 2022, and 2023. Prove us wrong and snap out of it…or waste another season, it’s up to you Yankees.

This was a break from our usual Subway Beat release as I felt I had to deal with the Yankees separately this time. We’ll have some thoughts out on the Mets in the days ahead and a new edition of Around the Horn. You can find me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. We have also launched a podcast which carries the same name as the Instagram account. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. The store just went live and Little Ed has been in the lab cooking up some can’t miss items for you fans. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!