The movie, Airplane, is a great comedy that SU has seen many times over the years. Just a lot of laughs. Leslie Nielsen plays the doctor on the plane who multiple times goes into the cockpit to say, “I just want to tell you both, good luck. We’re all counting on you.” The best is at the end of the movie once the plane has landed, he comes in again for one last time.
Well, SU says that is what Aaron Boone has become with his media appearances after every Yankee game, er, um, loss. His comments that “our play is unacceptable, we have to do better, our fans expect more, …” are now in rinse and repeat mode night after night. It reminds me of Airplane.
Now, I know you might say: what do you expect him to say? And that is actually correct. It’s not his roster and if you look at the players he can put in there, the combinations are so limited or just look the same. I mean which right-handed hitters should I start today? And in which order? I don’t want to bunch my right-handed hitters together, i.e., where do I put my only left-handed hitter, Brett Gardner, in the line-up?
Boone has failed miserably with his in-game moves. Chapman is a lost soul. Have him pitch in middle relief a few times to get his confidence back. He has now eclipsed Dave Righetti when it comes to blowing important games. You cannot keep rolling him out there (although I must say it is fascinating to watch as his confidence drops from pitch to pitch). He was the best reliever in baseball for 6-7 weeks and now is a fire starter for the team.
SU noted that the Yankees sent down Tyler Wade, one of the few left-handed bats. He should have gotten some starts at shortstop to give Gleyber Torres time to work out his issues – same way that they did that for Gary Sanchez.
SU says time to blow up the roster. The best you will do this year is make the wild card and with this line-up, they would lose early in the playoffs. The team is not built to win, and it’s not enough to just qualify for the playoffs and then strike out 15 times a game. Admit defeat and start over – again for the 2nd time in 5 years. Eat some payroll and trade Stanton – his body will only calcify over the next several years. Let someone else deal with him jogging to first base. SU would also trade Voit and Chapman. For Chapman, you will again have to eat salary.
Should they fire Boone? SU is ambivalent on that one. They don’t seem to play hard for him but I can’t see them playing hard for anyone – even Buck Showalter.
The Mets fielded a line-up over the weekend that had alternating left and right-handed batters, and they put the ball in play. What a concept. True, they got some lucky seeing eye hits but if you don’t put the ball in play, you never know what might happen.
Blow it up now, please. Yankee fans are checking out in droves and it hasn’t been entertaining all year.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Regarding your Aaron Boone/Airplane analogy, I only have one thing to say:
“Surely you can’t be serious.”
“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”
Boone has failed to impress. His in-game moves are poor but somehow, we give managers a pass on this these days because those moves are often determined by the front office and the algorithms. But his strength was supposed to be his communication with and feel for the players, yet for most of his tenure the team has struggled with psychological and physical ailments that seem to have 3 or 4 players rendered unusable at any given time. Boone should be gone.
The roster is also enough of a mess that you have to question Cashmans decisions as well. You covered the right handed batting problem. Here are some others. Stanton’s inability to play in the field or 3 games in a row hurts the entire team. The repercussions flow through the lineup on a daily basis. A player making that kind of money is supposed to make putting a lineup together easier, not harder. He needs to go.
I have seen enough of Torres at SS. I’m aware that this was supposedly his position. But we also saw him play 2B for a season and it was entirely without drama. He may be a SS but he plays 2B much better. He should be there. This causes a problem for DJ but he’s versatile enough to move around the field. I’m OK plugging DJ in wherever…not so much for the rest of the team.
Urshela is an outstanding 3B. He needs to play there. He should not be making appearances at SS.
Regarding the above 2 paragraphs, this team had a reliable SS, who also hit left-handed, who also may have been one of Cashman’s top pickups ever. Letting DD go has become one of Cashman’s biggest mistakes. (Behind Stanton and ARod.)
Are great-fielding left-handed first basemen extinct? Were we just spoiled having one on the Yankees for the better part of 3 decades? I have nothing against the guys that the Yankees have marched out there for the past few seasons don’t at all fit the job description.
As far as Chapman goes, maybe he’s a head case. Maybe there’s a physical problem. Maybe he needs substances on his fingers. I don’t know. But you know who SHOULD know. Aaron Boone. This cannot be a mystery for the manager. He needs to know this type of thing and the solution to any of the above, is to take him out of the closer role for a while.
One final observation that applies to Sanchez but it’s a league wide problem. It’s fascinating to see how the data analytics has absolutely no concern for wild pitches and passed balls. The priority is on offense from catchers and power from pitchers. The result is balls heading to the backstop and runners advancing/scoring all the time. If you look at Wild Pitch numbers in the modern era, it looks like a climate change temperature chart. All the highest rates are in the past few seasons. There’s .41 WP/game in 2021 and that’s the highest ever (excluding pre-1900). And, to me, the number feels much higher.
Inconsistency shouldn’t surprise anyone- they played for Boone like this last year.
Boone gets heat because he sticks to his guys too long, even though he really has no other option, while everyone soured on Girardi because he micromanaged way too much. Where’s the balance? And how do you quantify “playing hard”? Isn’t it possible the roster just sucks? The roster construction is a mess, and Cashman’s prioritizing the three true outcomes over defense, speed, and a balanced lineup has obviously backfired. But i don’t think any team can survive the horrendous regression of Gleyber (who is quantifiably one of the worst players in baseball now), Clint Frazier (who may actually be the worst player in baseball) and Jameson Taillon as your number 2. It seems all of the young talent the Yankees acquired last time they were sellers have regressed tremendously, which is extremely bizarre, and I suppose maybe the coaching staff is to blame.