The New York Yankees are spiraling, and there is no sugarcoating it anymore. Monday night’s walk-off loss to the Texas Rangers was just the latest blow to what is now more Bronx Blunders than Bronx Bombers. As if the Miami Marlins sweeping them was not enough, the Rangers just obliterated whatever hopes seemed to be there for the fans.
This time, even Aaron Boone didn’t shield things, saying, “I know everyone feels like crap, but we’ve got to go take it. Haven’t been able to do that on this road trip so far. We’ve got to do it better.” But here is the thing—Boone has been feeding this version of “better” to the Yankee fans for a few weeks now, if not a month or more. But it’s all words and no action from the team.
Plus, Boone has been a total player’s player-manager, undoubtedly. And the tag of him being “soft on his players” has carried on. He did prove it, too, right? He shielded Volpe when clearly, fans saw who was to blame. Also, let’s not forget the Talkin’ Yanks podcast, where he lost his cool trying to justify the team’s effort. But at some point, the team does not need a shield; it needs a spark. And the Bronx needs Aaron Judge.
[Image of Aaron Judge making a fielding error during the 2024 MLB World Series game five against the Los Angeles Dodgers]
Now, the bitterest pill to swallow for the New York Yankees was Judge landing on the injured list after his elbow issue. Thankfully, it was a flexor strain and didn’t land him in a year-long recovery after a Tommy John surgery. But now he is set to return on Tuesday, and folks at New York Post Sports want him to be the change, “Aaron Judge, #AllRise. Come here for a second, bro… I know the Yankees need your bat, but are you sure you want to rush back from that elbow injury and try and be the Batman of the Bronx? Well, if the answer is yes, then you wear the ‘C.’” And this urgency is understandable, given that the team is sinking.
Right now, looking at Boone, it doesn’t seem like Boone has the fire to hold anyone accountable. What Yankee fans really want from Judge isn’t just homers; they want leadership. They want someone to walk into the dugout and demand more. They want more urgency and more grit and maybe someone who can get up in someone’s face if that’s what it takes to make things right.
Because the numbers are telling an ugly story for the Yankees. Yankees are 63-57, fourth in the AL East, and have gone just 4-6 in their last ten games. They are also 2.5 games behind the final AL Wild Card spot. They have teams like the Boston Red Sox and the Astros standing in their way. Sure, it is not an impossible climb, but they for sure need more than just a healthy Judge—they need Captain Judge.
New York Yankees demote reliever after brutal start
Well, that was the fastest unraveling of a trade deadline ever! Jake Bird, one-third of the New York Yankees’ highlight-reel deadline haul, is already on his way out. Yes, he is packing his bags for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The right-hander was optioned Tuesday morning, just hours after he served up a walk-off three-run bomb to Josh Jung in an 8-5, 10-inning loss to the Texas Rangers.
Now here is the kicker—Bird has been in pinstripes for less than a week, even. But it’s been a rocky start for him, not figuratively but literally. Monday night was deja vu for fans, who watched him give up a grand slam just days before to the Marlins. In that game, the Yankees blew a 9-4 lead in a 13-12 loss! And honestly, since July 1, Bird has been completely hammered. He went from an okay 2.63 ERA to a 23.63 ERA in just 5.1 innings. That’s brutal.
Sure, there are some bright things he did, too, like he tossed a clean sixth inning on Saturday against the Miami Marlins with two strikeouts. But the Bronx expects more from him, given the state of the team now. Meanwhile, the other half of the acquisitions, like David Bednar and Camilo Doval, also had their own rocky road but still bounced back with scoreless innings on Monday.
So far, the shiny new additions are showing rust, and Yankees are still tumbling down.