Since 1992, the New York Yankees have not finished below .500. Is this the year that changes their streak?

By Anthony Collazo

The New York Yankees currently have a record of 70-70, a 50. winning percentage, and sit in last place in the American League East, ALE. In a season where they would be a contender, they now sit 7 games out of an American League, AL, Wild Card spot. With 23 games left, the Bronx Bombers are running out of time. If the trend of losing baseball continues, the Yankees are at stake of snapping their 30-year streak of above .500 baseball. Why is this happening and who is to blame?

The easy excuse for Yankee fans is to blame Yankees Manager, Aaron Boone while the real problem is Yankee General Manager, Brian Cashman. Cashman built a roster full of guys who can hit the ball hard statistically, according to exit velocity and barrel rate on BaseballSavant, but also strike out a lot. This causes a lot of stagnancy in the Yankees offense.

Analytics has played a big part in baseball in recent years. Former Yankees minor leaguer Ben Ruta has said that “There is no baseball being taught anymore. According to Ruta “This is a result of Dylan Lawson’s analytical team.”

On July 9, 2023 the Yankees fired hitting coach Dylan Lawson. The Yankees hired MLB legend Sean Casey to try and help this offense out. Yet, the Yankees are still struggling. At this year's trade deadline, everyone expected the Yankees to either buy or sell. Either trading expandable pieces, or trading for pieces to make a playoff push. Instead, they chose to do nothing and not set a clear path for the future of the organization.

Cashman’s money management has also been awful. The type of players the Yankees could have gotten, but did not because of money constraints has been bad. When the Yankees traded for reigning National League Most Valuable Player Giancarlo Stanton in 2018, they took on a massive contract. Bleacher Report reported that the contract was “a tough pill the Yankees will have to swallow” back in 2018. With a batting average of .203 and bottom five percentile in sprint speed, it looks like Stanton is already on the decline.

The Yankees have missed out on big potential free agents including Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Instead, the Yankees traded for Josh Donaldson, who had a batting average of .207 during his tenure with the Yankees. Looking back, the Yankees would definitely like to have this trade back.

As a result, Brian Cashman’s poor roster construction, poor analytical team, and poor money management, the Bronx Bombers may finish below .500 for the first time since 1992.

Yankees At Jeopardy Of Losing Historic Streak