Keidel: Bumbling Yankees Can't Afford To Sit Idle, Must Explore Trades
By Jason Keidel
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When you're the most storied franchise in American sports, with epic expectations and bulging payroll every year, and your nostrils are well under the .500 waters in June, none of the news is fun.
According to Today's Knuckleball writer and WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman, the New York Yankees are not interested in making any moves right now, be it as bulls or bears.
And that just won't cut it.
You can't charge Porsche prices and deliver a Prius.
You can't ask for $1,500 for ringside seats. You can't shut out nearly 1 million (Comcast) viewers. You can't dawdle in fourth place. You can't lounge around at 27-30 as if you're one play or player away from a pennant.
You can't sell us on rebuilding when you've always insisted the Bombers never rebuild. These are the New York Yankees, who reload.
You're not the Bronx Bombers when you're 14th out of 15 American League teams in runs scored. You're not the Bronx Bombers when you're batting .238 as a team (also 14th in the AL). Nor when you hit 58 homers in 57 games (11th in the AL).
Something is wrong on River Avenue. The Yankees are blinded by their history or their hubris. Or both. But the suits can't sit there and act like all is well. This has been a bad season all over, not just in the standings, from Lonn Trost's "get off my lawn" moment to jumping on Aroldis Chapman moments after he allegedly busted eight caps in his garage.
The Yankees have to give you something. Whether it's a trade or a tirade, it's time to shake things up. The status quo is unacceptable, if not unthinkable.
If they want to have a corporate group hug and declare there will be no fire sale, fine. The last thing the Yankees fan wants to hear is that the team is tanking in June. But if they'd like to dangle one of their heralded relievers for a bat, at least they're trying something. If they're looking for one more starter to replace Michael Pineda or Luis Severino -- both of whom are having wretched seasons -- go for it.
The Yankees are the baseball equivalent of a shark. Not only are they predators who see the rest of MLB as carrion, but they need to be in perpetual motion or they cease to function.
The Yankees aren't even the best team in their own town. The Mets have more pitching, more wins and more buzz. It had been over two decades since the Mets had bumped the Yanks off the back page and bogarted the bold ink.
Can you imagine the volume of a George Steinbrenner meeting at 27-30? Missives, monologues and lectures would be bounding down the sterile halls and walls of Yankee Stadium. No way the Boss would stand pat in fourth place.
The Yanks can pretend the team is fine. They can announce 40,000 fans every night, despite the swaths of empty seats. They can tell us Comcast has hijacked your season. But they can't fool you, the fan, whose eyes never lie.
One of their more refreshing, corporate codas has always been their monolithic devotion to the fans. At least under the Boss. Maybe King George isn't around anymore, but his sons, who learned the team and town at the Boss' knee, should be ready to represent their old man. It's time for the kids to grow up.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
