Keidel: Overachievers Or Not, Yankees Embarrassed Themselves When It Mattered
By Jason Keidel
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I was called all manner of moron for saying the Yankees weren't that good, and would not reach the postseason this year. If you'd care to call that a playoff appearance, hope you enjoyed it.
The Yanks scored the same number of playoff wins -- and playoff runs -- as the Marlins, Reds, and Red Sox.
They made Dallas Keuchel look like Sandy Koufax, and didn't even threaten to score, much less win. Keuchel has had a sublime season, but there's no excuse for their wretched output against the lefty in 2015 -- 0 runs, 27 strikeouts and two walks over 22 innings. Not on the road, in his first playoff start, on three days' rest.
The second-highest scoring team in MLB this season, the Bronx Bombers gurgled just 2.8 runs per game over their last 13 contests.
This is why I implored the Mets to play hard until the end of the season. It's perilous to assume a team with little playoff pedigree can easily shift into playoff gear. The Yanks, with all their splendid history and glittering trophy case, couldn't find the switch.
Everyone talks about the 2000 Yanks, who moonwalked into October. But that team had won three World Series in four years, and were playing with the same core group. Same hitters. Same pitchers. Same Joe Torre.
You can say the Yankees overachieved. Maybe. But with a mammoth payroll of $214 million, they get no mulligans. And they would be the first to agree. There's no latitude for zero playoff wins since 2012. Not with their money, and not with the crosstown upstarts winning more games and the NL East.
The Yanks were fielding the baseball equivalent of the red shirts from Star Trek, those acting extras flanking Captain Kirk, whom you knew would be reduced to salt cubes by the first commercial break. Their one big-ticket acquisition, Jacoby Ellsbury, took his bat and his $153 million to the dugout.
Their geriatric version of the Core Four -- A-Rod, Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Carlos Beltran -- are going to be 40, 36, 35, and 39, respectively, by the end of next April. And Ellsbury is already being benched during the most important game of the season.
The Yankees have now lost five straight playoff games, tying the club record for October futility. They did nothing to fortify themselves in July, and it showed. Everyone loves the talent and temerity of Teixeira, but we're acting like Joe DiMaggio just retired. Losing Tex should not mean losing the season.
All the Yanks have to do is look east of the East RIver, where the Mets feasted at the trade deadline. (Don't think the Yankees could have used Yoenis Cespedes?)
And now the Yanks can look at the only NYC baseball team still playing salient baseball. Or they can go to the local gentlemen's club, and watch Aura and Mystique dance away.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
