It hurts, literally, to see Yankees in cellar of AL East
Yankees GM Brian Cashman during a news conference at Yankee Stadium on Friday Nov. 4, 2022. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Early or not, it was jarring to wake up on May 2 and see the Yankees anchored at the bottom of the AL East.
Even worse than the Red Sox, a franchise that had been ridiculed all winter by fans in New England and its front-office members publicly jeered up there for supposedly mailing in the 2023 season.
If this Bronx bonfire continues for much longer, GM Brian Cashman could have similar trouble venturing out for his morning coffee and bagel. Plainly put, the Yankees assembled their current cellar-dweller at a cost of $293 million, the sport’s second-highest payroll to the Mets, and really the only way up for the defending East champs is for people to suddenly get healthy at a rate that would defy medical science.
Or the Yankees can maybe do what they did Tuesday in a 4-2 comeback victory over the Guardians, as Anthony Volpe’s short-porch solo homer got them on the scoreboard and Willie Calhoun provided the go-ahead blast in the seventh inning. Not the two names you’d expect to be leading a power surge, but that’s where the Yankees are at the moment — and still in last place, thanks to the Red Sox’s win over the Blue Jays at Fenway.
The problem isn’t Hal Steinbrenner’s financial commitment to this roster. If we’re talking cash outlay here, the Rays have built an 8 1/2-game lead on the Yankees for $75 million, so it’s reasonable for Steinbrenner to expect better than a team hovering around .500 for almost four times that amount.
Either the Yankees are incredibly unlucky at this whole injury thing -- from bad breaks right through the diagnosis and treatment — or they chose to roll the dice on some popsicle-stick players. It’s actually more a combination of both factors, and the fallout we’re seeing lately is that Cashman doesn’t have enough backup.
And as bad as thing have been, losing four straight and seven of nine, somehow the Yankees’ situation seems to keep getting worse. Yes, Harrison Bader (oblique) finally returned Tuesday night to make his ’23 debut, trimming the Yankees’ IL body count from 13 to an even dozen — tied with the Mets atop MLB’s casualty list — but still more red flags appeared.
Remember Carlos Rodon? The lefty with the long medical history signed to a six-year, $162 million contract back in December? The original prognosis for his forearm muscle strain back in spring training had him rejoining the rotation at some point in April.
Well, that obviously didn’t happen. The good news? The forearm doesn’t appear to be a problem anymore. But the back condition Rodon developed while on rehab is another story, and now they can’t provide any sort of timetable for a return.
“He can’t get over the hump with the back,” Aaron Boone said Tuesday afternoon.
The manager tried to soft pedal those ominous details by saying this wasn’t pain, per se, but something that was messing with his mechanics. That really didn’t make it any better.
“Obviously, he’s a pretty dynamic, electric guy and that’s the hard thing,” Boone said. “We’re trying to make sure we’re getting as many eyes on him as we can to see what exactly the course of action is best.”
Rodon’s absence may not be killing the Yankees at the moment — the misfiring offense is the primary issue — but longer-term, the $22.8 million he’s being paid this season is a sizable chunk of the $152.8 million the Yankees are spending on IL players at the moment.
That’s roughly 52% of the Yankees’ payroll sitting on the shelf, which helps explain why they ranked 25th in OPS (.672) and 27th in batting average (.225) entering Tuesday night. Their 35 homers sat at 11th overall, one more than the Pirates, who had played one fewer game.
The Yankees also were averaging 3.93 runs, which ranks 24th in the majors, just above the not-trying A’s (3.90). Their 4.89 R/G last season was second only to the Dodgers (5.17), but this roster struggles to cross the plate on a nightly basis. The fact that Aaron Hicks (.380 OPS) has been an outfield regular lately — he started in left again Tuesday — shows the depth of the Yankees’ desperation, and Bader wasn’t quite the Babe of last October in his ’23 debut (1-for-4, single).
“Everybody has a job to go out there and play their game to help the team win,” Bader said Tuesday afternoon. “The results haven’t necessarily been there of late, but it’s a clubhouse full of really good guys who work really hard.”
Not as full as they’d like it to be. Too many of the Yankees are in the trainer’s room. Or at the hospital, as Boone also announced Tuesday that reliever Lou Trivino — acquired at last year’s deadline along with the currently rehabbing Frankie Montas — is now having Tommy John surgery and is gone for the season.
You need a scorecard to keep track of the Yankees’ medical procedures and we’re barely into May. As for the AL East standings, they’re better off not looking at those for a while. What’s happening on the field recently is enough to demoralize the Yankees right now.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
