Yankees GM Brian Cashman: “We suck right now”

Yankees GM Brian Cashman came into the 2021 season feeling good about their World Series goal. He doesn’t feel so good right now.

The 2021 season certainly hasn’t gone the way New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman thought it would go so far. After falling victim to a sweep in Boston and losing the first of a four game set with the Los Angeles Angels, Cashman got real about the state of the team.

And the big quote that should send New York media spiraling for the next couple weeks was “We suck right now”.

Well, Cashman isn’t wrong. The Yankees had a premium opportunity to reset their season over the weekend against the Red Sox. Winning that series would have put the team right back into the thick of the division race before the All-Star break.

Instead, the Red Sox swept the Yankees for the second time this season, and the team fell to seven games back.

Cashman also reiterated what many Yankee fans did not want to hear, that this is not Aaron Boone’s fault. Fans want a scapegoat for why the team isn’t running away with a tough division. And Aaron Boone is not the scapegoat.

If you’re looking to pass the blame around, the answer is to put it on the players who are not performing. Gleyber Torres has taken a huge step back, particularly in the power department. Clint Frazier is choking away his chance to finally be an every day player. DJ LeMahieu is barely starting to put it together again. Miguel Andujar rode a hot streak for two weeks but has produced next to nothing since.

Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman are easy targets because they make the decisions. But they can’t force the players to play well. They can anticipate that Gleyber Torres could hit 20+ home runs because he’s shown the ability to do so.

But they can’t stand behind him in the box and swing the bat for him. The Yankees suck right now because guys that have been good for years aren’t playing as well as they should be.

The easy answer is to blame the people in charge. But this isn’t an easy situation. The strength of the team over the past few years is all of a sudden gone in 2021. The only thing that can save the season is a return to normal production from those key bats in the lineup.

Aaron Boone can’t fix it.

Brian Cashman can’t fix it.

It has to be the players who we know are better than their current stat line. Otherwise, the Yankees championship window may just slam shut early this year.