The Tuesday Discussion: Going Forward?

July 16, 2024

***

This week we asked our writers to respond to the following:

How would you approach the second half if you ran the Yankees?  Go big?  Call up some kids?  Fire the manager?  Fire the GM?  Ride it out?  

Did winning two out of three against the Orioles show that the Yankees are contenders?

In short, what would you do?

Here are their replies:

***

Cary Greene - If I ran the Yankees, I'd approach the second half by going pretty big at the Deadline. Assuming I was the GM, I certainly wouldn't fire the GM though -- LOL! My first move would be to fire Aaron Boone, but only after conducting a lickety split managerial search and identifying the best candidate to fill the position. Hopefully, Derek Jeter would accept a 5-year offer - fully guaranteed. 

From there, I'd go all in on trading for the Marlins closer - Tanner Scott. I'd also explore a blockbuster deal with the Angels, for Luis Renigfo and possibly Tyler Anderson and Carlos Estevez as well. Then I'd look for a serious mangler who could light up left-handed pitching and slot into the middle of the lineup, I'd shake a whole lot of trees trying to find the right bat. I doubt the Mets would move J.D. Martinez, but if they'd listen I'd surely make the best possible pitch I could. 

I'd also look forward to some of the injured Yankees eventually coming off the DL and potentially impacting the team. Let's face it, it's not that hard to make the playoffs - with the expanded format and all. I think my moves would give the Yankees the best possible shot to roll into the playoffs. 

Lastly, I'd convince Hal Steinbrenner that Juan Soto needs to be extended now and I'd put a full court press on making a Soto extension a reality. 

***

Lincoln Mitchell - The Yankees are in a quandary. They are all but guaranteed a playoff spot, and likely either a first-round bye or the first series at home. However, they are clearly not good enough to win the World Series. This means they need to improve sharply, but there are a lot of holes that need to be filled. I would not ride it out, but would do a couple of things. First, fire Aaron Boone. Boone is not a good manager and the fact that he defends his players is irrelevant. I would try to bring in somebody with a very different style and somebody who has a better feel for the game. Then, I would pretty much be willing to part with any prospect, but only if very good players brought in. The team probably needs two good position players and two good pitchers. That is a lot, but if they do that they can win this year. If the team is unwilling to do that, then they should sell. However, the Yankees never sell and that is why they have not win a pennant since 2009.

***

Tim Kabel - If I am in the Yankees, I would fire Aaron Boone. I would also release DJ LeMahieu and JD Davis. I would trade Gleyber Torres for the best offer. I would make a trade for Jonathan India, and have him play second base and bat lead off. I would trade for Matt Chapman and have him play third base. The biggest trade would be for Vladimir Guerrero Junior. I would have him and Ben Rice rotate between DH and first base. I would not rush Giancarlo Stanton back and would prefer that he do a minor league rehab. Because I would have the DH position covered with Guerrero and Rice, I would attempt to get Stanton to agree to a trade.

***

Paul Semendinger - I do not believe tha winning two games against the Orioles makes the Yankees any more f a contender than they were before those three games. Right now, I believe the Yankees are he team we've seen since mid-June. They are not good enough, right now, to win the World Series. BUT, the window is closing. They need to put a grat team out there, now, to be the World Series favorites. They can do that by making big moves. Aaron Boone i not a great manager, but the Yankees seem content with him. That's a mistake. Without a track record of any kind, he should never have been hired. If I were running the Yankees, last season (if not well before) would have been the final straw.

***

Ethan Semendinger - Starting from the last question: No. The Yankees taking 2 out of 3 against the Orioles has not changed anything. (Heck, the Athletics scored 18 runs against the Phillies on Sunday. This is baseball, any team can beat any other in a random 3 game series.) This team is incredibly flawed across the board. There needs to be lots of change.

If I ran the team, I'd have fired anybody in the front office who has a name that people know: Randy Levine, Loss Trost, Brian Cashman, Jean Afterman, Michael Fishman, and more. Great businesses often do not continue to run well after 25+ years of the same voices projecting the same message. (Great businesses where the children take over after the father leaves the company also, for the most part, do not flourish.) If this isn't a clear message, I'd also fire Aaron Boone and let Brad Ausmus take control for the rest of the year, with him knowing full-well it is a part-time position, and I'd intend on doing a thorough managerial search in the winter.

As for the team itself, I would offload any bad contracts I could. This would include the likes of Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Carlos Rodon, and Gleyber Torres. I would do this even if it meant eating money. In short, I'd rather spend $6M a year to have DJ LeMahieu playing for another team to give a player like Jorbit Vivas a shot, then pay DJ LeMahieu $15M to play poorly and block a pathway to the MLB for any potential rising stars. I'm not focused on return. These players are not worth superstar prospects. But, this sends a message to the team that under my watch, this team's number one focus is winning. Not making money. (Because that will come, in droves, with winning.)