The New York Yankees’ fallen “evil empire” is about to get a “knife blow. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, 54, has signaled a major overhaul of the organization this offseason.
Speaking to the Associated Press at the Yankees’ minor league facility in Tampa, Florida, Steinbrenner said, “We’re going to take a very deep look at everything we’re doing. “We’re going to have very frank and in-depth conversations internally and externally, and we’re going to hire an outside professional evaluation firm to do our due diligence. Our performance this season is completely unacceptable.”
As of Sunday, the Yankees are 76-73 on the season with a .510 winning percentage and are in fourth place in the American League East. They are a whopping 16.5 games behind first-place Baltimore and just two games back of last-place Boston. They are also fifth in the league’s three-team wild card race, behind Tampa Bay-Texas-Toronto-Seattle. With six games in hand on third-place Toronto, it’s safe to say they’re effectively out of the postseason.
The Yankees have been criticized by fans all season for their shocking performance. Calls for the firing of manager Aaron Boone, 50, and general manager Brian Cashman, 56, have been constant since the beginning of the season.
Media outlets have been predicting Boone’s departure this winter, calling it “on thin ice.” “We don’t know what’s going to happen to Cashman’s job,” they concluded.
Cashman earned the trust of the Yankees’ brass by signing a four-year extension before the season. But for all the money spent on player salaries, he’s not immune to criticism for a dismal record. The Yankees spent $279.36 million on team-wide payroll this season, ranking second in the majors in that category behind the New York Mets.
The source added, “While Cashman’s job is likely to be preserved at this point, Steinbrenner will be subject to due diligence by an outside evaluator. That could change, as the fans’ voices will also be heard,” the report said, adding, “Boone’s resignation could be accompanied by Cashman’s, who has been under constant fire from fans all season and has heard calls for his departure.”토토사이트
“This season has been a disaster, and that’s very surprising,” Cashman told the media ahead of the 24th game last month, “not just me, not just the players, not just the managers, not just the coaches, not just the people in our organization, not just the people on the outside looking in, we didn’t expect this season to turn out the way it did.” In effect, he was admitting failure.
Founded in 1903, the Yankees are known for being one of Major League Baseball’s most popular franchises. Not only are they steeped in history, but they’ve also won the World Series a whopping 27 times.
In particular, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they won the World Series four times, including three in a row, earning them the nickname the Evil Empire. However, since winning the World Series in 2009, they have not been able to recreate their glory days.
If the Yankees fail to maintain their recently revived five-win season, they will suffer their first “losing season” in 28 years, since 1995. The Yankees’ status as one of the most prestigious franchises in baseball is no joke.