Yankee Excuse Machine Getting Old
The Yankees vs. Tigers experience was not one to write home about. In fact, it's best to forget and move on than to try to explain your way out of negative performances. The method used to explain defeat is built on a train of excuses. This is not a recent phenomenon, yet it reared its ugly head again during the series against the Detroit Tigers. A year removed from Juan Soto and the year of no excuses to win it all in 2024, to return to having nothing but excuses to explain team failures and performance shortcomings in 2025.
It all starts with Yankee management personified by Yankee general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone. One can go back to 2017 and the cheating scandal that the Yankees relied on for their ALCS defeat. This narrative was repeated in 2019 in the ALCS against Houston when Jose Altuve, who was alleged to have a wire under his shirt to signal pitches on a walk-off home run to close that series controversy. It didn't matter that when the Yankees had another opportunity in 2022, they got swept by the same team. What excuse did the Yankees choose to highlight? The Game Two defeat, which put them in a 2-0 hole, was blamed on Houston leaving the retractable roof open, allowing the wind to interfere with Yankee ambitions. “Who would have thought, I think the roof open kind of killed us,” Boone explained.
The art of the blame even applies to player performance. The Yankee 2024 pennant run brought you such classics as Gleyber Torres and the non-hustling game. Boone’s excuse was that Gleyber felt bad. DJ LeMahieu’s lack of pace running to first as not being in the right gear. When pitchers shut down the Yankee lineup, Boone praised the good swings. When Jasson Dominguez was not playing last season instead of a slumping Alex Verdugo because Alex gives us the best chance of winning. “It just comes down to what's the best way to help us win games,” Cashman said, “It’s as simple as that.” The problem with the timing of this was that Verdugo was hitting below .200 during that stretch.
The New York Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009. The Yankees once set this as the primary goal of every season. They continue to put up winning seasons and playoff appearances, however the postseason has been their albatross. Now they look at it like gamblers who play slot machines. It's a crapshoot. ‘It's about the process, not the results.”
This says it all about Yankee expectations. They lost Juan Soto to a record-breaking contract with the crosstown Mets. This was the perfect opportunity for excuses, yet most did not question the Yankees’ pursuit of him coming short. However, now, with Gerrit Cole out for the year and Luis Gil for a good chunk of it, expectations have come back to earth. It has opened the door to losing expectations.
Carlos Rodon has been making excuses already, blaming the cold for poor performance, though Arizona starter Zac Gallen pitched in the same conditions and pitched very well, striking out 13 Yankees. In Detroit, he was demolished by the Tigers. Boone saw it another way. “Look, he doesn't get a call in that inning and makes the one mistake that turns into a three-run homer,” Boone pointed out, “But really, outside of that, I thought he was excellent.” Rodon gave up six runs in six innings. Tarik Skubal shut out the Yankees for six innings in 34-degree weather. The Yankees stated that Detroit is used to that weather, though it is not the norm. Regardless, the Yankees are not really surprised when top-line pitchers shut them down. “He won that Cy Young for a reason.” So, the excuse train continues to run through the Bronx, and no one is buying it anymore.
