Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran blamed for New York Yankees’ struggles

Barring some type of miracle, the New York Yankees will not be partaking in the 2014 postseason.

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Completely out of the American League East race, the Bronx Bombers currently sit five games behind the Wild Card leaders (Oakland A’s, Kansas City Royals). We’ve seen stranger things happen, but needing to leapfrog three additional teams with less than twenty games to go seems unlikely.

So who’s to blame for the New York Yankees woes this season? Injury would be the most likely target, but according to fans polled by the Trenton Times, Derek Jeter and Carlos Beltran are the biggest offenders.

It’s safe to say that Derek Jeter’s final season as a professional baseball player hasn’t went as envisioned and Carlos Beltran, a huge offseason signing, hasn’t panned out. But to give them the most blame? Beltran has played through injury for almost the entire season while Jeter, declining skill and all, trotted himself out there every night.

Granted, the poll did ask for readers to blame a specific player (which in-itself is rather silly) but that’s a pretty rough crowd, especially considering Brian McCann came in a distant third place.

Believing they were just a move or two away, the New York Yankees front office invested heavily in aging but proven veteran talent this past offseason and it didn’t work out. Now they’re stuck with some albatross-like contracts for the next few seasons.

Hopefully they’ll have health on their side moving forward.