Fansided

5 Yankees who haven’t lived up to the hype in 2020

By Rucker Haringey

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 01: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees in action against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 01, 2020 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 5-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 01: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees in action against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 01, 2020 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 5-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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The Yankees are playoff-bound but they haven’t even managed to win the AL East. Here are the five players most responsible for the team’s mediocrity.

Before COVID-19 hit, the 2020 season was supposed to be World Series title or bust for the New York Yankees. Instead, Aaron Boone’s squad is going to limp into the postseason with a Wild Card berth. There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Yankees this year.

This piece will identify the five players most responsible for the team’s ugly regular-season showing. Players who missed the entire season due to injury are not eligible. James Paxton also gets excluded since he may never throw another pitch for the team again.

Everyone else is fair game. The list begins with the longest-tenured Yankee who has struggled to deserve a roster spot for the majority of the season.

5. Brett Gardner

Mercifully, this should be Gardner’s last season in pinstripes. He wants to extend his playing career by a few more seasons, but don’t look for GM Brian Cashman to give him a serious offer to stay in New York.

Corner outfielders who hit .206 with only five home runs don’t have a place on a team with legitimate championship aspirations. The fact that he’ll also be 37-years-old next season also works against him. The speed that helped him provide defensive value earlier in his career is quickly slipping away.

Gardner doesn’t come in higher on this list because he wasn’t supposed to be a star this season. His role was supposed to be as a super-sub off of Boone’s bench. Injuries, once again, forced him to play too large a role for this team.

That doesn’t excuse his lack of production though. The shortened season should have worked in Gardner’s favor. Instead, he turned in arguably his worst season as a major leaguer. The Yankees could have mounted a more serious charge for the AL East title with better production in left field.

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