Yankees: 5 fatal flaws that could come back to bite them
By Tim Boyle
These five fatal flaws could have the New York Yankees coming up short yet again in 2022.
Every year is supposed to be the one where the New York Yankees go back to the World Series and win it all. Since the 1920s, every decade except for the 1980s and 2010s has included a Yankees championship. It’s a requirement for them to eventually get there.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been so easy for them in recent seasons. Their last trip to the World Series was in 2009. If you heard the name Aaron Judge back then, you might think there was a new Supreme Court nominee or daytime talk show settling civil suits between neighbors.
The point is: it has been a long time. And in 2022, these fatal flaws are going to get in the way yet again and bite the Yankees hard before they end their drought.
5. The Yankees defined insanity by bringing back too much of the same roster
It gets said a lot, especially in sports: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
The Yankees are defining it yet again with their 2022 roster. While they did make some moves this offseason and didn’t completely sit on their hands, the structure doesn’t look much better.
The roster has plenty of players with questionable health leading the way. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton may have overcome that reputation. They will need to do it for another year to convince most. Center fielder Aaron Hicks has far more to prove. Since signing his extension, trips to the IL have been frequent enough for the Yankees to continually re-sign Brett Gardner and use him in center field.
Far greater is the fact that they may not have necessarily gotten better at any positions with the transactions they did make. Anthony Rizzo is back at first base. Certainly a good leader, he pales in comparison to many other first basemen. Specifically, it’s Freddie Freeman the Yankees were eyeballing during the offseason that would have given them a greater jolt.
At third base, we can even question if Josh Donaldson is any better than Gio Urshela. A little longer in the tooth than the third baseman he replaces, exactly how much he has left in the tank will be a discussion all year long.
The Yankees did not get undeniably better with the roster moves they made. The offseason was their best chance. They missed.