It's been a minuscule sample size, but the New York Yankees' trade deadline makeover hasn't given them the facelift they hoped for. The team has been playing sub-.500 baseball since the calendar flipped to June, and making some moves seemingly won't solve their problems overnight. Everyone can see it, including Derek Jeter, arguably the most iconic face of the illustrious franchise.
The Yankees improved to 42-25 after beating the Kansas City Royals on June 12 and have gone 18-26 from that point on. However, based on Jeter's recent comments, their latest two losses to the Miami Marlins were perhaps the most deflating of a brutal stretch. The Hall of Fame shortstop publicly blasted his former club for continuing to be plagued by one self-inflicted wound after another.
"They make way too many mistakes... You can't continue to do it, you have to clean it up." @derekjeter gives his thoughts on the recent struggles of the Yankees. pic.twitter.com/hj7hVNNPZ7
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 2, 2025
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Derek Jeter is fed up with Yankees' propensity for making mistakes
"They make way too many mistakes," Jeter said during FOX Sports' coverage of the MLB's inaugural Speedway Classic regarding the Yankees' struggles. "... You can't get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams. It just doesn't happen."
Jeter was progressively getting more demonstrably exasperated as he spoke. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham's baffling and costly base-running blunders in the Yankees' 2-0 defeat in Miami were ostensibly the final straw. The Captain expects better from the organization he led to five World Series after setting championship standards during his legendary career.
"You can't continue to do it; you have to clean it up," Jeter declared. "It's that simple. There's no excuses -- you have to play better."
Frankly, Jeter said what all Bronx Bombers supporters are thinking. The only difference is that he did it on national television. Albeit difficult to hear, his dissatisfaction is warranted. As the all-time great also stresses, careless baseball won't get the Yankees far. They must nip their bad habits in the bud to make the postseason, let alone be a legitimate threat in October.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was restoring the Yankees' 2025 title hopes. They rightfully addressed their bullpen and brought in infield reinforcements ahead of the July 31 cutoff point. Alas, the slew of transactions hasn't yielded encouraging results yet. Jeter acknowledges and understands the adjustment curve of joining a new squad, though his patience is wearing thin.