Yankees must let go of these players to save their pennant hopes

In hindsight, we should've known better. Recent history has taught us that, no matter how great the New York Yankees might look to start any particular season, there will inevitably be an early-summer swoon in which they look like they've literally never played baseball before. New York's 26-12 start offered hope that maybe this time would be different ... only for Aaron Boone's team to drop six of their next eight games, including a ghastly walk-off loss to the rival Mets on Sunday in which a 6-3 lead with two outs in the ninth somehow went up in smoke.

The only question now is: Can the Yankees avoid letting it sink their season entirely? Maybe that seems dramatic (it is still the middle of May, after all), but New York's 18-28 stretch in the middle of last season wound up costing it the AL East in 2025 — which, in turn, cost it home-field advantage and the ability to line up its starting rotation in an ALDS loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The regular season is a marathon, not a sprint, but every game can loom large — and if the Yankees want to avoid a familiar fate, Brian Cashman will need to show more of his newfound sense of urgency. Changes need to come sooner rather than later, and there are several obvious places to start.

C Austin Wells

As a long-time Wells defender, this one stings. But at this point, the facts are undeniable: Not only has Wells' bat regressed badly (he's slugging just .264 right now), but so has his typically strong defense, especially his ability to call games and put pitchers in the best possible position for success.

The value proposition with Wells was always that he'd be able to bring enough pop to the bottom of the lineup and add enough with his glove behind the plate to justify his status as an every-day player. Neither of those things are the case right now, and it's killing the Yankees — just look at Sunday's loss, in which Wells swung at the first pitch from Devin Williams (who had just walked Anthony Volpe) in the top of the 10th and promptly banged into an inning-ending double play.

There are no easy answers here; no, the Yankees will not and should not throw Ben Rice behind the plate and risk injury to their second most valuable hitter. But JC Escarra should at the very least see more playing time moving forward, and adding a righty catcher on the margins could make sense as well.

RHP Paul Blackburn and LHP Ryan Yarbrough

Someone's going to have to explain the Yankees' bullpen construction to me like I'm five years old. In Blackburn and Yarbrough, New York is carrying not one but two former starters turned long relievers — except, well, neither of them have shown any ability to actually provide length when called upon. Aaron Boone understandably doesn't trust either of them in high-leverage situations, and they can't find enough consistency to eat up two or three innings at a time, which simply creates a situation in which the Yankees are lighting two of their eight bullpen spots on fire.

The result has been all too predictable, as Boone has limited options to turn to later on in close games and winds up burning out the few reliable pitchers he has at his disposal (just look at the decline in Brent Headrick's performance lately). New York just called up Yovanny Cruz prior to Monday's series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, which is a sign that Cashman at least understands the scope of the problem.

But he needs to get even more aggressive; the Yankees' pitching development team has had a lot of success with churning out relievers in recent years, and it's well past time to fast-track prospects like Ben Grable and Eric Reyzelman. In any event, New York can no longer afford to burn roster spots on players who are only usuable in non-competitive situations.

3B Ryan McMahon

Really, you can view McMahon as emblematic of a broader problem, in which the Yankees simply don't have enough bottom-of-the-order options against right-handed pitching. Guys like Amed Rosario, Jose Caballero (when healthy), Paul Goldschmidt and even Anthony Volpe provide some semblance of length and upside against lefties, but this is a righty-heavy group right now, with the struggles of both Wells and McMahon looming particularly large.

You'd hope for one of two things from a glove-first guy hitting No. 7 or 8 in your lineup: Either they make lots of contact in order to move runners over and force the defense to make plays, or they do damage in the form of extra-base hits. McMahon profiled as the latter when New York traded for him, but he's been neither of late, striking out more than 30 percent of the time while sending harmless fly balls to the opposite field whenever he does connect. That's unacceptable, no matter how sturdy his defense at third base, and the albatross that is his contract can prevent the team from finding an upgrade one way or the other.

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