Their struggles predate the league's intermission, but the New York Yankees have been among the worst teams in baseball since the All-Star break. They've performed at a sub-.500 level since the calendar flipped to June, and even after snapping a five-game losing streak, morale is low. There's no sign of them righting the ship anytime soon, but if there's any silver lining, the prolonged slump isn't the only problem.
As the Yankees continue to spiral and tumble down the standings, rivals like the American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox flourish. That probably doesn't make supporters of the Bronx Bombers feel any better, or at least it shouldn't. However, at least fans can partially attribute the club's inability to defend its divisional crown and not just New York's shortcomings.
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Yankees AL East title odds are slim regardless of recent slump
There's no way around it; Toronto and Boston are really good. They boast the second- and third-best winning percentages in the Majors since June 9, when Red Sox star rookie Roman Anthony made his MLB debut, respectively. In other words, being average instead of as dismal as the Yankees have been wouldn't get them far.
The Yankees must solve their problems overnight to keep pace with their AL East counterparts, which they attempted to do. New York made a flurry of trade deadline deals to fix the problems that have plagued them for two-plus months (and in some cases beyond). Alas, the early results of the moves have arguably made matters worse.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox and Blue Jays have ostensibly forgotten the feeling of defeat. Can you believe they both had losing records deep into May, and in Boston's case, mid-June? Conversely, the Yankees beating the Kansas City Royals to improve to 42-27 seems like a lifetime ago. Boston and Toronto's dramatic turnarounds have effectively coincided with New York's regression.
Toronto's lineup has a legitimate case as the most high-powered in the business. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, George Springer and Co. have produced the most runs following the All-Star break, and by a decent margin. Boston's success has been on the back of its pitching staff, which sports the second-lowest ERA during this stretch. Then, there's the Yankees, who have nothing going for them offensively or defensively and are without superstar slugger Aaron Judge.