4 reasons why Yankees' status as 'win now' team is in serious question

Last season, the New York Yankees finished with an 82-80 record. While still above .500, it landed them the fourth-place spot in the AL East and kept them from reaching the playoffs.

This season, one small change propelled the Yankees out of the chasm of forgettable disappointment and into postseason contention. That one change came in the form of Juan Soto, who miraculously took the non-postseason team we saw last year and has thrust it into a battle for the top spot in the AL East. But the Yankees’ dominance might not last much longer.

Juan Soto is on the last year of his contract. The Yankees sent a massive package to pry him and his one remaining year away from the Padres which sent a message to Yankees’ fans that they are committed to winning this season.

Making matters much more uncertain is Gerritt Cole’s opt-out clause. However, it seems like Cole may not be going anywhere soon as the Yankees could choose to add another year worth $36 million to his contract which would prevent him from leaving.

That said, with the hefty contracts tendered to Judge and Stanton, the Yankees might choose to act frugally, let Cole walk, and try to renegotiate his deal. As absurd as it sounds, there is a chance the Yankees enter next season without Cole or Soto, though not that likely.

In any case, more money paid to Cole might deter the Yankees from pursuing high end free agents in the winter, Soto included. It wouldn’t be the first time we saw the Yankees shy away from spending money. That means the Yankees’ clearest shot at a World Series is now. The Yankees are without a doubt, a win-now team, but they haven’t really acted like it.

At the trade deadline, the Yankees looked like a fierce competitor if they only they could shore up a few weaknesses that had been behind their prolonged slump.

Still, the fact of the matter is that the Yankees have been great at starting things, but not so great at finishing them. With many weaknesses left unaddressed, the Yankees don’t seem entirely ready for a postseason run. Let’s take a look at some reasons why the Yankees are less of a ‘win now’ team and more of a ‘let’s see how it goes’ type of team.

4. Bullpen mismanagement

Towards the deadline, it looked like the Yankees had ironed out most of the kinks in their bullpen. So, they balked at adding any reliable relievers.

Instead, the Yankees acquired both Enyel De Los Santos and Mark Leiter Jr, neither of which had much success up until that point. Today, De Los Santos is pitching for the White Sox after being DFA’d, Leiter Jr is still struggling, and the Yankees bullpen has once again reverted back to the dumpster fire it was before. In less than a month, the Yankees went from third to sixth in AL bullpen ERA (11th overall).

The most reliable Yankee reliever, Michael Tonkin, fell apart rapidly and was DFA’d. Tonkin has now found a new home with the Twins.

Clay Holmes, the Yankee closer, has blown 11 saves, the most in the MLB. Holmes has a track record of first half excellence and second half struggles since 2022 (2021 was the opposite: first half struggles, second half excellence).

Making the crisis worse has been Boone’s use of certain struggling relievers in crucial situations. However, most of the blame still falls on upper management for not giving him anything to work with.

Without a reliable relief corps, the Yankees might face an early elimination unless their starting rotation can hold it together. With many chances to add reliable relievers now past them, it seems like they blew a valuable opportunity at building a win-now bullpen.

3. Starting rotation

The Yankees’ starting rotation had been the best in baseball for the first few months of the season. Now, it is their main source of inconsistency.

While the Yankees had a chance to improve at the trade deadline, it seems they had been counting on the returns of Clarke Schmidt, Cody Poteet, and the eventual Yankee debut of JT Brubaker. Each of the three injured starters were due back in prior months but haven’t yet made it back.

Luckily, the recently injured Luis Gil returned with great results and Schmidt is returning.

Of the Yankees’ five current starters, only two (Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil) have an ERA below 4.00. Until the others return, it is uncertain what kind of production the Yankees will get from them. For now, the Yankee rotation is a cause of concern.

2. The shallow lineup

According to Luis Severino, the Yankees only have two good hitters. Is that an overstatement? Probably.

The Yankees have the highest OPS and home run total in baseball. But how much of that offense came from Judge and Soto? To make Severino’s case, we will utilize weighted runs created plus (wRC+). A wRC+ of 100 is league average.

According to FanGraphs, Aaron Judge has a wRC+ value of 215 and Juan Soto maintains a value of 184, the top two values in the MLB. Beyond that, the only other 100+ wRC+ value belongs to Jazz Chisholm Jr who maintains a 117. Chisholm Jr was added before the trade deadline to give the Yankees offense a much-needed boost. It was the only productive move the Yankees made at the deadline and may not be enough.

Other than those three Yankee hitters, the rest stand at 97 wRC+ (Gleyber Torres) and below. Of 135 qualifying players, Gleyber Torres ranks 102nd in a four-way tie. This means two-thirds of the Yankee lineup is below average.

In all fairness, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo recently came back. Austin Wells, who splits time behind the plate with Jose Trevino, is starting to come alive at the big-league level. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that the Yankees don’t have the deepest lineup in baseball. But unlike the bullpen, it isn’t too late to save the lineup.

1. The Martian

There are a few good reasons to keep Dominguez in the minors: manipulating service time, gaining a draft pick, giving him a shot at Rookie of the Year, etc. But his importance this year might trounce all other reasons.

If the Yankees are truly a win now team, they need to assemble their best possible lineup. Without Dominguez, the Yankees are not giving themselves their best chance at the trophy.  

If promoted, Dominguez would take the place of Alex Verdugo. Verdugo has been a bit of a streaky hitter, but his .236/.295/.359 and 11 home runs leave a lot to be desired. In the past three months (June-August), Verdugo has only hit one home run per month and has not yet hit one in September.

In the minors, Jasson Dominguez is slashing .318/.379./.519 with 11 home runs. Dominguez missed several months coming back from Tommy John. Once back, the Martian posted astronomical numbers before an oblique injury derailed his torrid stretch. After coming back a for second time, Dominguez played through a slump, but has recently bounced back.

During his slump, Dominguez made an appearance with the Yankees for the Little League Classic, going 0-4 against the Tigers.

Whether Dominguez or Verdugo give the Yankees their best shot at winning may be a matter of opinion, but it is getting very hard to justify not playing Dominguez in the Yankees’ outfield.