Aaron Boone is playing with fire with closer plan for playoffs

The New York Yankees might've won Wednesday's game in walk-off fashion, but one clear problem with this team presented itself yet again. New York held a 2-1 lead at the end of six innings, but by the time Yankees fans were stretching, the game was knotted at two apiece.

Former closer Clay Holmes had given up a run in the seventh inning, blowing his league-leading 12th save of the season in the process. The bullpen performed admirably after Holmes, but their inability to consistently close games is a problem.

With Holmes recently being removed from the closer role, New York does not have a defined closer. That's something that manager Aaron Boone says he's comfortable with as of now with the postseason rapidly approaching.

As much as Boone might be comfortable without having an established closer, "mixing and matching" in the ninth inning of a tight game in October doesn't feel like an ideal strategy.

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Lack of an established closer could come back to haunt Aaron Boone, Yankees

The Yankees entered the season with Holmes as their clear closer, and they had reason to trust him. Holmes' body of work in New York had been strong, and he had been exceptional to start the year, not allowing a single earned run in his first 20 appearances.

Unfortunately, since that dominant start, Holmes was pitching like the worst closer in the majors by far. The right-hander has a 5.11 ERA in his last 39 appearances, blowing 11 saves including one on Wednesday. Despite Holmes entering the game in the ninth inning or later in 30 of those 39 appearances, the Yankees have gone just 23-16 in those appearances. Just think about how crazy that is for a second.

Removing Holmes from the closer spot with how he has pitched was a no-brainer. In fact, it should've been done much sooner. However, removing Holmes, the only reliever with much closing experience on this roster from the position, puts Boone in a tough spot.

The Yankees have good relievers like Tommy Kahnle, Luke Weaver, and Jake Cousins on their active roster, but do you trust any of them to save games? I know I wouldn't, and it's pretty clear Boone doesn't either by deciding not to commit to one of them as the team's closer in September.

With the cards he has been dealt, playing the matchups might be the most effective strategy for Boone, but it's playing with fire. Relying on several relievers to be on the top of their game when it matters most in a given series let alone an entire month is a tough ask.

Out of the aforementioned three options, Weaver has been incredible, posting a 1.74 ERA in his last 10 appearances after the Yankees' walk-off win over the Royals.

At the end of the day, this is really on Brian Cashman. Boone might've taken too long to remove Holmes from the closer role, but that might've happened because there is no other ideal option on the roster. Had Cashman done more than trade for Mark Leiter Jr. (5.74 ERA in 16 appearances with the Yankees) and Enyel De Los Santos (DFA'd after five appearances with the Yankees), they might be better equipped to close games.

For now, Boone has to roll with the options he has. If they can find ways to win playoff games without a defined closer nobody will ultimately care, but for a franchise that won five World Series championships with Mariano Rivera closing games for them, it's hard to understand Boone's comfort with mixing and matching in the ninth inning. It can work, but it's a lot to ask for a relatively inexperienced reliever group.