NEW YORK \u2014 Inside the New York Yankees\u2019<\/a> oval-shaped clubhouse, with its plush blue carpet stamped in the middle with a white interlocking \u201cNY,\u201d Aaron Judge<\/a> occupies prime real estate. He has two lockers \u2014 one for street clothes and game-day gear, and another to his left filled with surplus Jordan cleats, batting gloves the size of oven mitts and cases of Wai\u0101kea water bottles. The space also features a view that, for the Yankees\u2019 captain, would seem ideal. Nestled against the back wall, he needs just two steps to slip away through a media-restricted doorway. If he wants to address the entire room, he can simply spin around in his navy leather office chair.<\/p>\n So Judge has had an intimate, behind-the-scenes seat to the most miserable season of baseball in the Bronx since 1992 \u2014 the last time the Yankees finished below .500 and, coincidentally, the year that the 31-year-old right fielder was born. At 80-77, their playoff aspirations have been all but kaput since mid-August, and they were officially eliminated from contention on Sunday. They are battling the Red Sox<\/a> to stay out of last place in the American League East. In short, the Bombers have bombed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tough,\u201d Judge said in a quiet moment standing in front of his locker in early September.<\/p>\n Going into spring training, the Yankees were optimistic. They had re-signed Judge after a hectic free agency<\/a>, giving him a nine-year, $360-million pact. Owner Hal Steinbrenner had also spent big on starting pitcher Carlos Rod\u00f3n<\/a> ($162 million, six years) and first baseman Anthony Rizzo<\/a> ($40 million, two years). They were hopeful top prospects Anthony Volpe<\/a> and Oswald Peraza<\/a>, both shortstops, would bring them some much-needed youth and athleticism.<\/p>\n Seven months later, players, coaches and staffers were still in disbelief over the mess that the season became. Before Opening Day, FanGraphs had given the Yankees an 81.2 percent chance to make the playoffs and put their odds at winning the World Series at 10.2 percent \u2014 the highest in the AL. But after July 9, they never again touched a wild-card spot.<\/p>\n At the Aug. 1 trade deadline, the front office didn\u2019t make a single meaningful deal \u2014 a tacit acknowledgement that they were resigned to their fate as disappointments. Not long after, Steinbrenner said that the team was considering hiring an \u201coutside company\u201d to evaluate the entire operation, though he singled out the analytics department for scrutiny. (According to a team source, that evaluation is expected to begin the day after the regular season ends.)\u00a0 And by Sept. 1, they signaled they had started to look ahead to 2024 with the promotion of 20-year-old prospect Jasson Dom\u00ednguez<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was the culmination of a collapse. The Yankees were too injured. They were too old. They were too unathletic. They couldn\u2019t hit, and they couldn\u2019t adjust their lineup, crossing their fingers that underperforming veterans would turn it around because they didn\u2019t have the depth or the prospects to supplant them. They made their first in-season firing of a coach in general manager Brian Cashman\u2019s 25-year tenure, dumping hitting coach Dillon Lawson, but the offense didn\u2019t improve. Aaron Judge, their best player, made the best defensive play in their season \u2014 and suffered their most crushing injury in the process. Domingo Germ\u00e1n<\/a> threw a perfect game<\/a>, their first in 24 years, and then a month later showed up to the clubhouse drunk, according to team sources; his violent outburst led to him going on the restricted list to seek treatment<\/a> for alcohol abuse. They wasted a brilliant, Cy Young-worthy season from ace Gerrit Cole<\/a>. When the team was nearly 10 games out of first place in late June, Steinbrenner said he was \u201cconfused\u201d about why fans were angry, a tone-deaf moment that just made them angrier.<\/p>\n Infielder DJ LeMahieu<\/a> said he just wanted a \u201creset\u201d on the whole season. Cole declined comment when asked by The Athletic <\/i>what he thought had gone so wrong with the Yankees this year.<\/p>\n Judge, however, had an idea.<\/p>\n \u201cI could only look from my perspective as a player,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not really going to get into the whole organization (or) stuff like that. It ain\u2019t my job. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI think what it came down to was just getting hit with a couple of big injuries at the wrong time and not really (being) able to capitalize or have some depth at the time to cover those needs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat could go wrong,\u201d LeMahieu said, \u201cwent wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Past a couple black leather couches, flat-screen TVs and mini fridges on the other side of the clubhouse sit the lockers that are typically reserved for back-of-the-roster players or recent call-ups. While the Yankees thrive off the star power provided by players in the back of the clubhouse, such as Judge, Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton<\/a>, Cole and Rod\u00f3n, any team hoping to sniff the postseason must be able to tap role players and fill-ins at crucial times over the course of the 162-game regular season.<\/p>\n For the Yankees, there were too many injuries and too much underperformance from key players, and the roster they constructed wasn\u2019t equipped to handle it. Scrap-heap pickups such as Jake Bauers<\/a>, Franchy Cordero<\/a>, Billy McKinney<\/a> and Willie Calhoun ended up with too many at-bats. They couldn\u2019t pick up enough of the slack \u2014 and didn\u2019t have track records suggesting they would be capable of it anyway \u2014 when disaster struck over and over.<\/p>\n The only time the Yankees were tied for first place in the division was March 30, when they were 1-0 after Opening Day. As the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> rushed out to a 13-0 start, the Yankees were 8-5, a litany of spring training injuries taking their toll. Their biggest loss was Rod\u00f3n, whom they were counting on to be a co-ace with Cole; he wouldn\u2019t make his first start until July 7. They were also without starting pitchers Luis Severino<\/a> and Frankie Montas<\/a>, center fielder Harrison Bader<\/a> and relievers Tommy Kahnle<\/a> and Lou Trivino<\/a>. Montas (right shoulder surgery) and Trivino (Tommy John surgery) wouldn\u2019t pitch for the Yankees in 2023. In April, injuries to Stanton and Donaldson further weakened the lineup.<\/p>\n It all led to Cashman addressing reporters in the Yankees\u2019 dugout on May 3, as his team, with its then-$277-million payroll, sitting at 17-15 and in last place.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t count us out,\u201d Cashman said at the time. \u201cDon\u2019t give up on us. \u2026 This is a championship-caliber operation.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet cracks were showing. At that point, the Yankees\u2019 offense was just 23rd in the majors in runs scored and 26th in batting average. The risks they had taken weren\u2019t paying off. Oswaldo Cabrera<\/a>, given the left field starting job out of camp, was among the worst everyday hitters in the game. Aaron Hicks<\/a> was failing. There were calls for Volpe to be sent to Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre in favor of Peraza, the preseason favorite to be the starting shortstop. They were getting no offense out of the catcher position, which had been a problem since Gary S\u00e1nchez<\/a> stopped being an effective hitter in 2021. Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes<\/a> wasn\u2019t close to repeating his breakout campaign from the year before.<\/p>\n But troubling signs had started to appear at least a season earlier.<\/p>\n In 2022, the Yankees had finished the season tops in the AL in runs scored, but they had done most of their damage early. From Aug. 1 through the rest of the regular season, they went 29-29. They didn\u2019t have a capable regular left fielder. Donaldson, Stanton, Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a> and LeMahieu were major disappointments. They were an offense too reliant on Judge in a historic season in which he hit 62 home runs, an AL single-season record.<\/p>\n In the AL Division Series, they barely scraped past the Cleveland Guardians<\/a>. And in the Championship Series, they were crushed by the Houston Astros<\/a> in a four-game sweep, outscored 18-9.<\/p>\n In the offseason, they first re-signed Rizzo, then Judge. Rod\u00f3n\u2019s pact came shortly after, and once the left-hander had been secured, Steinbrenner, too, seemed to think the roster still needed more.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I can tell you is that we\u2019re not done yet\u200b\u200b,\u201d the billionaire told reporters on Dec. 21.<\/p>\n Yet the Yankees\u2019 only signing post-Rod\u00f3n was Cordero, a journeyman outfielder with little big-league success. A Yankees instructor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, said he was surprised the team did not make any additions to the offense last winter and questioned the team\u2019s belief in both Donaldson and Hicks after their failures the previous season.<\/p>\n All those issues remained in 2023 \u2014 and they all bit the Yankees. The 37-year-old Donaldson, who Boone repeatedly said he thought would bounce back, played just 33 games and hit only .142. The Yankees dropped him and the underperforming Bader at the Aug. 31 waiver deadline. Stanton missed six weeks and hit just .189. \u201cTerrible,\u201d was how he described his season. LeMahieu hit .220 in 76 games in the first half. Kiner-Falefa had transitioned into a utility role, where his defense was fine but his bat was below league-average (78 OPS+).<\/p>\n Still, in mid-May, the Yankees believed that if they could just get healthy, they might change their fortunes, even as they fell to fourth in the division.<\/p>\n In the span of one week in late May, the Yankees\u2019 season went into a full nosedive.<\/p>\n On May 28, Rizzo was among the best-hitting first basemen in baseball, with 11 homers and a .880 OPS in 53 games. Then, in a home game against the San Diego Padres<\/a>, catcher Kyle Higashioka<\/a> threw a back-pick to Rizzo. As he tagged out Fernando Tatis Jr.<\/a>, Tatis smashed into his head and right shoulder with his right thigh. Rizzo went stumbling and fell to the ground. He sat out the next three games.<\/p>\n Then on June 3 \u2014\u00a0 with the Yankees playing the Dodgers<\/a> in Los Angeles \u2014\u00a0 J.D. Martinez<\/a> cracked a hard line drive to the right-field wall. Judge crashed through a gate to the visiting bullpen, making the spectacular, game-saving catch, but he hit his right toe on the concrete foundation of the wall. Judge tore a ligament in his toe and missed the next 42 games.<\/p>\n In his absence, the Yankees would go just 19-23. A big reason was that Rizzo wasn\u2019t right. He suffered from occasional fogginess and he was perplexed as to why he wasn\u2019t even close on pitches he\u2019d usually crush, hitting just .172 over his final 46 games before going on the IL for good on Aug. 3.<\/p>\n It turned out that Rizzo had been suffering from post-concussion syndrome. He had passed the initial concussion protocol test the day of his crash with Tatis and never reported symptoms until two months later, when he experienced fogginess during a series in Baltimore the final weekend of July. Rizzo told The Athletic<\/i><\/a> in early August that he believed the Yankees handled his care properly, although external questions still remain on why he continued playing for two months while his play deteriorated.<\/p>\n Judge looked back at his own injury and Rizzo\u2019s as the lowest moments of a season gone awry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe position we were in at the time, battling for the division,\u201d Judge said. \u201cTampa was kind of running away with it. But we knew it was a long season, and when something like that happens \u2014 if you get me, (Stanton), (Donaldson) was out for a while. Rod\u00f3n, one of your big free agent signings, is down for a long time. Then Anthony (Rizzo) gets hit with what he got hit with.\u201d<\/p>\n Cashman, in a light blue polo shirt and glasses, sat at the table and leaned on his forearms. In front of him were more than a dozen reporters, photographers, TV cameras and Yankees staffers. He was inside the press conference room at Yankee Stadium. It was only Aug. 23, but there he was, essentially reading the last rites to a season he called a \u201cdisaster.\u201d The Yankees\u2019 hopes at that point were essentially dead.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody on this planet that felt the New York Yankees as constructed, entering spring training or leaving spring training, (weren\u2019t) a playoff-contending team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Then who would be judged for it? The first ax fell on hitting coach Lawson, who was dumped the day before the All-Star break. They replaced Lawson with ex-big-leaguer Sean Casey, whose impact on the overall offensive statistics has been minimal at best, despite Boone\u2019s insistence that Casey has made better personal connections with hitters. Casey, whose contract runs through the regular season, hasn\u2019t decided if he wants to return in the role in 2024.<\/p>\n Is Boone\u2019s job safe? Since his first season in 2018, his .586 winning percentage (503-355) is the second-best in the majors among active managers. But Yankees skippers aren\u2019t remembered for their regular-season accomplishments. Boone has twice reached the ALCS, but unlike the two managers before him (Joe Girardi and Joe Torre), he hasn\u2019t won a World Series.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s ultimately not my decision,\u201d Boone said.<\/p>\n Yankees fans seem split on their opinion of Boone. They appreciate his fiery ejections and his place in Yankees lore for hitting the walk-off homer in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. But they deride his unfailing positivity and the sometimes extreme lengths he goes to defend his players. Those players, however, love him. Judge and LeMahieu each have defended Boone<\/a> in interviews this season. He has one year remaining on his contract, and though he\u2019s drawn heat from fans, few would place the blame of the Yankees\u2019 terrible season entirely on his shoulders. If the Yankees fired the 50-year-old with few other front-facing changes, Boone could be considered a scapegoat, and the ire of fans might be turned more directly toward Cashman.<\/p>\n The Yankees\u2019 GM is in the first year of a four-year contract extension, and considering his track record of 21 playoff appearances in 25 seasons and his close relationship with Steinbrenner, the perception around the team is that Cashman is safe for now. Will the Yankees look to move on from Eric Cressey, their director of player health and performance, after yet another season marred by injuries? Will the decision-making in their baseball operations shift away from assistant GM and analytics guru Mike Fishman, and perhaps toward Cashman assistants Omar Minaya and Brian Sabean, who have decades of combined experience in player scouting and designing front offices?<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re all going to be evaluated,\u201d Cashman said, \u201cand I\u2019m including myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t just sit here and say that what we did this year is good enough to go into next year, right?\u201d said Rizzo.<\/p>\n Then what changes would have to be made to the roster in the winter to avoid yet another losing season in 2024?<\/p>\n They need to address both sides of the ball. \u00a0Through Monday, the offense was 24th in runs scored, 24th in runs per game and second-to-last in batting average. And despite Cole\u2019s brilliance (14-4, 2.75 ERA), the starting pitching staff is 19th in fWAR and has a 4.41 ERA.<\/span><\/p>\n They seem to have little choice but to bring back the core of their batting order. Aside from Judge, still one of the game\u2019s most feared hitters, Rizzo still has a year left on his deal, and it\u2019s unclear whether his concussion issues will be behind him by next Opening Day. LeMahieu (free agent in 2026) and Stanton (free agent in 2028) each have full no-trade clauses. They don\u2019t have obvious internal options in left field, center field, third base or catcher. Star prospect Jasson Dom\u00ednguez suffered a UCL tear just eight games into his MLB<\/a> career and might not return until June or later. They\u2019re still paying Hicks $20 million over the next two seasons, though approximately $60 million will come off the books with the free agent departures of Donaldson, Kiner-Falefa, Montas, Severino, Wandy Peralta<\/a> and Bader.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no guarantee that Cortes, who made just 12 starts due to two shoulder injuries, will be healthy next season. Rod\u00f3n will have to prove he, too, can stay healthy. Domingo Germ\u00e1n<\/a> seems like a non-tender candidate.<\/p>\n While reflecting on the Yankees\u2019 lack of depth, a team official offered a succinct analysis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just need to get better at finding those kinds of players,\u201d he said, referencing how, in 2022, the team struck gold when it signed Matt Carpenter<\/a> early in the regular season and he hit .305 in 47 games.<\/p>\n Considering Cashman headed to Japan earlier this month to watch Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who\u2019s expected to be posted this offseason, it seems clear that Steinbrenner is OK with Cashman being the one who tries to untangle the mess on his hands. But what about the people he\u2019s hired? Steinbrenner mentioned the Yankees\u2019 analytics department when he spoke about an outside company examining how baseball operations has been run. That suggests he could be disappointed in the Yankees\u2019 recent questionable roster construction. For example, acquiring Joey Gallo<\/a> from the Rangers<\/a> in 2021 ended up being a major mistake<\/a>. The 2017 trade for Giancarlo Stanton could be another example: he\u2019s fallen off the last two seasons (.201, .728 OPS) and, at age 33, may be a $25 million-a-year weight until his contract expires in 2027. The trades for Donaldson and Montas were failures, too.<\/p>\n The team could also examine their medical practices. Despite overhauling their strength and conditioning department in 2020, installing Eric Cressey as its leader, the Yankees have finished in the top 10 in injured list stints every year since 2017, according to Spotrac.<\/p>\n Cashman can\u2019t go into next season repeating the problems the Yankees had in 2023, which had roots in 2022 and earlier. He has admitted that the roster he shaped wasn\u2019t good enough to withstand the Yankees\u2019 onslaught of injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cWe learned that when that storm hit us,\u201d he said, \u201cwe didn\u2019t have enough to sustain or maintain, and it (sank) us. But certainly a pretty big storm hit our way.\u201d<\/p>\n That was Judge\u2019s main takeaway, reflecting on the worst season of baseball Yankees fans have seen in more than three decades.<\/p>\n \u201cThat stuff, as a player, it adds up.\u201d<\/p>\n (Top image: John Bradford \/ <\/em>The Athletic; Photos: Rob Tringali \/ Getty Images; Tom Pennington \/ Getty Images; Elsa \/ Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nCracks in the foundation<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n After a late-May collision, it took months for Anthony Rizzo to be diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. (Adam Hunger \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nCrushing collisions<\/b><\/h2>\n
Confronting a \u2018disaster\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/cdn.theathletic.com\/app\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26114847\/GettyImages-1678838012.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Boone, here arguing with the home plate umpire, has been ejected seven times this season. (Andrew Mordzynski \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n