Damn Yankees.
Some murmurings that Cashman will step down and move to a executive position.
Definitely need a new set of eyes for recruitment now, instead of Cashman who's stuck in the steroid era of home run wins games.
Scandalous that this ball club has only one title in the last 20 years with the financial outlay, and the last title win in large part was because George Steinbrenner demanded Cashman sign CC, Teixiera and Burnett that winter window.
I fancy the Redsox to win the pennant and play the Giants in the WS.
Yankees have been taking to this three true outcomes. It'll be interesting if there's a philosophical change if Cashman leaves.
Analysis of historical data really places an emphasis on home runs and the metrics simple such as OPS or an amalgamation like WAR really love home runs as a driver. In the current environment, given how much faster pitchers have been throwing and with more spin (though that's changed recently), it's harder to make contact and string together hits. Thus, swinging for the fences is good from both a historical perspective (what drives success) and also from a forward-looking perspective. 2021 was another year of near-breaking strikeout rates and high home run rates with near record low batting average (.244). Things have plateaued a bit though (kinda hard not to) and any further rule changes could shift philosophies again (e.g. doing something with the mound, changing the ball, etc). For the foreseeable future, though, home runs are here to stay.
The question is if the Yankees are taking things too far and if the postseason adds a different dynamic that ultimately cuts the Yankees short. In their two recent series against the Sox (this game and in 2018), the Yankees entered the game with a similar OPS+ to the Sox but a significantly lower batting average. The Yankees get more of their OPS from the walks they generate and home runs they hit. Despite A-Rod's mostly awful commentary and inane comments (the comment about how big market teams shouldn't try to be like the Rays was especially weird; like analytics and good farm systems are bad? Pretty sure big market teams also have had success with that approach), A-Rod did point out a key: don't walk the Yankees and you have a good shot. The Sox didn't walk the Yankees last night (how many 3-ball counts did Eovaldi never have? He was a strike-throwing machine). In 2018, over the course of the series, the Sox actually drew more walks than the Yankees did. This year, the Red Sox hit .261 while the Yankees hit .237. In 2018, the Red Sox hit .268, and the Yankees hit .249. The issue for the Yankees is, if they can't get on-base via walks (they're almost always near the top during the regular season), and their batting average is actually significantly lower, how are they able to generate enough runs? Can't win games by only hitting solo home runs. To top it off, the Yankees led the league this year in outs made at home, and that manifested itself in a big way last night. The best chance of a big inning where one swing changes everything went by the wayside with that send of Judge.
To rack up regular season wins, ignoring how one gets on base (just do it any way you can for the OBP), focusing on home runs (got to pump the SLG), and de-emphasizing running could work. But in these postseason defeats against other good but more balanced offenses (Boston, Houston, and Tampa), you wonder if the Yankees will take a step back from the pure analytical bent of walks to drive OBP and home runs to drive slugging.
