One Yankees legend is calling for a change.
During the Fox postgame show on Wednesday night after the Bombers were swept by the Rays in the American League Division Series, Alex Rodriguez ripped the powers that be in the Bronx, calling for a “philosophy change.”
“Something has to change,” Rodriguez said, kicking off a long rant. “I’m not talking about personnel, but I’m talking about a philosophy. There has to be a philosophy change. You’ve won 27 titles one way. I’m not saying anyone should lose their job, I’ll make that clear. But [general manager Brian] Cashman has to surround himself with people that know baseball, that understand baseball, that can value both sides of the ball.
Rodriguez took particular issue with the Yankees’ lack of stability around the diamond, arguing that a team facing elimination shouldn’t still be having to solve so many lineup and defensive questions.
“It’s unthinkable in a game where your season is on the line, and of the nine positions, you don’t know who’s gonna play five positions — first base, second base, third base, center field, and right field because [Aaron] Judge is out. If something doesn’t change, you’re gonna have the same results. We’ve been watching the same movie for over a decade, and nothing changes.”
Rodriguez’s comments echo those made by Judge, who watched from the dugout as he nursed a calf strain, after the 4-3 loss.
“We’re the Yankees,’’ Judge said. “I feel like [the front office] should go all in and do what they need to do. If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players, whatever we need … They give us a winning team every year. That’s not good enough in New York.”
It remains to be seen whether change will be at the top this winter.
Before being eliminated, Cashman seemed to indicate that manager Aaron Boone would be back next season.
“I think Boone’s a really good manager,” he said. “We’re here for a reason. There’s a lot of reasons behind that. And he’s certainly part of that.”
Beyond Boone and Cashman, the Yankees have plenty of questions to sort out on the roster.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario are among the position players who can test free agency, while closer David Bednar is also set to hit the open market.
Outside of George Lombard Jr. at shortstop, there are a ton of questions on the infield, and uncertainty over how much the Yankees can continue to count on the oft-injured Giancarlo Stanton at designated hitter moving forward.
