Owner Hal Steinbrenner on Yankees' struggles: 'Majority of the responsibility lies with the players'

Following a shocking and historic home collapse against the Los Angeles Angels that saw the New York Yankees fall to 41-39 on the 2021 MLB season, Bronx Bombers owner Hal Steinbrenner insisted manager Aaron Boone and general manager Brian Cashman are not on the hot seat heading into the upcoming All-Star break. 

According to Bryan Hoch of the league's website, Steinbrenner blamed individuals inside the clubhouse for what's become a disappointing campaign that could quickly spiral out of control if things don't improve ahead of the trade deadline. 

"Make no mistake about it, the majority of the responsibility lies with the players," he explained. "They're the ones on the field. They're a group of very talented professional athletes that are playing this game at the highest level in the world. They need to fix this problem, because everyone — including our fan base — has had enough." 

Steinbrenner added he believes the squad that left spring training was good enough to compete for more than just a winning record.

"They just haven't played up to their potential that I believe they still have," he said. "It's essentially the same team that we had [in 2019 and 2020]. These aren't aging players; these guys are in their primes." 

Steinbrenner suggested changes could be coming but not to the front office or at any of the coaching positions. 

"If I feel we're not good enough and we need another piece to be the championship-caliber team that we want to be and expect to be, then I'm going to seriously consider doing whatever I need to do," he said about potentially adding players. 

While the Yankees began Thursday afternoon fourth in the American League East standings and 8.5 games behind the rival first-place Boston Red Sox, Steinbrenner nevertheless clearly considers his side buyers instead of sellers for later this month.