There’s no two ways around it, the Yankees are struggling and have been for over two months. A season once trending toward another potential AL Pennant is falling apart. And who better to break it all down than noted Yankee podcaster and the son of former Bombers’ slugger, Gary Sheffield, than Gary Sheffield Jr., who co-hosts the popular “Yankees Unloaded” podcast (available on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcasts).
What do you think of Aaron Boone’s “gut-check” comments?
Gary Sheffield Jr.: "I'll be honest, I don't really think the Yankees should be in this position in the first place. There's a high standard here of being a Manager for the Yankees. I think he knew that when he signed on. Joe Torre knew it. Buck Showalter knew it. All these guys who take on this job, part of the job is to not put yourself in this position. My take on it has always been that we shouldn't ever have been in this spot. Having spent $300 million, I think there's plenty here to win. We just gotta figure out what the problem is."
What do you make of the Yankees’ constant baserunning and fielding miscues?
Gary Sheffield Jr.: "There's a difference between defense and being sloppy and sloppy in terms of fundamentals. You watch The World Series and you see players aren't covering bases. They don't know which base to run to. You have the Dodgers players saying, 'All we had to do is put the ball in play and they'll make mistakes for us.' That's not what you want to hear. That's not even necessarily physical. It's about being locked in over 162.”
Should Jazz Chisholm Jr. have been benched the other day?
Gary Sheffield Jr.: "This is nothing personal to Jazz Chisholm. I watched Bobby Cox and Andruw Jones, who was a much better player and Jazz isn't Andruw Jones. But Jones, they used him as an example that it's not good enough to get your half effort. As good a player as you are, no matter how good you are, I'm gonna make you a better player in the long run. Make us a better team in the long run by making a decision to help you and make an example out of you. Jazz shouldn't have played as soon as that play happened. He gave an explanation in the post-game saying he wouldn't do anything different. You saw the replay. Why would you expect things to improve if the talent itself will tell you he'd do it the same way tomorrow? It's sickening."
Thoughts on Aaron Boone as the Manager?
Gary Sheffield Jr.: "Aaron Boone was hired to bring the most out of these players, not to sell the fans that it's good enough. And I think, right now, it feels like he's more of a salesman than a Manager."
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