Great expectations. Great results. Small expectations. Small results.
Life certainly has changed for the Yankees. Now it is a wing and a prayer and if all goes right, all that will be guaranteed is a single wild-card game in the Yankees’ future.
At least the Red Sox mix in a World Series every now and then. The Yankees last won a World Series in 2009, and own one title over the last 14 years.
The talk now from Yankees brass is just to get to “the tournament,’’ like the Yankees are some small-time college program looking to put a dent into March Madness.
That kind of talk is madness. The Yankees have lost their way and not just because the small- and mid-market teams are keeping their stars.
Many of their biggest decisions have not worked out.
The Yankees used to always add what they needed, fill in a key spot here and there. Now they have added big-money players who have not come close to living up to the expectations needed to get them to the Promised Land.
Carlos Beltran is batting .235. Brian McCann is at the same number. That’s $130 million spent on two .235 hitters.
That .235 seems to be the tragic number for the Yankees. Mark Teixeira is also hitting .235.
“Will the Yankees get to the playoffs? I don’t think so,’’ one scout who has watched the Yankees for much of the last month said. “They just aren’t hitting, they’re not driving the ball. They have to string together so many hits just to get a run. That has to change. They need to start showing some power.’’
That used to be the Yankee Way.
Tuesday night begins a playoff push at Yankee Stadium against the rebuilding Astros, a team that gave the Yankees fits in the first series of the season, winning two of three and offering a fatal vision of what the Yankees season was going to be like in this post-$500 million spending binge that has produced little success with only 40 games to go in this season.
If these Yankees somehow make it to the wild-card game, jumping over two teams to get there, then survive that game, somehow make it through the division series, and on to the ALCS, they will live up to their payroll.
One of the biggest issues facing the Yankees is that they are 29-29 at home. They are the rarest of Yankees teams, a team that does not take advantage of its home ballpark. They are a low-energy team.
The Yankees have relied on Brett Gardner more than they should, considering the names on this roster, but Gardner has responded to the challenge. Gardner should be one of the players taking a lead role down the stretch.
Also, Martin Prado has proven to be the best second baseman the Yankees have had since losing Cano — the Brian Roberts experience was pretty much a joke.
Joe Girardi needs to play Prado at second base. Stephen Drew is a backup right now, and can be used to give Derek Jeter a rest and fill in at times.
Ichiro Suzuki is also swinging a much better bat of late and Girardi needs to pick his spots with Ichiro and continue to put him in right field as a defensive replacement.
The best news for the Yankees is that David Robertson (21 straight saves) and Dellin Betances have shortened the game in a John Wetteland/Mariano Rivera sort of way.
The other parts at Girardi’s disposal are far from perfect.
At this point, they are Yankees in name and paychecks only.
To make it to the wild card, the Yankees must expect more from themselves and deliver on that expensive promise.