The Yankees "Soft" Schedule and the Gift or the Curse?

The New York Yankees came into the month of June struggling but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. See every team on a long enough timeline will have a lull in their schedule where the schedule gets a "bit soft" either because they get teams they have owned in years past, the Minnesota Twins for New York, or teams that are simply struggling while they rebuild, the Colorado Rockies are a recent example of this. For New York this month was seen as a gift and a curse because many thought the team would go on a run against their lesser competition which would lead to unreasonable and unrealistic expectations for the team going forward.

Would the team win too much and not trade away pieces that would help the team beyond the 2016 season thus jump starting the rebuilding phase? Would the Yankees continue to be mediocre and hang around the .500 mark leaving more questions than answers or would the team fall off the face of the Earth and "define" themselves? Depending on what circles you hang around in any one of the three could be the correct answer but the Yankees organization, unless they are just saying the right things, seems to think buying at the trade deadline is the answer.

Why would the Yankees buy at the August 1st trade deadline? This month the Yankees have faced the Minnesota Twins six times ( four wins before this afternoon's finale), the Colorado Rockies four times (one win), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for four games (how sweep it was for the Yankees winning all four) and the Detroit Tigers for four (which the teams split with two wins each).

Now granted New York did play Baltimore three times (two losses), Toronto once (a loss) and will play Texas four times to round out the month but still overall that's a pretty favorable schedule for New York. Even if New York wins this afternoon and sweeps the Rangers, which they won't they would only finish the month with a 13-9 win/loss record and a 42-36 overall record.

That's not going to cut it. Not if you want to sell me on buying at the trade deadline this season. Now granted, what does my opinion account for in the grand scheme of things? Literally nothing but I know I'm not alone in my thinking and it is us, the fans, that should dictate such things. It is our ticket sales, merchandise sales, MLB TV and YES Network subscriptions and all that jazz that pay these salaries and pay for these buying sprees. Want to see selling off? Stop watching. Stop going. The gift and the curse was the Yankees schedule and now it's bring a fan of the team. We should call the shots and we need to start, today.