Who Should We Blame Last Night's Collapse On?

Last night, the New York Yankees suffered a loss that left a bad taste in fans mouths that tasted like bleach and cow manure. First, before we dig into the stats and look who really is in the blame for this loss, let's look at how in the world the Red Sox wound up winning this game....

The Yankees had a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, almost everybody believed that they had it in the bag, oh little did we all know. Girardi would send Tommy Layne out there to begin the inning and once Chris Young came up to bat (who mashes lefties) , he went to the bullpen and got Blake Parker who looked like he was going to finish the game. Due to the arrival of Layne and Parker, many believed that Betances was unavailable due to how exhausted he is.

Once Parker enters the game he hit Young on the tip of his helmet with a pitch that he leaned into and only hit him by an inch. Then Girardi decides that it would be a swell idea to go to Dellin Betances, who has desperately been in need of some rest due to the maximum overusage. We all know what happens after this, I do not even have to explain it. To put it simply, the Yankees blew the game.

Betances obviously could not locate any of his pitches and after the Pedroia at bat where it was obvious he was not going to swing at any pitches, Girardi should have pulled the plug on Betances right there and bring in someone else, you can't use a guy who relies on control like Betances every single night.

That is why, many people believe the blame for last nights game should be on Dellin Betances but I disagree. I believe Joe Girardi should take the blame 100% for the putrid event that happened last night. Girardi knew that Betances was exhausted which is why he didn't go to him to begin the inning, because he knew that he needed rest. But no, he just thought that it would be a great idea to go to the deadest arm in the bullpen and I wouldn't be shocked at all if Dellin Betances needs tommy john surgery in a few years thanks to how Girardi uses him.

You can't expect a guy like Betances who is a large man and relies on the control for his curveball to pitch EVERY NIGHT despite if he's tired or not. It was a really bad move by Joe. So far in the month of September, Betances has pitched 3 straight days TWICE. It has only been two weeks and Betances has already had to pitch three straight days twice, think about that for a moment.

It also does not help that the Yankees left TWELVE runners on base but that's a different story....

Therefore, The blame for last night's absolute collapse should 98% be on the hands of Girardi, 1% on the offense, and 1% on Betances.


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Joe Girardi Should Be Fired on the Spot!

You know I’ve been one of the bigger Joe Girardi supporters since taking over for Joe Torre as the manager of the New York Yankees, although that doesn’t mean I haven’t reamed him a new one just like anyone else at times, but I have to say I am a tad bit disappointed in him lately. Maybe disappointed isn’t the word, maybe disgusted? I really don’t know and it’s odd for me to be speechless as you all may already know and I think I’m so beyond angry and frustrated that I don’t even want to rant and rave about it. I just want him fired, effective immediately. 

Alex is not the poster child for Major League Baseball like Derek Jeter was or Mariano Rivera was but he in no way, shape or form deserves this level of treatment from the Yankees and from Joe specifically. Joe fills out the lineup card and Joe either has it out for Alex, he’s managing for his job or both because in the grand scheme of things these games are meaningless. The message you sent to a long time Yankee and any potential free agent that is watching this and wondering if he should come to New York is the exact opposite of meaningless, it’s everything. 

Not that the Yankees tend to get into the deep end of the free agent pool lately, and not that money isn’t the ultimate motivator for many anyway, but if I am a Bryce Harper or a Manny Machado or an equivalent free agent that had any inkling of an idea that I wanted to come to New York this whole circus and the way Alex is being treated has to leave a sour taste in your mouth, no? It’s leaving a sour taste in my mouth and I’m just a regular guy with a blog so imagine what other players are thinking right about now. 

Joe Girardi has gone on record many times saying that it is not in his job description to run a farewell tour yet he had no issues doing so for Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Now granted Rivera went out still pitching like the great arm that he was but Jeter was a far cry from the 2012 version of himself when he finally walked away. He was an automatic double play ball almost every time he had someone on base and yet he continually batted second each and every game. And yeah, Joe said the same things about the farewell tour but what Joe said and what Joe did were two different things. This time around with Alex it almost seems personal and that, Mr. Girardi, isn’t in your job description either. Your job description includes winning games and if you think throwing Aaron Hicks out there every day while Alex sits on the bench just a handful of home runs away from 700 then you should just turn in your uniform and your iPad binder now. You’re fired. 

You’re a disgrace Joe and you don’t deserve to wear the Yankees pinstripes any longer. Be gone. Oh and Randy Levine, who undoubtedly at least threw his opinion into the mix because it is no secret that he and Alex are not exactly fond of each other, get a haircut and be gone as well. We don’t want you and we, you know the fans paying your salary and Joe’s salary and Alex’s salary and everyone else’s damn salary, don’t need you either. Goodbye. 

An Open Letter to Joe Girardi

Joe,

I hate to be the "I told you so" guy but I did kind of tell you so in a Twitter Poll and in a separate post that I thought the team should have placed Mark Teixeira on the 15 day disabled list the day he fouled that pitch off his leg and bruised his bone. I pointed out that the Yankees were in the middle of an American League East Division race and a race for one of the two available American League Wild Card spots and the team could not afford to give Teixeira "a day" once or twice a week because the leg was sore and not fully healed. I also mentioned that Teixeira was probably the most indispensable player on the entire team not only offensively but defensively and pleaded with you and the Yankees organization for a backdated DL stint, to no avail.

Someone, not saying you necessarily Mr. Girardi, decided in their infinite wisdom that Teixeira should start one of those games against the Houston Astros eliminating a week's worth of retroactive DL time. Teixeira was obviously uncomfortable at the plate and could not run the bases but the team decided his right-handed bat was needed against Houston's ace Dallas Keuchel despite the repercussions for the decision, those repercussions being that the Yankees played with a short bench in the American League parks and have played this weekend in Atlanta with just a two man bench.

Talent has bailed you out of a lot of your decisions in your Yankees tenure, not to say I think you have been a bad manager or that you should be perfect when nobody walking this Earth is, and it did again this weekend inside Turner Field. You could have a zero man bench when your team is leading by ten or more and it won't matter but that doesn't and shouldn't excuse you or the decision maker on their bad decision.

The decision to insert Teixeira's bat for that one game in Houston could have crippled this team and sent it into a whirlwind downward that could have spelled doom, or worse than that a missed playoff season in 2015. You're an extremely intelligent man Mr. Girardi but that decision, in my opinion, was stupid and uninformed.

Daniel Burch