The New York Yankees are having one of their worst seasons in decades, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better anytime soon.
While Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole give the Yankees a weapon in the lineup and rotation, that’s about all they have.
WFAN’s Chris McMonigle of Audacy’s original podcast “BXB” sounded off on the Yankees’ “rotten” core of Anthony Rizzo, D.J. LeMahieu, and Giancarlo Stanton.
“Rizzo, LeMahieu, and Stanton. That’s the core of the team and it’s rotten, it’s old, and it looks like it can’t go forward,” McMonigle said (3:20 in player above). “That’s my concern.”
Rizzo, 34, is currently on the IL due to a concussion and is owed $17 million next season.
LeMahieu, 35, has seen his average drop every year since batting a league-leading .364 in 2020. He is under contract with a $15 million salary until 2026.
Stanton is the youngest of the bunch at 33, but that’s about all he has going for him. The oft-injured slugger is a shell of his former self. To top it all off, Stanton is owed a total of $118 million through 2027.
“The problem is the core of the team and it can’t be changed. What owner would eat the Stanton money and then just go buy another player better than Stanton?” McMonigle continued. “You can cut Stanton and then have McKinney play right field every game, that’d be fine, but the whole point of getting rid of Stanton is to bring in someone that is legitimate.
“You can’t do that with LeMahieu. You can’t do that with Stanton. You can’t do that even for one more year with Rizzo. That’s the core of the team next year. So that’s my main concern.”
The Yankees are in a position where they should be playing their younger players more, but they still need to see if these veterans can turn it around as well.
“I don’t want to do anything to Rizzo that’s not smart or dangerous, obviously, but if Rizzo can come back and it’s for three weeks then bring Rizzo back for three weeks. Let me see him be a baseball player again,” McMonigle said. “LeMahieu needs to play. I know we need to play the kids and third base is where Peraza is going to play, I still need LeMahieu to play because I need LeMahieu to show me he’s a player because he’s going to be one next year. Same thing for Stanton.
“It’s the core of this team and that’s what’s scary as hell because it’s Judge and it’s Cole. That’s it. There is not another core member of this team you feel good about. Not one.”
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