Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 693 31: Make the Yankees Great Again

"Bang!"

Without even knocking on the door, Joe Girardi stormed angrily into the Yankees' president's office, slamming the folder in his hand heavily onto Brian Cashman's desk.

"Brian, we need to strengthen the team now, immediately, if we still want to make the playoffs!"

Feeling Girardi's on-the-edge emotions, Cashman quickly pulled his long-time partner of almost 10 years to the sofa, continuously soothing him.

"Joe, I know you're under a lot of pressure lately. Buddy, relax a bit..."

Before Cashman could finish his comforting words, he was interrupted by the furious Girardi: "Come on, Brian, don't placate me with those words—I'm asking you one thing, do I get reinforcements or not?"

Seeing his intense emotions, Cashman had to raise his hands in surrender, "I'll give you support, of course, I will, but Joe, you know, making trades isn't something I can do on a whim, especially since the whole league knows our issues, other teams' execs are dying to fleece us, extorting a hefty price, this can't be rushed..."

However, Cashman then patted his chest, confidently assuring the head coach, "But rest assured, Joe—by the July 31st trade deadline, I will surely address the team's current issues."

Hearing Cashman's promise, Girardi finally calmed down; looking up at the team's manager whom he just lashed out at, Girardi expressed his apology, "Sorry, Brian, my emotions were indeed heightened...but the team's recent performance really got me worked up, I hope you understand."

Cashman, maintaining his gentle demeanor, said, "Of course, Joe, I know the pressure you're under, especially with the New York media and Bronx fans hounding you, I get it." Yet, if one looked closely, there was a subtle fierceness in the depths of Cashman's eyes.

Even though Cashman and Girardi had worked together for nearly a decade and had some camaraderie, the Yankees' poor performance in recent years, Girardi's tendency to rely on intuition over the data team, and his old-school, hardline approach increasingly dissatisfied Cashman as the general manager.

As the Yankees' long-standing operations manager for over 30 years, Cashman certainly wasn't without temper: If it were the venerable Joe Torre speaking to him like that, it'd be different, but for Girardi to threaten him face-to-face was a bit too self-important—incidentally, Girardi's contract with the Yankees was ending after this season, regardless of the outcome, Cashman was already prepared to search for a new head coach for the next season.

However, this didn't mean Cashman dismissed Girardi's points. In fact, from both a competitive and business operations standpoint, appropriate trades were indispensable.

After the end of All-Star Week, looking at the win count, the Yankees' post-midseason form was pretty decent, maintaining a win rate between 50-60%; the problem was, their trailing Red Sox had a furiously rapid ascendancy after recovering from early-season shortages and rookie adjustments.

The Red Sox's lineup depth and paper strength were originally superior to the Yankees, and during the Yankees' losing streak during the California expedition, Boston Red Sox seized the opportunity, achieving a win rate exceeding 70% in July, reclaiming the top spot in the American League East Division from their arch-nemesis—now, the Yankees, who led most of the season, have fallen 0.5 games behind the Red Sox, dropping to second in the division.

The Major League's playoff rules are quite peculiar, besides the division champions of each league receiving automatic playoff berths, any non-division champion team, no matter how good their record, falls into the wildcard pool, contending with all other teams in the league for 2 wildcard spots;

The two best wildcard teams will have to play a single-elimination "wildcard sudden death game" before the playoffs officially start to decide who gets to enter the playoffs as the fourth seed.

This is why, despite the Yankees' record placing them third in the American League, they still have to push hard for direct playoff entry—after all, a one-game win-or-go-home scenario is too unpredictable, the rollercoaster experience is better left for arch-rivals to endure.

On the surface, the Yankees' performance this season is absolutely top-tier:

As a team, they have the best batting lineup and bullpen in the entire league; in individual prowess, Aaron Judge is America's elite slugger, Lin Guanglai is the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young, both are also hot MVP candidates; second in the league in average scoring, fourth fewest in average runs allowed, especially in offensive power, they utterly crush their division rival Red Sox... all data suggests the current Yankees, excellent in both offense and defense, are undeniable championship contenders.

So, where's the problem? Through extensive analysis by the data professional team, the answer has surfaced: the current Yankees have moderate gaps first base, bullpen, and starting rotation.