Yankees Swoon Continues in Miami

How does third place taste? Not great, but that’s where the Yankees are now thanks to a mortifying three-game sweep at the hands of the Miami friggin’ Marlins. I don’t care that they’re a young team starting to play better, being swept by the Marlins is an utter embarrassment, especially in the way it happened. Lets get to it. 

For those who were still existing in the gray area concerning my oft-stated opinion that the Yankees are going nowhere this season, if this past weekend didn’t get you into the darkest shade of black, you’re simply a forever optimist who will never give up. And that’s fine, more power to you, but for the rest of us pessimists and realists, we’re looking for a light switch.

We spend so much time during each baseball season searching for pivotal moments, victories that can become turning points that get the Yankees back on track after a difficult stretch. And it felt like we’ve had a few of those lately, but as it turns out, it was probably nothing more than fools gold and false hope.

And that’s because during their egregious sweep in Miami, we were treated to the singular moment that might very well be the one we’ll all look back on and say that’s where the 2025 season went to die.

Now, to be fair, the Yankees had been playing shitty for more than two months before Friday’s inexplicable, historic, outrageous 13-12 loss, a meltdown that was so unbelievable that some film studio in Hollywood could turn it into an Oscar-worthy tragicomedy.

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But that loss - one that I thankfully missed while I was at my daughter’s wedding - just feels like the first shovelful of dirt being tossed into the grave. All of the other ridiculous losses they’ve had merely dug the hole, but now that hole began to get filled by the no-name Marlins.

One shovelful Friday doesn’t fill it, but two more big scoops were tossed into the hole following that putrid offensive dud on Saturday, and on Sunday when, staring at a third straight loss to a team that has about three players anyone outside Miami has heard of, the Yankees just laid down like dying dogs and got their asses beat again. All that awaits now is the official lowering of the coffin.

Third place, folks. That’s where the Yankees - who led the division by seven games just two-plus months ago - are now sitting, and with three games against the Rangers and three against the Astros this week, don’t be shocked if they’re closer to fourth place than second place before long.

Hell, who knew that releasing Marcus Stroman would have such an affect. I mean hey, they’re 0-3 since that happened Thursday night.

I wrote to you last week after they acquired Ryan McMahon to play third place that I liked that move, mainly because they were playing two horrible players at the position, but also because McMahon is under contract through 2027 so it isn’t just an acquisition for the final two months of a 2025 season in which I don’t think they have an ice cube’s chance in hell of winning a championship.

However, because I’d already come to the conclusion that the Yankees aren’t good enough to win the AL East, let alone the AL or the World Series, I was actually hoping Brian Cashman would resist the temptation to keep making moves, fearing that he would gut the farm system for a bunch of two-month rentals who weren’t going to make a difference.

I also knew that was foolish to think. Of course he was going to keep making moves because that’s what the Yankees always do, and when the dust settled, I’ll admit I liked the results. All three relievers - Jake Bird, David Bednar and Camilo Doval - looked like fine additions that added much-needed talent and depth to a bad bullpen and only Doval has an expiring contract. Picking up the AL’s leading base stealer and a diverse defensive piece in Jose Caballaro was icing on the cake.

And to land that haul he didn’t touch any of his top prospects including Spencer Jones, the subject of so many trade rumors the past month or so.

But then Friday happened and all four of those deadline day acquisitions played starring roles in one of the worst losses the Yankees have ever suffered, not just this season but any season. Up above I joked about a movie being made about that game, but it was so unbelievable that Hollywood would scoff at it.

On the YES broadcast, Paul O’Neill said to Michael Kay, “You get to a point where you just can't make this up ... it’s like a Little League game going on out here.” To which Kay replied, “This whole game, Paul, kind of has the feel of you’re having a bad dream and you cannot wake up.”

Well, the Yankees never did wake up. They lost all three games, and they are now 60-52 on the season including 18-27 since June 12 when they were a season-best 17 games over .500.

“It’s getting to be real gut-check time,” Aaron Boone said. “It’s getting late. It’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together, but that’s all it is right now. It’s empty until we start doing it.”

Could I be wrong and he be right? I wrote them off around this time last year and they somehow turned it around and made it to the World Series. I’d like to be wrong this year, too, but I don’t think I will be.

Aug. 1: Marlins 13, Yankees 12

➤ As I said earlier, this was the night of my daughter’s wedding and I didn’t even know what happened until the next morning. And then when I watched the condensed game and saw how it happened, I sat there speechless, almost unable to process how utterly deplorable a loss this was.

➤ The last time the Yankees scored a dozen runs on the road and lost? July 24, 1940 vs. the Browns in St. Louis. The last time they lost any nine-inning game when scoring at least 12 runs? Aug. 12, 1973 against Oakland. Yeah, these don’t happen too often, but should it surprise anyone that a Boone team did it? That said, I can’t really blame Boone for this. Sure, he made his usual array of stupid decisions, but in the end, players gotta play, pitchers gotta pitch, and the pitchers were off-the-charts horrendous.

➤ First, there was Carlos Rodon who had zero command, even though he had a no-hitter through four innings. It all came home to roost in the fifth when he just crumbled. He gave up a two-run homer to someone named Javier Sanoja who had one career homer in his rookie season before hitting two Friday. Rodon got two outs but then walked two men, so Jonathan Loaisiga came in to kickstart the bullpen implosion and he promptly allowed both of Rodon’s walks to score which made it 6-4.

➤ Having blown most of a 6-0 lead, part of which had come on a three-run homer by Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees answered as Trent Grisham hit a three-run homer in the seventh and back up 9-4, it seemed like victory was imminent. Instead, Bird started the seventh by loading the bases and then serving up a grand slam to Kyle Stowers. Bednar came in and gave up a tying homer to Sanoja and then the go-ahead run on a single by another former Yankees catching prospect, Agustin Ramirez, to cap a six-run explosion.

➤ But then Anthony Volpe tied it with a homer in the eighth, and the Yankees tacked on two runs in the ninth on a McMahon single and Volpe double, his fourth hit of the game. And so on came Doval to close it out, and oh, he closed it out in style. Single, walk, single on which Caballaro - who had just been inserted into right field - let the ball go under his glove. As it rolled toward the wall, the tying runs scored and the batter, speedy Xavier Edwards, reached third, from where he scored four pitches later when Ramirez squibbed a ball about 10 feet, just enough for the hustling Edwards to slide home safely before Austin Wells’ tag. If I had been watching this live, I may have keeled over from a stroke. Seriously.

➤ The three new bullpen guys combined to allow nine runs (seven earned) on nine hits and two walks in three innings. Now, it’s one game, and let’s hope this is the worst it’ll ever be. But I’ll also just say this. Bird and Bednar, pitching for two of the worst teams in MLB, the Rockies and Pirates the last several years, have never pitched in a single meaningful game. Now they’re pitching for the Yankees who play meaningful games every night of almost every season. Let’s hope they can adjust.

What they said in Friday’s clubhouse

• Bird: “Just not executing the pitches to my ability. I need to be better there, and I will be better. I just think it’s one of those days where you just need to have a little extra focus, a little extra intent. You don’t want those days to happen, but they do on occasion, and I just need to look back at it, kinda learn from it and be better.”

• Bednar: “Definitely not an ideal start by any means. But the guys picked me up and I was able to get a zero in that second inning (of work). That’s just part of being a reliever. Sometimes stuff like that happens. It’s all about how you respond and bounce back.”

• Caballaro: “Definitely a routine kind of play there. You always want to execute on a play like that. I feel like I took my eyes away from the ball for a split-second.”

• Rodon: “I had a good little run going and then I got real inconsistent, spraying balls. Just not good enough. Five walks, 107 pitches to get 13 outs is pretty unacceptable.”

Aug. 2: Marlins 2, Yankees 0

➤ After getting knocked to the ground Friday night, did the Yankees get off the canvas and continue to fight? Here’s your answer: Two hits and three walks. That was their offense as Eury Perez - a very good pitcher - and three no-name relievers dominated them. It was simply embarrassing that the Yankees had zero response after that mind-numbing loss the night before.

➤ Oh, and there were more follies. Top of the first, Grisham walked and stole second and with two outs, Stanton ripped a line-drive single to left. Grisham was still five feet from third base when left fielder Stowers fielded the ball and for some idiotic reason, third-base coach Luis Rojas sent Grisham home. He was out by 15 feet. Rojas is clueless and he’s another guy who needs to get sent away.

➤ Top of the second, Jazz Chisholm walked and after one out, Paul Goldschmidt popped up to second base. For some idiotic reason, Chisholm was dancing off first and was not going back to the bag as the ball was descending. Edwards caught the pop and immediately fired to first to nail Chisholm for a double play. We all thought Wells forgetting there were only two outs and wandering off second base the other night was the stupidest play we’ve seen all year. This one topped it. It was inexplicable, and I’ll tell you, the more I see Chisholm play, the more I believe that he’s not a winning ballplayer. There’s too much flash and dash in his game and those are the kinds of guys who can kill you in a big spot.

➤ Boone chewed out first base coach Travis Chapman and yes, he deserved some blame. Why isn’t he screaming at Chisholm to get back until it was way too late? And Boone also took Chisholm into the tunnel away from the cameras to discuss what happened, which led post-game to one of the dumbest, bullshit excuses I’ve ever heard from a player, yet another shining example of how there is zero accountability on this team.

➤ Cam Schlittler went five innings and he was pretty good, but he threw two horrible pitches to Ramirez and both ended up in the left-center bleachers for the only runs of the game. Otherwise there were two other hits, two walks and six strikeouts. But it’s clear that he needs to develop an out pitch because while his heat can be great, it’s all he has right now.

What they said in Saturday’s clubhouse

• Chisholm, just making shit up: “I was just trying to be aggressive. I saw something that I thought they were going to do. (Edwards) deked it like he was going to (drop the pop purposely), but he didn’t do it. I played here before, I know how the field plays. I was playing the drop. It would have bounced too high and by the time it came down, I would have gotten there easily, so it would have been fine. Sometimes you get aggressive and you get caught up and you make an out.”

• Boone on the bullpen fiasco a day later: “It’s one of those that you wake up and it’s like, ‘Dang, that still happened.’ But there’s also, walking in here, some comfort in knowing that what we did at the deadline to fortify our bullpen is real. While it obviously did not go well, there’s still a lot of confidence in what we have down there moving forward. That flips my brain for a day.”

Aug. 3: Marlins 7, Yankees 3

➤ Luis Gil made his long-awaited season debut and as I’ve been saying right along, especially after I saw him pitch in person a couple weeks ago, I don’t really have much faith that he’s going to be a difference-maker for this season. As first outings go, this one stunk. He had zero command in giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks and he put the Yankees in a hole they could not escape.

➤ Gil allowed two runners in the first but got out of the jam, but in the second he walked two men and both scored on a double and a single, and a third run came in on a sac fly. In the fourth he allowed a single and a walk so Brett Headrick took over and he quickly killed any chance of a comeback when Stowers tagged his third pitch for a three-run homer that made it 6-1.

➤ Grisham led off with a homer on the fourth pitch thrown by very talented Edward Cabrera for a quick 1-0 lead. But that was the lone highlight of the day against that guy as he pitched six innings and gave up just one other hit and a walk. The other two runs came on a two-run homer by Chisholm off Josh Simpson, who before today, you could have told me he was Homer Simpson’s long-lost son. That was the offense, and it’s just crazy that against this team, that was the case for the second day in a row.

➤ This is the first time the Marlins have ever swept a series against the Yankees. That covers 27 years of interleague play.

➤ The fact that Chisholm started this game was abhorrent. As a manager, it’s tough to yank a player out of a game for stupidity because unlike the other sports, you can’t sub him back in. Once he’s out, he’s out, and now your bench is short. Boone should have absolutely sent a message to Chisholm and benched him Sunday, but of course, as I said, these players have zero accountability under this puppet manager. Chisholm even had the nerve to say he’d do it again if the situation arose.

What they said in Sunday’s clubhouse

• Boone, finally realizing his team has been awful: “It’s been too long of us playing just mediocre. We understand we’ve got to do better to have a chance to go where we want to go.’’

• Boone responding to fair criticism of his team from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez: “Look, we’re the Yankees and when we lose games, if it’s in and around a mistake, that criticism is fair game. But at the end of the day, again, like I’ve said, we have the pieces to be a really good team, and that’s on me and all of us to get the most out of that. I would disagree a little bit with the accountability factor, but the reality is we’re focused everyday on being the best we can be.”

• Cody Bellinger: “I think everyone in this room, we have really high expectations and we’re not meeting them right now. It’s frustrating. We had a great last series at home and come in here, Miami just swept us. Got to look ourselves in the mirror, go to Texas and play baseball the way I know we can.”

• Ben Rice: “I wouldn’t say there’s concern. But I think a little sense of urgency would be good for us.”

Next up are the Rangers for three games, a team that the Yankees are now in a close battle with for wildcard position. Texas lost two of three to Seattle over the weekend so the Mariners hold the third wildcard spot by two games over the Rangers, while the Yankees are only 2.5 ahead of the Rangers. Obviously, this is a big series, not only for the race, but also for the Yankees to get their heads out of their asses.

Here are some of the top Rangers to watch:

➤ RF Adolis Garcia: Tied for the team lead with 16 homers and leads with 63 RBI.

➤ SS Corey Seager: Not having a great year but still has 16 homers and a team-best .847 OPS.

➤ LF Wyatt Langford: Also not having a big year as Texas’ offense has sputtered, but he has a .729 OPS with 15 homers.

➤ RP Hoby Milner: He’s had a great season in a setup role with a 2.35 ERA and 1.110 WHIP in 52 games.

The pitching matchups are scheduled to be:

• Monday, 8:05, YES: Max Fried (2.62 ERA) vs. Patrick Corbin (3.78) who in his first year with Texas is having his best season since 2019 when he pitched with the Nationals before he went into a nightmarish downturn.

• Tuesday, 8:05, YES: Will Warren (4.64) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (1.49) who has been one of the best pitchers in MLB all season and has an insane 5.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 0.893 WHIP.

• Wednesday, 2:35, YES: Carlos Rodon (3.34) vs. Jack Leiter (4.10) who has a rough 1.324 WHIP in 19 starts because he walks too many guys (4.5 per nine innings).