It sounds like two former Yankees greats are not at all satisfied about the team’s current state.
During the FOX Sports pregame show ahead of MLB’s Speedway Classic game between the Braves and Reds that was suspended due to rain on Saturday, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez bluntly criticized their former team.
When asked about the Yankees’ back-to-back losses against the Marlins on Friday and Saturday, Rodriguez wasted no time calling out the pitching performances.
“You can’t make this up,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, look, you can bring in nine relievers, it’s not going to make a difference. I don’t care if you bring back their ’98 bullpen with Mariano [Rivera], Mike Stanton, and Jeff Nelson, if your pitchers are going 3⅓, 4⅓, it’s not going to work.”
The 14-time All-Star added that — even following the Yankees’ trade deadline acquisitions — the team needs to “restructure” their roster.
“Here is my biggest concern,” Rodriguez said. “You bring in seven guys and you’re still miles away from winning a world title. … You’ve got to restructure this roster. I like a lot of the players individually but together it just doesn’t work.”
“I’m not sure where you go from here,” he concluded.
Jeter echoed Rodriguez’s sentiment about the Yankees’ pitching, but also pointed out the amount of mistakes the team has had in recent games.
“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “And you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams. It just doesn’t happen. They had base running mistakes today — you saw the guy getting thrown out at home plate. You can’t continue to do it. You have to clean it up.”
Additionally, Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a base running blunder during Saturday’s loss, getting doubled off at first base following a caught pop fly to Miami’s second baseman.
Jeter then said that the solution for the Yankees was simple — they just have to play better.
“There are no excuses you have to play better,” Jeter added. “If you don’t play better you are not going to go very far.”
Later on in the segment, Rodriguez chimed in and said that there is no accountability for the Yankees players this season.
“Where’s the accountability,” Rodriguez said. “If any one of us made a mistake, we would be sitting out butt right on the bench. I see mistake after mistake and there’s no consequences.”
This comes after a disappointing July for the Yankees which has seen the team fall to third place in the AL East with a 60-51 record, putting them 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Blue Jays.
The Yankees look to avoid being swept by the Marlins on Sunday at 1:40 p.m.
