Yankees fans expect worst season since 1992

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The outlook isn’t brilliant for the ol’ Bronx Nine. For the second consecutive August, the Yankees have been rancid, and unlike 2022, they were also outright bad in July. Really, they’ve been sinking like a rock since Aaron Judge got hurt at Dodger Stadium in early June. Their lack of depth was truly exposed and in wake of that fateful series, their 24-36 record is worse than all but three American League teams: the A’s, White Sox, and Royals.

Even with Judge back and playing through pain in August with the team desperate to get back in the race, they’ve been lifeless as ever with a 5-10 mark this month. At 6.5 games behind in the Wild Card, FanGraphs now has their playoff odds at 2.3 percent, and this organization that for so long in 2023 has argued that it’s “championship-caliber” is at a downright comical 0.1 percent to win it all.

So it shouldn’t surprise anyone whatsoever that Yankees are fans are, shall we say, not bullish about the odds of this team ending 2023 with too many wins. Check out our poll results below:

Kyle Thele

For 30 years in a row, the Yankees have posted winning seasons, which is the second-longest streak in MLB history (behind only the Gehrig/DiMaggio/Mantle Yankees from 1926 through 1964). This team, however, sits at 60-61 entering play on Friday, and with two and a half months of listless baseball behind them, it’s hard to envision a path to true improvement.

New York’s worst record since that losing 1992 is the 84-78 mark they posted during their retooling season of 2016. The polls are not optimistic about them beating that — only eight percent have them at 85 wins or better. (We salute the optimistic one percent out there at 90-plus). Forty-nine percent have them at 79 wins or worse, though the thoroughly mediocre 80-to-84 spread barely carries the plurality over 75-to-79. No matter how you slice it, a sizeable chunk of Yankees think that this is the most uninspiring team in a generation.

For those curious about the MLB-wide polls this past week, they centered on two of the best teams in the league. The Orioles are poised to easily snatch the AL East crown away from the reigning champion Yankees en route to their first playoff berth in seven years and first division title since 2014. The only competition they have to worry about for the latter involves the Rays, who are two games out.

The Orioles came just shy of a Wild Card spot in their resurgent 2022, but no one expected them to run roughshod over the Junior Circuit to this degree just one year later. So they’re the easy league-wide pick for biggest surprise of 2023, though the Reds going from 100 losses to NL Central contenders in a hurry did merit a fifth of the votes.

Kyle Thele

As for the question of MLB’s best team at the moment? Well, we just saw them absolutely flatten the Yankees across three games in the Peach State.

The Braves’ lineup is stacked with menacing names, a solid portion of the roster still remains from their 2021 champions, and they’re doing their best to channel those great ‘90s teams by approaching their sixth-straight division title. With a 105-win pace, they are the best team in baseball and World Series favorites.

Kyle Thele

The only question is whether another Senior Circuit team like the ever-present Dodgers or 2022 pennant-winning Phillies has a playoff upset in them. Otherwise, the road to the Commissioner’s Trophy will run through Cobb County.

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