$295 Million Yankees Are Having Their Worst Season In Decades

The New York Yankees are rapidly becoming another example of the perils of spending money poorly.

The 2023 Major League Baseball season has been rife with expensive disappointments. Out west, the San Diego Padres have stumbled to a 44-48 start, despite investing heavily with free agents and trades.

In their own city, the New York Mets, with baseball's highest payroll, have just a 13% chance of making the postseason.

Quietly, the Yankees have been struggling mightily themselves.

According to Fangraphs, their playoff odds have fallen below 50%, after peaking in April at 87%.

As recently as July 4th, that number stood at 75%. But a 4-6 stretch and two consecutive losses have dimmed hopes in the Bronx.

Even more impressively though, this run of poor form means the Yankees are officially having one of their worst seasons in decades.

Before the Boston Red Sox loss on Saturday, the Yankees were tied for last place in the American League East.

With the July 15th date, that marked the latest date in the season for New York to be in a tie for last since 1992. If they fall further, it'd be the latest in the season they'd been in last place by themselves since 1990.

That's not what you want to see for a $295 million investment.

Jun 9, 2023; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) gathers his thoughts before taking the mound against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees Have Big Holes, Not Many Options

There are numerous explanations for the team's disastrous July.

Aaron Judge continues to miss time, which has had an obvious impact on the Yankees offense.

Luis Severino has struggled, to put it mildly.

After years of being an above average to star level pitcher, Severino has a 7.38 ERA through nine starts resulting in a -0.4 WAR.

As a team, the Yankees wRC+ is just 96, compared to the league average of 100.

They also rank 21st out of 30 teams in pitching WAR, and are middle of the pack in fielding.

When you're not particularly good in any one area, it's hard to win games. And the Yankees are not winning games.

That said, hope isn't entirely lost. Judge reportedly took batting practice recently, with the team hoping for a return this month.

The trade deadline could offer opportunities to improve. Whether with Derek Jeter's suggestion, or even loftier targets.

READ: DEREK JETER SUGGESTS YANKEES SHOULD MAKE MASSIVE TRADE AT THE DEADLINE

And with the tough competition in the AL East, despite their position near the bottom, they're just two games out of a wild card spot.

Improvements around the margins of the roster, Judge's return and talent acquisitions could propel the Yankees back into serious contention.

Or the lack of pitching could prove too difficult to overcome, and trades could result in disappointing returns.

One thing's for certain however, investing $295 million to have the worst season in 30 years is not what Yankees fans or ownership wanted to see.