The New York Yankees are in quicksand right now. Every night just brings them another set of frustrations. The Bronx fans were hopeful for the trade deadline overhaul. It was, after all, supposed to patch one of their most pressing issues—their leaky bullpen. Instead, just days later, it exposed even more cracks than the fans could imagine. It was the fastest unraveling of an acquisition!

On Monday night, with a one-run lead in the ninth, Aaron Boone turned to Devin Williams to lock it down. What followed was all too familiar. Joc Pederson, he of the sub-.130 average, took Williams deep to tie the game. Just one inning later, Josh Jung launched a walk-off homer off Jake Bird. Ouch. Another blown lead, another big loss, and after the Marlins sweep, this hurts more.

So, of course, someone had to pay the price for the errors. You would think that it would be Williams; after all, Bird just came in. Isn’t acclimatization a thing? Well, no, because Bird was optioned to Triple-A. And before anyone questions why, Boone is already ready to answer why!

Boone mentioned to Talkin’ Yanks, “Yeah. I mean, look, I think with Bird—and I told him this last night—you know, he had been struggling a little bit before he got to us. I think part of it was just, you know, he’d been used a lot. It feels like he could use a little bit of a reset. We think he’s really good, and we think he’s not only going to be good for us, hopefully the rest of this year, but also moving forward after this year too.” It is for sure a vote of confidence in Bird’s long-term value. But it’s also a nod that he is not fitting the team at the moment. And well, didn’t they already know that before getting him? Because Bird’s been struggling for a while now.

In Bird’s final month with the Rockies, he had a crazy 14.82 ERA. Whatever upside the Yankees saw clearly has not shown yet. In three games with the New York Yankees, he allowed six earned runs in two innings. But it doesn’t scrap the fact that he has been in pinstripes for just a week now. Plus, Boone seems to have huge faith in Devin Williams, which seems conditional at this point.

“We’ve got really good guys down there, Devin included,” Boone had said. But well, Williams has now allowed six runs in his last seven outings. His season ERA is at 5.10, and it’s a shocking fall from the dominance he had shown in Milwaukee. So many are left scratching their heads on why Bird so quickly paid the price. For now, though, the closer position remains in flux again.

Austin Wells’ cold bat puts the Yankees in a tough spot

The New York Yankees are in a tough spot and have plenty of headaches this summer. Even Aaron Judge is out of the picture, and he has the Bronx insiders calling him to come not just to bat but also to captain the team. However, one of the quieter but more significant concerns that’s making noise now is catcher Austin Wells being ice cold at the plate.

After a promising rookie year, where you saw him slug 13 homers and even finish third in AL Rookie of the Year, he looked to be on the way to being a key piece. He even started the season hot and slashed. 224/.288/.464 with 11 homers and nearly 2 WAR by mid-June. But since then, it’s been dead silent. In fact, from June 16 to August 3, he has been unwatchable with the bat. He is hitting just .180 with a dreadful .557 OPS.

To put into context how bad it is, it is the second-worst among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances in that span. His 51 wRC+ is equally brutal. He has notched just three hits in his last 10 games and hasn’t had a multi-hit game since before the All-Star game, even. Plus, remember his baserunning blunder against the Rays? He forgot the number of outs and got himself tagged out after a bunt, killing the inning. They won the game, but that mental lapse left Yankees fans gasping for air.

Now presently, the New York Yankees don’t need more question marks—and unless Wells turns around the gear, he might end up out of the picture too.