The New York Yankees stormed out of the gates this season looking like juggernauts. They had key pieces — despite losing Juan Soto —and for a while, they were lights out. But just as quickly as things were on a high for them, it went down bad since June 13th. The shine has worn off, and they have gone 20-29 in that span. They are third in the AL East at 62-55, and sure, that playoff dream is alive — but barely. They hold just a half-game lead over the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot.

This slump has put Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman even more in the spotlight. Whispers about Boone being replaced, and names of replacements, have started coming in, too. Plus, it doesn’t help with the skipper after losses to even the Marlins in a sweep when he ends up defending his players like Devin Williams.

Boone, however, is holding on to hope, leaning on Joe Torre for some perspective. After all, Torre reminded him of the 2000 Yankees, who had stumbled into the postseason but won it nevertheless. But for now, it’s all talk for fans. And now, even ex-Yankee players are talking about the hot seat, Boone, the leadership, and how exactly all these costly investments have led to nowhere.

Now, many fingers are pointing to what the main issue is. Some point to players, some to luck, some to the management, and some well… simply Williams. If you ask former Yankee Clint Frazier, the root cause of the issue seems to be with the management. “For me, it’s like being in that locker room and kind of knowing the temperature of the team right now, which is pretty thawed. They’re pretty cold right now. And knowing that with every waking second, it’s a pressure builder. The fans are getting upset. The team is starting to hear the noise on the outside. The media is licking their lips every single time these guys aren’t performing. When you put all that together, it’s kind of a recipe for disaster because ultimately they’re staring themselves in the mirror and they’re not seeing the same person they saw a few weeks ago. Now they’ve got a big crack in their armor. And ultimately, like I said, this is not a slander podcast, but they suck right now,” said Frazier on his podcast.

For Frazier, the issue is not just about the slump; it’s about common sense and how players are not being used tactfully. “How do you have all that money invested in a team and you don’t perform? Players are playing out of position, and pitchers are being thrown into situations they’re not built for. You’re setting guys up to fail.” And that is true, isn’t it? David Bednar’s first outing is the best example. The newly acquired reliever was thrown into a six-out save with a career-high pitch count before he even settled in with the team.

Moreover, Frazier has seen this management issue firsthand. During his time with the New York Yankees, he was put into left field—the toughest place to be in Yankee Stadium. And he had not even played that position professionally. So these choices do chip away at the players’ confidence and performance, and that’s a huge problem apart from the roster one.

The Yankees, for now, do need to make sharper decisions and return to the “Yankee way,” which kind of defined them. It’s something that they truly have not embodied since 2009. Now, this uproar on leadership and management issues has started getting loud, even legends sounding off about it. Boone needs to be out is the online mantra for the pinstripe fans, and if the Yanks don’t get to the playoffs this season, Hal Steinbrenner would have no choice.

Yankees’ luck is so bad, even Mariano Rivera gets hurt.

If you needed a perfect example of how the New York Yankee season is going, here it is—even Mariano Rivera couldn’t escape the tough luck—he got injured. On Saturday, the Yankees had brought back the old-timers’ day; it is a tradition where fans get to see their favorite legends lace up once again. Big names like Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and, of course, Rovers were present.

For a few innings, it was simply Bronx magic there. Rivera even singled off Pettitte and jogged to first without an issue. Then came the bottom half of the inning. Playing center field, Rivera took a step and then suddenly crumpled. He tried to get back up and went down again. What looked like something minor turned out to be a torn Achilles, it seems, and his agent confirmed he would need surgery.

Clemens, speaking on WFAN during the Yankee game against the Astros, said everyone thought it was a hamstring. But, well, it’s worse than that. It’s hard not to think about Jeter’s comment last year, right? He had mentioned that he wouldn’t play at the event with the fear of getting hurt—and it came true—so he was onto something. Plus, Derek Jeter even went on to skip this meet-up. Whether it was his daughter’s birthday or this game, only he can say. Still, plenty of former Yankee players embraced that risk factor. Pettitte, for example, loved being out there, and for fans it was splendid. There is not much to celebrate for the Yankees this time around, so it was a magical experience to watch the players from the glory days of the Bronx.