The three great disappointments of the American League
The Yankees, Red Sox and Angels are three teams that were favorites to compete for the championship in the MLB but, for different reasons, today they are eliminated with a few days left until the end of the regular season.
The New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels are three teams that have one thing in common during the 2023 Major League Baseball campaign: they have been a disappointment.
The three teams were favorites to compete for the MLB championship but, for different reasons, today they are eliminated with a few days left until the end of the regular season.
What did they fail? Who are responsible?
New York Yankees
Any result that leaves the Yankees out of the postseason is considered a disappointment in the Big Apple. In fact, at some point I hope someone in this office says that anything short of winning the World Series is considered a total failure for the pinstripes.
That said, this edition of the Yankees that is in fourth place in the American League East and missed the postseason for the first time since 2016 has to be among the disappointments of this season. But the failure could go further, as the Yankees could still finish the season with a losing record for the first time since 1992.
Injuries to Anthony Rizzo, who only played in 99 games, Aaron Judge, limited to 101 games and Giancarlo Stanton, who has only seen action in 98 games, with Mendoza’s batting average (.198 and offensive line of . 273/.419). /.692), definitely had a lot to do with this result. Without them for more than a third of the season, New York was 29-for-30 batting .226. Only the disastrous Oakland Athletics were slightly worse in the entire Major Leagues at .224. Their starting pitching, outside of Gerrit Cole (14-4, 2.75 ERA, 1.015 WHIP) was inconsistent throughout the year, despite finishing eighth in collective ERA.
With a payroll of $126 million, it is expected that talk of possible changes in the Mules’ front office and management is already beginning. The winning percentage (.503) is the worst in Aaron Boone’s six years as coach. But injuries to his offensive weapons and throwing beyond his ace were the main reasons there was no October baseball in the Bronx.
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox miss the postseason for the third time in the last four years. It can only be described as a disappointment and a failure for an organization like this. And although not everything is his responsibility, in those four years that Chaim Bloom was at the helm as an executive and in the 2020 and 2022 seasons, the team ended up in the basement of its division. In 2023 they are going down the same path.
Many point out that the Red Sox debacle began from the moment they sent Mookie Betts, one of the best players in all of baseball, to the Los Angeles Dodgers, without receiving any impact piece in return, one of those that changes the course. of a team that is supposed to compete among the best. And despite retaining the Dominican Rafael Devers with a huge contract and solidifying his figure as the present and future of the Red Sox, they are only the eleventh franchise among all baseball rosters. Signings like Trevor Story and Adalberto Mondesi didn’t pan out and the starting rotation was a disappointment. Defense also had a lot to do with it in 2023, with Boston being one of the worst teams in this aspect in the entire Major Leagues.
The Boston Red Sox are an organization that must aim for championships and although their farm system has improved to achieve this, they also need to invest more (and better) as they have done in previous seasons, using 2018, their last World Cup, as an example. Series, where they were the team with the highest payroll in the entire MLB. John Henry, owner of the team, has pointed out after Bloom’s dismissal that the club will take a “new direction.” We are excited to see what will happen.
Los Angeles Angels
Shohei Ohtani showed that he can’t do it alone and the Angels once again failed in their aspirations to reach the MLB postseason by compiling their eighth straight losing season, all in large part due to injuries suffered by Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout, the The Colombian Gio Urshela and Ohtani himself.
After joining the Angels in 2020, injuries limited Rendón in each of the next three seasons, playing less than 60 games (2021) and less than 50 (2022 and 2023). That is, the $245 million for seven years they paid for the free agent in December 2019 has been wasted money. He alone has 22 home runs and 111 RBIs in 200 games in 4 seasons — 34 and 126 in 146 games in 2019 with the Washington Nationals.
Trout missed half the season due to injuries and managed just 18 home runs and 44 RBIs in 82 games. Urshela, acquired in exchange with the Minnesota Twins last November, played only 62 games – out of 162 -, leaving an OBP of .329 and OPS of .703.
For his part, Ohtani decided not to move in search of reaching the playoffs, but injuries left him out as a pitcher and hitter at the end of the campaign, leaving numbers to fight for the Most Valuable Player award, when he goes directly to the agency free.
And, as if that were not enough, the Angels’ pitching completely foundered, since of their five regular starters, only Ohtani had a positive record one week before the end of the campaign. The team’s collective ERA is 12th in the American League. His .245 batting leaves him in eighth place.
