Yankees and Red Sox: 2 different paths to last place in the AL East

Just over a month into the 2023 MLB season, one quick glance at the American League East standings raises some eyebrows. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees find themselves bringing up the rear behind the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, and Baltimore Orioles.

There is still a lot of time remaining in the season to turn things around but, right now, the case could be made that the teams ahead of them are better than them. How did they get here? They both took different paths.

Boston Red Sox: Offseason roster decisions put them behind the 8-ball

Slowly but surely over the last couple of seasons, the Red Sox have been cutting payroll, something that never happened under the current ownership until recently. Gone from last season are Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Nathan Eovaldi.

Bogaerts left for the San Diego Padres in free agency after Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox would not give him a deal to keep him around long-term. Instead, he joined a loaded Padres roster that is going to be a serious contender in October. Martinez also left for the West Coast, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 35-year-old is hitting .250 this season, but he is a bat that Boston could use right now in the lineup.

The Red Sox rotation has questions, but they had one answer in Eovaldi, but they chose to not re-sign him, instead of bringing in Corey Kluber who has shown that his best days are behind him. With Chris Sale struggling, the Red Sox rotation is still searching for answers with Garret Whitlock ending up on the IL. An offense that struggles at times to score and a pitching staff with questions in the starting rotation and more questions in the bullpen is a recipe for where they are right now, a .500 team.

New York Yankees: Lack of depth on their roster proves costly

The Yankees locked up Aaron Judge over the offseason, but one thing that GM Brian Cashman did not do was supply manager Aaron Boone with depth on his bench. With injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Judge, that is starting to show.

Boone’s options are few and far between. Cashman signed Frenchy Cordero before the first game of the season. If there is one thing that anyone has learned from watching Cordero is that he’s either boom or bust, as in it’s going to be a home run or a strikeout. With Stanton out, Willie Calhoun has been getting at-bats and he has nine hits in 38 at-bats. Yes, replacing Stanton at the plate in terms of production isn’t easy, but there has to be a better option than Calhoun.

Then there’s Aaron Hicks, who seems to find his way into the lineup. When Jake Bauers made his Yankee debut Saturday night against the Texas Rangers, he left after the first inning when he was injured making a sliding catch. The next man up? Hicks. He went 0-for-3 and is hitting a robust .125. Somehow, someway, Cashman needs to get out of that contract. Easier said than done.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubles as an infielder and outfielder for Boone proving to be a flexible piece, however, offensively he’s barely hitting .200, He looks nothing the serviceable piece in 2022. Just another lack of depth piece for Boone and the Yankees. Takeaway the start to the season Gerrit Cole is having and the Yankees could be much further behind everyone else, including the Red Sox, than they already are.

Both the Red Sox and Yankees are bringing up the rear in the AL East and it’s going to be some time before either one can climb out of it. Yes, injuries are a part of sports, and signing key pieces and not allowing them to hit free agency is too. Boston choose not to bring back some key pieces and New York has got nothing in the form of depth to withstand injuries. Two teams with a lot of history are sitting in last place and they both got there in different ways. One let key players walk and another is not built to withstand injuries.