The Yankees' current meltdown is either the 2025 team reliving itself... or relieving itself.

Today, I hereby invoke the Iron Rule of Yankee History: 

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to bring in Scott Proctor.

Never has our crippled and crusty past shown more relevance than with the 2026 Yankees, a veritable carbon copy of last year. 

Sherman, set the Wayback for April 13, 2025 - one year ago, to the day: 

At 7-6, the Yankees sit in 2nd place in the AL East, one half-game behind the Hateful Rays. They started 2025 with a three-game sweep, then fell into a mini-funk. Soon, they'll wake up, launching a 5-game win streak that will elevate them into 1st by May 1. They'll finish April five over .500, at 18-13.

Their breakout April surprise will be Trent Grisham, a career .216 hitter and 4th OF, who - on this date last year is hitting .344 with 3 HRs, and winning Aaron Boone's favor. Grish will finish April at .292 with 8 dingers, a month nobody anticipated and that he will never repeat. (To be fair, he will hit 10 HRs in August, though hitting .243.)

Today, in 2026, Grisham is hitting .133 without a HR, with 4 measly RBIs - disturbingly closer to his career numbers. This weekend, in Tampa, he was dropped from the leadoff spot, down to the bottom of a batting order that should be nicknamed the Edmund Fitzgerald. ("Fellas, it's been good to know yaaaa!") 

As everybody knows... the Yankees' re-signing of Grisham became the fulcrum point of last winter. As soon as Grish accepted their $22.5 million, one-year qualifying offer, any plans for a 2026 rebuild flew out the window. Suddenly, Jasson Dominguez had no place on this roster. Neither did Spencer Jones. The franchise's two most interesting prospects were either stowaways or trade chum. The front office didn't have the guts to deal them - the Yankiverse was roiled enough, as it is - so they became Scranton Railriders. 

This weekend, The Martian continued to dominate Triple A: He went 2-4 yesterday and is batting .354. He seems to be wasting his time. Jones, on the other hand, has four Golden Sombreros and looks disillusioned by the swings and misses. This weekend, he went 2-8, to push his BA above .200. He has two home runs. 

It's too early to dismiss the 2026 Yankees, who, despite losing five straight, are tied for 1st with Tampa and Baltimore. Like last year's team, they have squandered a season-opening sweep, which could have provided a bit of separation from Boston and Toronto, their two main Babadooks. 

If this continues as a rerun of 2025, it means a long, hard slog, which might not offer a happy outcome. 

Soon, something will happen to this team. It sleepwalked in Tampa, and the front office will shake things up. Or an injury will create pressures - and opportunities - for players who are currently stuck in time. Whatever happens, I say, bring it on. It cannot come soon enough. 

Yankee fans do not want to relive 2025. Somewhere out there, Scott Proctor is torching his glove and jersey at home plate, and he is laughing. Fellas, it's been good to know yaaaaa.