Who Is the Man...?

No, I'm not talking about Shaft.

I mean, who is the person or persons whose departure set off the precipitous drop in the Yankees' organization-wide performance in 2018?

I know that some of you have charitably excused the performance of the team's farm system, for instance, because it was deprived of the services of Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres, El Matador and El Conquistador, performing so admirably in the show this past season.

But I'm afraid that doesn't really account for it.

After all, prior to the 2017, the Yanks' minor leagues had ALREADY coughed up the likes of Gary Sanchez, Austin Romine, Greg Bird, Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, and Jordan Montgomery over the previous few seasons.

And yet, the farm teams were better than ever, almost incredibly good, in 2017.  Take a look at the decline:

Scranton:

2017:  86-55  .610  Best record in the 14-team International League, lost in the playoff finals.
2018:  73-65  .529  Second in their division, lost in the playoff finals.

Trenton:

2017:  92-48  .657  Best record in the 12-team Eastern League, lost in the playoff finals.
2018:  79-61  .564  Second best record, won division, lost in semifinals.

Tampa:

2017:  85-50   .630  Best record in the 12-team Florida State League by 10 games, lost in the semis.
2018:  70-67   .511  Tied for third in division, did not make playoffs.

Charleston:

2017:   76-63  .547  Second in division (and second-best record in the South Atlantic League), lost in the semifinals.
2918:   64-72  .472  Fifth in division, did not make playoffs.

Staten Island:

2017:   46-29  .613  Best record in the 14-team NY-Penn League, lost in the semifinals.
2018:   37-36  .507  Tied for third (and last) in division, did not make playoffs.

Pulaski:

2017:   41-26  .612  Second in division (and second-best record in the Appalachian League), lost in finals.
2018:   32-36  .471  Third in division, did not make playoffs.

Gulf Coast League East:

2017:   33-27  .550  Won division, won league championship in playoffs.
2018:   19-35  .352  Last in division, did not make playoffs.

Gulf Coast League West:

2017:   32-27  .542  Third in division, did not make playoffs.
2018:   25-27  .481  Fourth in division, did not make playoffs.

Dominican Summer League Yankees:

2017:   29-42  .408  Seventh in division, did not make playoffs.
2018:   29-42  .408  Sixth in division, did not make playoffs.


That's right.  The 2017 Yankees' farm system went 520-367 in all, for a .587 winning percentage.  In 4 of its 8 levels, NYY teams had the best record, and in another one, they took the league championship.  There was just one losing team among the 8—at the very lowest level—and 6 of the 8 teams made the playoffs.

In 2018, they had a composite LOSING record, 428-441 .493, won exactly one division title, and made the playoffs in only two instances.

In other words, a total reversal in performance—by almost 100 percentage points—that spoke to considerably more that just promoting the Matador and the Conquistador.

So who is the man who can help his fellow man...play better baseball?

Oh, I know what you're all saying.  This is just due to the players we dealt away, as well as the loss of    Andujar and Torres.

But that still doesn't account for how every single leading player ALSO went backwards in 2018.

More on that next time, you lucky dogs!