The New York Yankees stink.

Despite getting another MVP-level campaign from Aaron Judge and a fantastic season from Juan Soto, the Yankees have cooled off immensely after a red-hot start, losing 17 of their last 25 games. They're still comfortably in the playoff picture but if things don’t turn around quickly, they'll easily drop out.

The Yankees have reached a new low point after getting smacked around by the New York Mets on national television, culminating a sweep of the Subway Series for the Mets. All the expectations of winning have started to crumble for the Bronx Bombers.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone hasn’t done much to correct the team's course. At the very least, he’s willing to admit that they have to play a heck of a lot better than they have been, according to Jorge Castillo of ESPN.

“We got to play better, OK?” Boone said, via ESPN. “We have it right in front of us. We're a really good team that has played s—ty of late. We need to be better. I'm not going to define stretch, this or that. We got to go win, right? And we're right there. We're watching other teams struggle around us. We know we got to be better. We're pissed off in there. We got a lot of pride in there. We got a lot of expectation in there. So, stretch, slump, recent, I don't give a s—. It's we got to play better the rest of the way.”

Yankees need big trade deadline to turn 2024 season around

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The trade deadline can only offer so much help for a team with only three hitters that opponents have to worry about. The Yankees have to make a trade to beef up their lineup. Aside from Judge, Soto and youngsters Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells, just about anybody can be moved in favor of an upgrade.

There have been lots of rumors linking New York to Jazz Chisholm Jr. but, for dumb reasons, the Yankees seem to be distancing themselves from him. Striking a blockbuster for Luis Robert Jr. may not be in the cards but adding someone like Taylor Ward to the outfield would make for a great addition. Without some fresh talent, the Yanks don’t seem to have the juice to salvage what’s left of 2024.

The Yankees have to prove to Soto that they’re worth staying with. The superstar outfielder is about to be a free agent. To avoid the nightmare scenario of him leaving for nothing, they have to start making strides toward putting a winning team around him and Judge.