Anthony Rizzo knows the New York Yankees struggled in 2023. The first baseman wants an answer though. He recently issued a straight-forward message after the Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention.
“You can’t just sit here and say that what we did this year is good enough to go into next year,” Rizzo said, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “You’ve got to, first, look yourself in the mirror and say, why wasn’t this clubhouse good enough? It’s not like the personalities didn’t mesh. There was no divide in here. But over the course of the season, we just didn’t play well enough. There’s stuff behind that, but I think as you get into the offseason even more, you’ll be able to dissect what didn’t go well.”
Yankees' Anthony Rizzo: “Look yourself in the mirror”
Rizzo doesn't believe clubhouse chemistry was the problem. He simply believes the Yankees didn't perform up to their standards. Injuries played a role as well. Rizzo clearly wasn't looking to make excuses and didn't mention that, but New York dealt with no shortage of injury concerns.
The Yankees' underwhelming campaign, despite the underperformance of players and health issues, has led to questions about Aaron Boone's job security.
Boone isn't the primary problem though. New York has built a core of players that consists of many veterans past their primes. Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole are still stars and will lead the team for years to come. Young players like Anthony Volpe provide excitement for the future. That said, the Yankees need to get younger and more athletic overall.
It will be interesting to see how New York approaches their offseason strategy.