Yes, it’s early in the season. Sure, there is still plenty of time to fix the problem and have a great season. However, just because it can get fixed later doesn’t mean it doesn’t annoy in the meantime. So let’s examine three of those early annoyances the Yankees are causing their fans to curse the organization over, shall we?

EARLY ANNOYANCE #1: BULLPEN WOES

The bullpen this year has been an issue, to say the least. Now, being able to secure important outs when the team’s offensive output warrants the victory is a serious backbreaker for the team. Lockdown bullpens have become a staple of the way MLB is played today. And for the Yankees, they are no exception to this mindset. Now, the bullpen woes can also come from mismanagement of the bullpen, as well. And that happens far too often with Aaron Boone at the helm. Can anyone explain the love affair with Jake Bird? A reliever who the Yankees traded away quality prospects (like TJ Rumfield, who’s hitting over .300 for the Colorado Rockies, at the time of this writing), and Bird can’t even get outs consistently.

Boone’s incompetent bullpen mismanagement goes beyond selecting the wrong relievers at the wrong time; it’s also leaving guys in far too long when they clearly don’t have it that day. Fernando Cruz is a tremendous reliever, but you can tell from the first pitch that he throws whether or not he has it that day. And yet when Cruz clearly doesn’t have control of his pitches, Boone will leave him out there beyond the three-batter minimum, because this is the “lane” the Yankees’ analytical staff was to use Cruz. Time and time again, especially through this early stretch of losing baseball the Yankees have been playing, not having the relievers close out or, at the bare minimum, maintaining shutdown innings after the offense gave them the lead is detrimental to the success of the team.

EARLY ANNOYANCE #2: LACKLUSTER OFFENSE

The Yankees’ woes over this stretch don’t begin and end with the bullpen or their mismanagement; the offense has played a huge role as well in the struggles of the team. Offensively, the essential same core (remember this is the “run it back” Yankees) was amongst the best in most offensive categories in 2025, as we’ve heard so through several early-season broadcasts on the YES Network. And while it’s essentially the same core, the early returns on the offense have not yet yielded similar results. Again, yes, it’s early, and there is still time for this team to find its footing. No one in the lineup is really hitting. Well, other than Giancarlo Stanton through the first five games of the year, and then Boone’s genius idea to have a “scheduled” day off seemed to cool Stanton off instantly. And while no offense can be successful in baseball relying on just one man, the Yankees will only go as far as Aaron Judge leads them. And so far, the Captain is off to a slow start. Judge is slashing .234/.329/.547 with six home runs and twelve RBIs. And while mere mortals would love to have those numbers through the team’s first seventeen games, Judge has not been a mere mortal, and the Yankees can ill-afford for him to be, to achieve their “stated” goal of winning the World Series.

EARLY ANNOYANCE #3: BEN RICE EVERY DAY FIRST BASEMAN OR NOT?

All offseason long, we heard that Ben Rice was the everyday first baseman. And that even when Paul Goldschmidt resigned with the team, his role would be significantly diminished from last season. Goldschmidt, who was the fifth-worst righty hitter off right-handed pitching in 2025, would only play against tough lefties when the Yankees would give Rice a day off. Welp, as former daytime television host Maury would say, “the test determined that was a lie.” Looking back at even just the last five games or so, Ben Rice has seemingly been sitting more than playing. And that includes starts that come against right-handed pitching in favor of Goldschmidt. Now, yes, I understand there’s a balance that needs to be struck when it comes to playing time for Goldy, because too much time off makes him ineffective when his number gets called. HOWEVER, not playing the true best option when Rice is healthy and available is an egregious mistake and mismanagement of the lineup and offensive personnel.

HOW TO HANDLE THE ANNOYANCE?

It’s never been a secret that the Boone signing has stirred up controversy and rage amongst the fanbase. And that’s when decisions, such as we’ve detailed here, are staring daggers back in the face of fans who don’t have as much familiar lineage with the game of baseball as Aaron Boone does, who should know better than to make many of the boneheaded decisions that are made, fans get upset. At the end of the day, what fans want is to win. And while yes, in the game of baseball, it is utterly ridiculous to suggest that a team will win every day. However, the laissez-faire approach to each game as if the win total will just “be there” at the end of the season is what drives fans to the brink of insanity. Just look at the first repeat champions in a quarter century, the Los Angeles Dodgers, they’ve won back-to-back World Series, but they didn’t rest on their laurels. No, LA went out and got arguably the best closer in the game in Edwin Diaz, and went and got the best available bat on the market too in Kyle Tucker. The Yankees need to start having a much more aggressive mindset when it comes to approaching every aspect of this team and organization. It’s been sixteen seasons since the Yankees were the last team standing. And if the team continues on their current trajectory, 2026 will make it year number seventeen. Which, a championship drought of that length in the Bronx might as well feel like the last time the Yankees won anything, dinosaurs roamed the earth. Obviously, that’s a very facetious statement, but it’s to emphasize a point; it seems like every other organization is making the inroads needed to win. But the Yankees are clinging to their old ways of doing things, which just aren’t getting the job done anymore. It’s time for a change, or at least that’s how these early annoyances are enraging fans of the team in the Bronx.