The cure for the Yankees’ issues is easy, according to David Wells: send everyone to the minor leagues.
The bombastic former Yankees’ ace stirred the pot Saturday during Old-Timer’s Day by saying the team’s worst season since the early 1990s is not the fault of general manager Brian Cashman, but of underperforming players. And there is one thing Welle would like Cashman to do differently.
“If I was a GM, I would start sending a message: I don’t care who it was, if he’s in the stink hole … send that son of a gun to Triple-A or Double-A,” Wells told reporters ahead of the Yankees’ 9-2 loss to the Brewers. “Send him a wake-up call. They did it to me. They did it to a lot of us back in the day.
“I don’t care how much money you’re making. Send a message to him and let him sit down there and go think about it. That’s what you have to do.”
There is no shortage of highly paid, underperforming players on the Yankees’ roster to whom Wells’ edict might apply, though veterans have to consent to being optioned to the minors. Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo are among those who have endured brutal stretches at the plate this year, though Rizzo’s was eventually discovered to be due to an undiagnosed concussion.
Wells, who spoke with medical tape covering the Nike logo on his Yankees jersey, gave his opinion on the sportswear brand — which he said he hates because “they’re woke,” as is Bud Light, he said. Following Bud Light’s collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, he said, he will never drink it again.
“We’re in a different world,” Wells said. “That’s why everyone should carry a gun.”
Wells added that he has issues with the way players are treated in baseball today, which he sees as soft.
“I think now they coddle [the players] too much,” he said. “They baby them. And they don’t let them do what they do. It’s up to your peers to make you better. … That’s what you don’t see anymore. You don’t see the guys getting in each other’s face. And it’s not a personal thing. You’re here to win and that’s what we try to do and that’s what I think. Just seeing from my perspective looking in, they don’t have that kind of camaraderie anymore.”
Cashman, he said, should be spared blame, despite having signed all of the players Wells faults.
“I love Cash. He’s doing his job, but he’s got a boss and all that,” Wells said. “He’s getting the blame for a lot of things. And I told people on Twitter, it always seems that the GM, the managers and all that are getting fired and blamed for it. It’s the players.”
The Yankees sent relievers Ron Marinaccio and Matt Krook to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following the loss.
Aaron Judge was named the Yankees’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award as the player whose character and community involvement best represents baseball.
