Yankees President Randy Levine is confident they improve on their slow start to the season and will make a run for the playoffs.
Levine is following the lead of the Hal and Hank Steinbrenner, who have voiced confidence in general manager Brian Cashman, manager Joe Girardi, and the players in the past week.
“I don’t have any frustration level,” Levine said Monday morning at Yankee Stadium. “Last I looked, we’re six-and-a-half out of first, I think that we’re two-and-a-half out of the wild card. I think there’s 90 games left to go. I think the team has underperformed and there’s a lot of talent here.
“Would I rather be in first place? Yeah, I’d rather, but there’s a long way to go. Last I looked, there’s about eight teams in the American League in playoff contention that are a game or two away from us.”
The Yankees open a four-game series with the Texas Rangers, who have the best record in the American League, on Monday night.
This is the start of a crucial five weeks ahead of the trade deadline, in which the Yankees also face top teams like Cleveland, Boston, San Francisco, and Baltimore.
There is big debate on whether the Yankees will be “buyers” or “sellers” at the trade deadline based on where there are in the race on July 31.
“I don’t pay attention (to that),” said Levine. “That’s for you guys. You have nothing more important to write about than to write nonsense about that. When we decide to become sellers, if we decide to become sellers, or if we decide to become buyers, you’ll know about it.
“We have a lot of history here of knowing what we’re doing. A lot of confidence in our baseball operations people, so we’ll see what happens. All the rest of it is just noise.
“I think if you go back over the last couple of years, we were in comparable positions.”
Last year, the Yankees were 41-34 on this date and they played well over the final few months to earn a wild card spot with a record of 87-75.
There is plenty of confidence in the front office, and the Yankees are hoping it carries over to the field.