Yankees and Jeter Running to the Sunset

Jeter and Prado have fist bumped for the last time.

If you still held out hope that the Yankees could somehow grab an AL wild card spot, you can completely forget it now. The team that has been dropping like flies in losses and manpower, is now completely done. Versatile Martin Prado, who has been one of the few players to swing a consistently good bat, is done for the rest of the year after his appendix decided it wanted to come out.

Yes, what you hear is the final nail being hammered into the 2014 coffin. Feel free to add any other cliche you would like. The announcement that Prado's season was done was met with laughter and not just by me. No, I don't think it's funny that Prado needed surgery. It is gallows humor, because just about everything that could go wrong with this team has gone wrong. Injuries, sub-par seasons, overpaid/underachieving players shuttling in and out of the lineup. It's been miserable.

Last night's walk-off loss, the third in the last five games came as no surprise. There was no anger on my part, just a resigned, "I knew that would happen" attitude. And that's coming from one of the most optimistic fans you will find. But the writing has been on the wall for this season for some time. And it's a shame, but that's what happens when you give tons of money to the wrong people, collect a roster full of elderly players, and don't make front office changes. I never liked the way George Steinbrenner handled things in his heyday, but Hal needs to start wielding a front office axe or the Yankees dry spell for the playoffs will be a lot longer than two years.

Derek Jeter's mediocre season in a mediocre year has made it even touger to watch games over these last six months. The Captain, in the midst of an 0-24 skid at the plate, sat out last night's l-0, 9th inning loss to Tampa Bay. Just 13 games remain in Jeter's final season. His last home game is a week from Thursday before a three game adios in Fenway Park. It's been a more disappointing season than Mariano Rivera's final bow in 2013. The Yankees' closer was still sharp and saved 44 games. The long-time Yankees' shortstop has seen his average dip to .250, his on-base PCT. to .298 and his OPS to a sickly .596.

Yes, those are the worst numbers of Jeter's career for any season in which he has played in 100 or more games. And THAT has been every season except 1995, when he got a brief call up and the injury riddled 2013 season. (His lowest OPS in a 100+ season until this point was .710 in 2010)

Hopefully, Jeter has one more run in him. A streak of singles and doubles, and perhaps one last home run in him before the season ends. That's all Yankees' fans have to hope for now.