Yankees fans agree that the Rizzo Clock is ticking

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Almost everything is clicking these days for the Yankees, but there are still issues to solve and places to improve. Perhaps the biggest question mark is at first base with Anthony Rizzo. The situation is concerning enough that we issued a poll asking Yankee fans how much longer they would keep running Rizzo out there every day before pulling the trigger on a change.

Players with a long track record will earn a bit of leeway when it comes to slumps, but Rizzo’s mid-May to early-June swoon was so deep that it’s fair to question whether he’s long for the starting lineup. There are enough points of concern dating back to last season and into 2024 to force one to at least the contemplate change, and the Yankees themselves acknowledged the issue by giving Rizzo some time off last weekend to clear his head and reset.

Yankees fans agree that the Rizzo Clock is ticking

Interestingly enough, the two options closest to the middle were the ones that got the most votes. Keep in mind that this isn’t a prediction of what the team will do, simply the approach most fans would take.

The end of June prediction is basically two and a half weeks. Rizzo is no Aaron Judge, but it takes something awfully close to a Judge-esque run to turn around your season in that time period. The trade deadline option nearly as many votes, and represents a more patient option.

Any discussion of benching Rizzo has to touch on the plans to fill first base moving forward. The Yankees will have to make decisions on a number of fronts, with Jasson Domínguez mashing through the minors and knocking on the door to the majors. That said, Dominguez’s recovery just leaves an outfield logjam; none of the Yankees’ outfielders profile as someone they can just plug at first base.

If you’re looking to replace Rizzo without going to the market, the issue is that the substitutes don’t necessarily justify virtually quitting on an everyday player. DJ LeMahieu could go to first with Oswaldo Cabrera taking a more regular role at third, but neither of those guys is playing any better than Rizzo right now, In the minors, there aren’t any top prospects bursting through the door who’d make this an easy decision, either.

Any realistic change probably goes through the trade market. With the addition of the third Wild Card and a National League in which you have almost everyone still in it, the number of sellers is not large. That being said, we’ve already seen the Padres go out there and acquire Luis Arráez and the Dodgers try to plug a hole in the bottom of the order with the Cavan Biggio trade, so there are always moves to be made.

Ultimately, this is Rizzo’s position to lose for now, without even necessarily needing to be the guy who carried this offense in some moments early last year. These days, the Yankees just need him to be OK.