The Boston Red Sox cruised to victory, 12-1, over the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon. Boston has now won the first three of a four-game series, taking a 1.5-game lead over New York in the AL East standings. That isn’t a huge gap, but the sequence of losses — and especially their embarrassing performance in Saturday’s blowout — should have the Yankees engaging in self-reflection.

Garrett Crochet mowed through the Yankees lineup for seven innings, picking up 11 K’s. That is what it is. Crochet is one of the best arms in MLB. But what Yankees fans simply cannot abide in the 12 runs Boston put on the board opposite them. Will Warren gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings to take the loss. And then, rather than scrapping to the end, New York imploded as Paul Blackburn gave up seven runs over the last 3.1 innings of long relief.

Trevor Story and Carlos Narváez both went deep for the Red Sox, who finished with 17 hits and five walks. Six Red Sox finished the game with multiple knocks. Plus we got another error from the MLB league leader at shortstop, Anthony Volpe. It’s a real marvel.

At a certain point the Yankees need to take stock of this season — everything that has gone wrong and the circumstances in which things have gone wrong — and consider drastic action.

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Yankees need to move on from Aaron Boone

It is borderline impossible to blame the manager for a team’s failures these days. In truth, an MLB manager is more responsible for ego management and PR than he is for what transpires on the baseball diamond. The manager does get final say on substitutions and pitching changes, of course, but so much of that is meticulously and mathematically planned to the Nth degree before the game even starts.

Boone has made some questionable calls to the bullpen this season. It’s also fair to wonder why certain lineup choices are made. But the real reason to fire him, beyond getting embarrassed by the Red Sox in this series and all season, is the faulty wiring at the core of this Yankees squad. The vibes are bad. Nothing is smooth. Everything, from their efforts in the field to their quotes from the clubhouse, feels… off? Like the team has lost the edge that made it so special a year ago.

Losing Juan Soto does that to a clubhouse, of course, but it’s deeper. Volpe has been the worst defender in MLB this season. Straight up, he’s a bad player who is actively hurting his team. While the instinct to protect a young player with Volpe’s pedigree is understandable, there comes a point when the frequent excuses and lack of meaningful change becomes inexecusable. The Yankees are trying to win a World Series, and yet the defense is akin to a bumbling circus on most nights.

Firing Aaron Boone is the last logical step for Yankees

The Yankees need a new voice in the dugout. That much is abundantly clear. While Boone probably won’t get fired midseason with his team 20 games above .500, the Yankees need to have the self-awareness to understand just how disappointing this season has been to date. The Yankees operate by different standards than most of the league. Going 1-8 against Boston and consistently undermining your own success with boneheaded errors — that just won’t cut it.

Booney has an appreciable competitive fire. He loves his dudes and fights hard on their behalf. The problem is, sometimes he needs to flip the script and speak honestly about the shortcomings of his roster and how the team can improve. The constant wave of excuses just makes him look worse when nothing seems to change on the field.

It’s time to start scouting new managers for the Bronx Bombers next season.