The New York Yankees were eliminated in brutal fashion by the rival Boston Red Sox two weeks ago. It was the second time in the last three years they were knocked out by the division rival. It has been 12 years since the last time the Yankees won the American League Pennant.

In that time, the Red Sox has won the world series twice, the Giants have won the world series three times, the Kansas City Royals have been to the world series twice, and the Texas Rangers have been to the World Series twice.

Money certainly isn’t the issue. The Yankees have spent a combined total of $3 billion in payroll since 2009. And yet, they continue to fall short, year after year. It then poses the most obvious question; what is the problem? What are other teams doing that Yankees are not?

If you said it’s the players, you are not necessarily wrong. Several players severely underperformed this season. Players like D.J. LeMahieu who won the batting title last season has dropped his batting average by over 100 points.

But it’s more than the players. It’s more than individual performances. It’s a deeper issue.

The Tampa Bay Rays had a payroll of $71 million, and yet they won 100 games. What do they do right? The analytics. The numbers. The calculations. The Rays analytics department is the best in the game.

If you’re wondering what analytics are, I’ll give you an example. If Joey Gallo, a left-handed hitter, hits the ball on the ground to second base 70% of the time, why wouldn’t you move all your defenders to second base? When Joey Gallo is up, the Rays would move the shortstop near the second basemen. That’s analytics. It’s using the results, and then adjusting, even if it’s not traditional.

In simpler terms, it’s using deeper numbers, or “hidden” numbers, as some would like to say it.

The Yankees fired their third base coach Phil Nevin and fired the hitting coaches, P.J. Pilittere and Marcus Thames, so they understand it could be an internal problem.

In the offseason, the Yankees need to focus on getting faster and more athletic. They lead the American League in “Double Plays Grounded Into” and were last in stolen bases.

But more importantly, they need to believe in the numbers. Believe in the math. It has proved itself again and again to work in Major League Baseball. If you want to compete in the playoffs, you need to buy in to the analytics.

It’s not going to take just one switch to turn the Yankees around. There are three other teams in the AL East alone willing and ready to compete.

Brian Cashman has stated that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win a world series, which would be their first since 2009. We will see if he lives up to that statement.