New York Yankees fans affronted by owner Hal Steinbrenner not understanding why they are upset at team’s performance: "This guy is so out of touch"

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner continues to roil the team's fanbase as it muddles through a mediocre first two-plus months of the season.

In an interview on "The Michael Kay Show" on the team's YES Network, Steinbrenner said:

"I want to know what the vibe is out there, and I understand they're a upset. I'm a little confused this year, being the third week of June, why they're upset."

The New York Yankees enter Wednesday's game with a record of 40-33, 10 games out of first place in the ultra-competitive American League East. Hal Steinbrenner's team defeated the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, but were still stinging after a three-game weekend sweep at the hands of their oldest rival, the Boston Red Sox.

It will take some doing for the New York Yankees to overcome the 10-game lead currently held by the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Hal Steinbrenner's team also trails the division's second-place team, the resurgent Baltimore Orioles, by five games, and hold just a half-game lead on the fourth-placed Toronto Blue Jays.

The New York Yankees are hanging on to the final slot in the AL Wild Card race by a half game over the Blue Jays and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros. The Astros have defeated New York the past three times that the Bronx Bombers have made it to the AL Championship Series.

If the Yankees were to slip out of the Wild Card race, it would mark the first time since 2016 that New York failed to make the postseason. The Yankees have failed to advance to the playoffs only four times this century.

What really may be rankling New Yorkers is the seeming probability that the Yankees will fail to win the MLB championship for yet another season, increasing the gulf of time since the team last won the World Series in 2009.

The Yankees have won an MLB-best 27 championships in the 121-year existence of the team.

Hal Steinbrenner has been New York Yankees chairman since 2007

Yankees principal owner Hal Steinbrenner greets Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees during a press conference at Yankee Stadium on December 21, 2022

Hal Steinbrenner was elected the Yankees' chairman in 2007, as his father George ceded day-to-day control of the team to him and his brother Hank. In 2008, MLB owners approved the shift of day-to-day control of the team to him.