A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

By Paul Semendinger

January 1, 2024

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thank you to all our readers for spending time with us here at Start Spreading the News. We all love talking baseball with you. Let's hope that 2024 is a year we can celebrate some great Yankees baseball together.

I thought it might be fun to imagine what a happy new year in the Yankees world might look like. In that regard, it would be great if the following took place...

Hal Steinbrenner wakes up, paces the floor of his home and heads to Yankee Stadium. He sees tons of Yankees memorabilia celebrating the great Yankees teams and all the past championships. He pauses. He reflects. He realizes that they all came when other men owned the Yankees. He decides that he wants some trophies of his own. He calls up Brian Cashman and says, "The checkbook is open. I don't care about a luxury tax. I don't care what others think. I just want to win. Make it happen."

Brian Cashman, now free of all restraints, becomes the GM he always wanted to be. He starts calling teams and making deals. Each agent is on speed dial. He gives each a very clear message, when you have a client we want, make us the last call. We won't be out bid. We won't make offers that look good if you stand on your head and squint. We'll simply make the best offer. When we want a guy, he needs to play for the Yankees.

Within a week, the Yankees go out and acquire Cody Bellinger, Corbin Burnes, and Jesus Luzardo.

Cashman also calls Aaron Boone and gives him a very clear directive - Win. He says, "You've been a manager for a long time. If you don't know what to do, that's a problem. Going forward the kid gloves are off. There will be no interference from my office. Whatever happens is your responsibility. But the results better be wins."

Spring Training is held with new focus. Derek Jeter instructs Anthony Volpe on all aspects of playing winning ball. He demonstrates why he was where he was on the "Flip Play." Joe Girardi teaches Austin Wells the finer points of catching. Former Yankees greats by the dozens stop by to share what it takes to win.

The Yankees come out of the gate on fire. They win their first six games, lose a close game, and then win seven more in a row. By the end of May, people start wondering if this team is the greatest of all time.

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge start to make people forget about Mantle and Maris and Gehrig and Ruth. At the All-Star break, the Yankees are leading the A.L. East by fifteen games. Soto has 29 homers and 87 runs batted in. Judge has 35 homers and 102 runs batted in.

It continues like this all season.

By August 1, Jasson Dominguez is fully healed. He begins the year at Triple-A and bats .435 over ten games. He gets called up and continues hitting.

Aaron Boone becomes a master at balancing playing time between Trent Grisham, Alex Verdugo, Giancarlo Stanton, Soto, Judge, and Dominguez in the outfield and designated hitter. He also adroitly balances the playing time at second and third base between Gleyber Torres, Oswald Peraza, and DJ LeMahieu. There is no need to balance anything at shortstop, Anthony Volpe plays every inning of every game and bats a remarkable .337/25/75 with 104 stolen bases. People don't just compare him to Derek Jeter, they also start saying Ozzie Smith in the same sentence with Volpe when discussing his defense.

The Yankees clinch the division on August 20.

At Old Timer's Day, all of the great Yankees return. There is a special celebration for Roy White who is honored with a well-deserved plaque in Monument Park. Graig Nettles is told that he'll be honored in 2025.

At season's end, Soto and Judge each end the season with 65 homers. Giancarlo Stanton hit 42 of his own. Cody Bellinger added 37, as did Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres.

Gerrit Cole goes 25-6. Corbin Burnes also wins 20 games. Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes each have 16-5 records and Jesus Luzardo strikes out a remarkable 312 batters. Baseball writers start to wonder if the Cy Young Award can be givem to a starting rotation rather than just one man.

Word comes that Yoshinobu Yamamoto is seen in Beverly Hills lamenting the fact that he didn't sign with the Yankees.

The Yankees sweep through the playoffs. They win every post season game. To celebrate, the Yankees have parades in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

At the parade, Hal Steinbrenner grabs a microphone and says, "That was awesome, but if you think we were good in 2024, just wait until next year, we're going to be even better!"

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Well, that would certainly make 2024 a very happy year...