The Off-Season: What If?

The Off-Season: What If?

By Tim Kabel

November 15, 2021

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The hot stove season is underway, and Yankees’ fans are speculating. What if the Yankees trade for Matt Olson? What if they sign Carlos Correa? What if they sign Justin Verlander? What if they trade their top prospects?

Part of being a fan is engaging in hypothesis and conjecture. Many hours have been whiled away based on the question: What if? It is a harmless and entertaining activity.

As we sit here on a cold Monday morning in November, about 10 days before Thanksgiving, I propose we play the “What if?” game. We are waiting to see what moves the Yankees make, and there has been a lot of chin wagging about what they will do or might do this offseason. I propose we look back into Yankees history and speculate about what might have been. The point of this activity is for all of us to have fun and think about alternate possibilities.

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What if the Red Sox kept Babe Ruth and did not sell him to the Yankees?

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What if the Yankees didn’t trade Jay Buhner?

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What if any of the five teams who selected in the 1992 draft before the Yankees had taken Derek Jeter?

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What if Mickey Mantle didn’t tear up his right ACL in the 1951 World Series?

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What if Babe Ruth remained a pitcher?

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What if the Yankees didn’t lose Robinson Cano to the Seattle Mariners in free agency?

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What if Thurman Munson never climbed into that plane on August 2, 1979?

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What if the Yankees won the 2001 World Series, and Alfonso Soriano was the World Series MVP?

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What if Aaron Boone did not injure himself playing basketball after the 2003 season?

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What if Reggie Jackson re-signed with the Baltimore Orioles after 1976?

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What if Phil Rizzuto never became an announcer?

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What if the Yankees kept Buck Showalter as manager after the 1995 season and didn’t hire Joe Torre?

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What if the Yankees kept Melky Cabrera instead of Brett Gardner?

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What if Mickey Mantle didn’t believe he was going to die at a young age and took better care of himself?

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What if Ron Guidry’s wife didn’t talk him out of quitting in 1976?

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What if the Yankees didn’t trade Fred McGriff?

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What if Don Mattingly didn’t have chronic back pain that derailed his career?

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What if Jacoby Ellsbury actually played while he was with the Yankees?

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What if Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens didn’t leave the Yankees after 2003 in free agency?

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What if Carl Pavano was not the American Idle while he was a Yankee?

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What if the Yankees didn’t trade Willie McGee?

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What if George Steinbrenner never bought the Yankees?

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What if there had never been free agency?

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What if Lou Gehrig never had ALS?

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What if the Yankees traded Joe DiMaggio for Ted Williams?

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What if George Steinbrenner never met Howie Spira?

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What if the Yankees never moved Mariano Rivera to the bullpen?

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What if Mickey Mantle was not injured at the end of the 1961 season?

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What if the Yankees kept Steve Balboni instead of Don Mattingly?

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What if there was no Mitchell Report?

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What if the 1994 MLB season had been played to its completion?

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What if the 2017 Astros had not cheated?

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What if Tommy John never had successful surgery on his elbow?

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What if Bernie Williams actually signed with the Red Sox after the 1998 season?

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Of course, there are many more “What if?’s we can ask about Yankee history.

I hope this has stirred up some discussion because that’s one of the things the off-season is for. We are devoted to our team but right now, there are no games. We can only dissect the 2021 season so many times and although our primary activity is speculating about the construction of the 2022 team, until something happens, it is just speculation.

I hope you enjoyed this little exercise and hopefully soon we will be discussing actual moves the Yankees have made to prepare for 2022 and beyond.