The Yankees have an incredible line-up top to bottom. They actually had a great off season. The Yankees improved their rotation and their bullpen and found adequate placeholders for Didi Gregorius until he is able to take the field. Many fans and bloggers think the Yankees should have done more. Signing Manny Machado or Bryce Harper to ridiculously long contracts may have helped in the short term. The fact of the matter is the Yankees really didn’t need to sign those payers. Baseball is a business, and although it’s easy to say that the Yankees have the money and they should spend it, at the end of the day it’s not our money and it wasn’t our decision. Love or hate Brian Cashman, if you compare his signings and trades to what other GM’s have done over the past ten years, I put my faith in him 100%.
***
It’s come to my attention that there are many members of the media that create false rumors or speculation just to get readers or sell papers. Just because something is logical to one person in the media does not mean that it’s real. Case in point – the stories around Nolan Arenado. Did the Yankees ever say that they were interested in signing him if he had reached free agency? Of course they did not, but many media members led us to believe that this was the Yankees’ intention. This was used by some as a reason for them to not go after Manny Machado. Sure, the writers were careful with their words in order to not come out and say this directly, but they gave a strong implication that the Yankees were going to go after Arenado. Often times what is written is just speculation written as fact.
***
The last couple of months have been difficult for me to say the least. My brother passed away in January due to a seizure that caused him to fall down the stairs and now my father is in ICU with a bowel obstruction, and at the age of 76, may be not long for this world as well. The Yankees are my outlet my passion and my entertainment for most of the year. The season can’t come soon enough.
***
I am going to make five bold pre-season predictions. (We can look at these again in October to see how I did.)
Greg Bird will win the starting job at first base over Luke Voit. It will be a close battle, but in the end, the fact that Bird bats left-handed and plays better defense will win him the job. Voit will start at Triple A and will likely be traded by mid-season.
C.C. Sabathia will make fewer than 15 starts. CC has had a great run and will hopefully be a Hall-of-Famer with a Yankees cap, but with his heart and his knees being concerns, I think Jordan Montgomery or Johnathan Loaisiga (or perhaps even someone gained thru a mid-season trade) will be manning that rotation spot in August and September. My money is on Jordan Montgomery.
Didi Gregorius will be back and better than ever by August first.
Tulo will show that he still has it and will get plenty of starts even after Didi Gregorius returns. Because of Tulo’s playing, Didi will see some time at DH.
Giancarlo Stanton will spend more time in left field than he did last year. There is no debate that Stanton is a workhorse. He will probably send Brett Gardner to the bench more often than one would have thought before the season began.
My bonus prediction is that Tyler Wade finally shows that he has what it takes to be serviceable in the majors and will lead the team in stolen bases from a bench spot that he will win out of spring training.
Obviously, the goal for the Yankees is to make the World Series, and, as they look on paper, they have a good chance of making a run. I don’t think Boston did enough to repeat or even win the AL East.
What do you think?
