30 Teams In Under 30 Days: #7 New York Yankees

By Trevor Utley

The New York Yankees do not like missing the postseason.  I get that every team doesn't like losing but for the Yankees it is different.  When most teams don't make the playoffs they are disappointed; when the Yankees miss baseball's second season it seems as if it is a revocation of a birth right.  The last time they missed the playoffs the subsequent response was an offseason influx that cost the Bronx Bombers $439.4 million give or take.  So when you saw the Yankees fall short of the postseason in 2013, you knew a spending deluge was imminent.  They did just that splashing out over $535.5 million in free agent contracts and extensions.  The first shoe to drop was a 5 year, $85 million deal for catcher Brian McCann.  The former Brave will stabilize a position that saw the likes of Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart man it for periods of time.  His lefty power will most likely mean an uptick in homers with Yankee Stadium's short porch in right.  The next big expenditure was a 7 year, $153 million pact for Jacoby Ellsbury from the arch rival Red Sox.  The speedy centerfielder will fill the hole in center more than admirably left by Curtis Granderson's departure to the cross town Mets.  Ellsbury joins an outfield with Alfonso Soriano (or Ichiro) and Brett Gardner forming a triumvirate that can cover quite a bit of ground in the house that Ruth built.  Next up was Carlos Beltran, coming off a trip to the World Series with the Cardinals.  Beltran cost only a measly $45 million over three years and should factor into the outfield picture as well as serving as an exemplary designated hitter.  The biggest expenditure of them all was of Japanese sensation Masahiro Tanaka who garnered a 7 year, $155 million deal from the Pinstripers.  The former Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagle, Tanaka comes to the States fresh off a season for the ages in Japan's Pacific League going 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, his second season in three years with that earned run average.  All these shiny new toys are all well and good but what will become of all the old ones already in the toy chest?  Can Derek Jeter give himself a proper sendoff, 2014 will be his last season, after a 2013 mired by injury?  Can switch hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira redeem himself after having similar injury woes?  Who will emerge as (NAME REDACTED)'s replacement at third?  Which Hiroki Kuroda is the real one: the first half Kuroda or second half Kuroda?  Is C.C. Sabathia done?  I think the answers to all these questions will be positive ones.  Like Mariano Rivera, Jeter is too much of a professional to not ride off into the sunset on a high note.  Mark Teixeira will be handled with kid gloves to avoid him behind rushed back just to get hurt again.  Kelly Johnson will probably get first crack at third but I'd expect Brian Cashman to splurge on reinforcements if the former Ray and Blue Jay struggles.  Hiroki Kuroda and C.C. Sabathia will be better.  We will get the much anticipated Yankee debut of Michael Pineda in 2014, who came over in exchange for Jesus Montero two years ago.  The bullpen is filled with question marks but I feel that David Robertson taking over the reigns from the legendary Rivera is not one of them.  Wrapping this all up, I think that the Yankees make it back to the postseason.  I am just not ready to go out on the limb yet that they'll repeat the results of what happened the year after their last absence.

PREDICTED RECORD: 92-70
PREDICTED ALL-STAR REPS: Derek Jeter, shortstop (lifetime achievement vote-in); Masahiro Tanaka (starting pitcher); Brian McCann (catcher)



Image Credit: Yankees logo (sportslogos.net)

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