Over and over the only baseball news I hear on any major platform is how incredible the Yankees are going to be this year. Here’s my bold prediction. The Yankees won’t make the playoffs. Let me explain.
First, lets look at the lineup. Everyone is raving, I mean raving about the duo of Stanton and Judge, especially after Stanton’s two homers the other day. The aforementioned superstars, along with, by far, the best hitting catcher in the league, should make for not only an adequate lineup, but a downright terrifying one. But what about the rest of the lineup?
Did Gregorious is solid, nothing to brag about however. Then you have a plethora of platooners, the joe schmoe’s. The likes of Brandon Drury, Neil Walker, Aaron Hicks, the forever injured Greg Bird, Jacoby Ellsbury, I suppose Brett Gardner isn’t all that bad, but again, nothing to brag about, and I forgot one, oh yeah, Tyler Wade, whoever the hell that is…Yankees fans, do any of these players make you feel confident?
There’s another problem. During Stanton’s eight year career, he’s played in over 120 games only four times, while reaching 140 only three times. If I were Aaron Boone, I’d be more than happy to get 130 games out of him this season. Adding to this, Gary Sanchez is a catcher. Let alone that his highest game total is 122 for a season, and I know he’s young, but I’m just saying, if a team is playing a catcher, especially of Sanchez’s pedigree more than a 140 games in a season, they’re being stupid. Look at the examples of Buster Posey and Joe Mauer. You’ve got to consistently give those knees a rest. Judge is fine. But suddenly you’re looking at second year player—one who didn’t completely tank at the end of last year, I mean he batted .228 with 99 strikeouts—dealing with the New York Yankees and all that comes with being a Yankee, the burden of the franchise on his shoulders, if one of two really volatile players suddenly finds themselves on the DL.
I hear the naysayers already.
Let’s look at the starting rotation. Severino is great. He’s had only one good year, but he looks legit, more than legit, ace like. Okay, okay, the Yankees have a nice number one starter. Then you’ve got Tanaka and his abysmal season last year, who can’t throw a fastball and gives up homers like Trump sends out Tweets. Sonny Gray is a ground ball pitcher who pitched in Oakland, arguably the best pitcher’s park in baseball, and now finds himself in New York, a hitter’s paradise in every way. Last year, after he was traded, in thirty less innings than his time in Oakland, he gave up three more homers, not to mention that an almost half run was added to his ERA. Jordan Montgomery is solid I suppose, big lefty—everyone loves a big lefty—but who knows what you’re going to get out of him, unproven at best. Do I need to even mention how cringe worthy the ancient CC Sabathia is as a starting pitcher?
Arguably, and it was apparent last year, the saving grace for the Yankees is their bullpen. I mean they have three relievers, other than Chapman, who could close on at least a quarter of the teams around the league. Yet, if the starting pitching isn’t there, Aaron Boone is going to find himself in a pickle. If the starters can’t routinely last through five innings, by the end of the year, one can expect the gas to run out of all those fire arms.
These are my problems with the Yankees, but which teams are better?
The Astros…without a doubt.
The Red Sox…without a doubt.
The Indians…without a doubt.
Now for the wild card decision…
My other bold prediction this year is that the two wild card teams will come from the AL West this year. Of course, this is excluding the Oakland A’s, and the teetering Rangers. Hence, my picks are the Seattle Mariners and LAA Angels. Why? Simply put, both of these teams have hitting…lots of it…and that neither team’s all stars are injury prone, along with their secondary players being much better than anything the Yankees have after the aforementioned triumvirate. But more importantly, both of these teams have shown that they are willing to spend money, and given the state of their pitching staffs, if either team is sniffing at a wild card berth, they’re going to drop some dough. Both teams will buy pitching.
I know the Yankees always seem like they’re willing to spend money. Stanton’s behemoth contract speaks for itself. But that was a lot of cash dropped on one player, which shows the Yankee management’s practicality behind signing the likes of Drury and Walker. George Steinbrenner isn’t running the team anymore, and the Yankees have been rather reluctant, wisely so, during the past few years, about trading for a half season rental.
Anyways, I’m excited for this season, like I am for every season.
Now you're making me doubt myself. I guess we shall see soon enough.