FROM LOVABLE BABY BOMBERS.. BACK TO THE EVIL EMPIRE

What a difference a week makes. The NY Yankees went from .. overachieving, semi-fiscally responsible, lovable Baby Bombers with a kinder/gentler manager, back to ..

THE EVIL EMPIRE

You can say.. so far it has been a December to remember, and we are only one week in. Let’s build a time line.

December 1 – The NYY announce .. Aaron Boone will be the new Yankee manager

December 3 – NYY announces they have been eliminated from further consideration for signing the Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtnai

December 8- Ohtani announces he will sign with the LA Angels

December 8 – The NYY are “in play” for Giancarlo Stanton, deal is “virtually done”

December 9 – Marlins & Yankees reach agreement. Castro, & prospects Guzman and Devers from the Yankees for Stanton + $30M of $295M contract to be paid by Marlins

WOW .. what a week indeed. There were more surprises, and plot twists than an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. Let’s catch our breathe and try to cut through the “spin” and make some sense of it all.

In late November, the NY Yankees were completely focused on signing Shohei Ohtani. They had made numerous moves/trades previously to increase international bonus pool money to offer Ohtani. They had Matsui & Tanaka ready to recruit him. The lure off NY, the pinstripes, and Madison Ave’s marketing dollars made the Yankees the front runner. The Yankees were “all in” for good reason. Ohtani was a potential ace & middle of line-up hitter who would be a big box office draw, oh and by the way, come with a league minimum salary price tag. All this at a time when the Yankees were determined to get under the $197M luxury tax threshold. Timing couldn’t be more perfect.

The naming of a manager seemed to be on a back-burner. When asked, the Yankees said it might be past Christmas before they decided. Yet it seemed like their search process was over and it was just a matter of deciding on one of the 6 finalists they interviewed. Ohtani had approximately until Christmas to decide which team he would play for. Suddenly on December 1st, the Yankees announced Aaron Boone would be the new Yankee manager. Within 48 hours the Yankees announced they were eliminated from the Ohtani sweepstakes. I have a possible theory here. The Yankees were so desperate to sign Ohtani that they might have informed Ohtani’s reps that if he signed with the Yankees they would then name Hensley Meulens as their manager because he speaks 5 languages including … Japanese. My hunch is the Yankees were privately given the bad news about Ohtani rejecting them a few days prior to the Yankees public announcement, and quickly after finding out announced that Aaron Boone would be the new Yankee manager. I believe the Yankees preferred Boone over Meulens, and as soon as they lost out on Ohtani, there was no point to delay the announcement of Boone.

Now the plot thickens. Aaron Boone is introduced at a presser at Yankee Stadium, and one thing becomes apparent.. there is a lot of pressure on Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman to exceed what Joe Girardi achieved in 2017. Girardi led a rebuilding team, and overachieved by getting to within one win of the World Series. It’s simple, the Baby Bombers came of age in 2017. Judge won ROY honors & many thought he was a legit MVP candidate. Severino was a Cy Young candidate. Sanchez had the best offensive numbers of any catcher in the league despite missing a month of the season on the DL. Yet Girardi was told he would not be back as manager. They were “going in a different direction”. Therefore the pressure is on Cashman and Boone to win the World Series in 2018, especially when you consider that Greg Bird (missed nearly entire ’17 season on DL) and phenom prospect Gleyber Torres should make the 2018 team that much better. But Ohtani was another addition the Yankees were banking on to increase the odds of going all the way in ’18. When the Yanks were surprisingly eliminated for Ohtani sweepstakes, they quickly pivoted and turned their desires in a completely different direction. They went from trying to sign an ace for league minimum salary to trading for an MVP right-fielder making $30M a year !! MVP Giancarlo Stanton, 28, hit a Major League-leading 59 home runs and drove in 132 RBIs.

Without question the Yankees have created another “Murderers Row” batting order, but we have seen that strategy not translate to Championships. In 2004 the Yankees traded for MVP and HR king Alex Rodriguez. They were given the nickname “The Evil Empire” by the Boston Red Sox. That 2004 line-up included ARod, Jeter, Matsui, Sheffield, Giambi, Posada, Williams etc. and yet the unthinkable happened. The Yankees blew a 3-0 game ALCS lead to the Red Sox who broke their 86 year curse by winning the WS. The following years the Yanks had an even better line-up, “Murders Row plus Cano”, yet no Rings from 2004 -2008 because they lacked … pitching.

Will the Yankees improve their pitching? They should. Ohtani got away but they have plenty of prospects, and now some are expendable to trade to strengthen their rotation. Remember, home runs sell tickets, but pitching and defense wins Championships.

One thing is certain, the Yankees went from the lovable Baby Bombers back to the Evil Empire, but need to learn from the 2004-2008 Evil Empire.

That’s my … pitch

 

As always,

 

GO NYY !!