It’s been a difficult offseason for Yankee fans. Derek Jeter broke his ankle, but should return for Spring Training. Alex Rodriguez, who is undergoing hip surgery, will miss at least half of 2013. Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez, and Andruw Jones, who combined to hit 94 home runs, signed elsewhere. Rafael Soriano, who saved 42 games, is also expected to sign elsewhere. For better or worse, the Yankees were not linked to any top free agents. The Yankee brass is committed to spending less than baseball’s $189 million luxury tax threshold by 2014, so free agent spending sprees are off the table.

Brian Cashman always emphasizes the importance of keeping his ‘core’ together, so four key pieces were re-signed to team friendly deals. Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Hiroki Kuroda signed one-year deals while Ichrio Suzuki signed a two-year deal. These deals should help the Yankees win in 2013, but each player is over 40-years-old and adds little value to the future of the team.

The Yankees are one of the oldest teams in baseball, but still boast some of the game’s best players. Jeter and Ichiro will set the table for Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, and Curtis Granderson. CC Sabathia will be supported by Kuroda, Pettitte, and Phil Hughes in the starting rotation. Mariano Rivera and David Robertson will lock down the backend of the bullpen. This core won 95 games last season, so anything less will be a failure.

While the Yankees boast a strong core, many are questioning their complementary parts. As of today, the Yankees have not named a starting catcher or designated hitter. Cashman will not sign a free agent catcher, so expect a combination of Francisco Cervelli-Chris Stewart-Austin Romine to start. Kevin Youkilis will start at third base, but he was signed as A-Rod’s caddy. The Yankees will need Youkilis to play third base and DH, but he can’t seem to stay healthy. If Youkilis suffers another injury, will the team trust Eduardo Nunez to play third base? Nunez is currently the de-facto designated hitter, but Cashman always extends multiple Spring Training invites. The Yankees have a glutton of left handed hitters in its outfield, so expect a right handed bat to join this threesome. Remember, Marcus Thames and Raul Ibanez were signed late and played significant roles. Expect similar moves.

Going into 2013, the Yankees have a very small margin for error. The roster is primarily comprised of older players that may break down. Each AL East foe improved its roster and many are expecting the Toronto Blue Jays to win the division. However, the Yankees boasted baseball’s best run differential and have a roster full of players that have endured October battles. The Yankees continue to pour resources into scouting and player development, but don’t count them out. In terms of player development and a more cost conscious approach, the 2013 season may prove to be a transition year. That doesn’t mean the Yankees are incapable of raising another AL East flag.

It took five games, but the Yankees were able to get the best of the Orioles. After watching Justin Verlander throw a gem last night, CC Sabathia delivered a gem of his own tonight. The big man was electric, dominating both sides of the plate while getting ahead of hitters with first-pitch strikes. CC is the definition of an ace and has earned every penny of his massive contract. 

The Yankees had their moments offensively, but Curtis Granderson’s seventh-inning home run sealed the deal. Granderson really, really struggled during the first four games of the series, but gave the Yankees a big boost when they needed it.

A few take-aways from the ALDS:

• I was/still am 100 percent against benching A-Rod. He’s struggling and his at-bats are futile, but as we saw with Granderson, one swing can change everything. Baseball is all about confidence and I find it troubling that Girardi sat him. I don’t think A-Rod is hurt nor do I think he should be hitting third in the order. However, he plays great defense and can still get on base. One big swing may change his post-season, but that can only happen if he’s in the lineup. All four of Detriot’s pitchers are right-handed, but we can’t expect Girardi to start Chavez in each game. I hope/fully expect A-Rod to be in the starting lineup tomorrow night.
• Yankee Starting Pitchers were dominant. Over the course of five games, the starters threw 38 innings and gave way to only nine earned runs! In addition, the Yankee bullpen was great and gave the offense additional innings to score run(s) (Cite: Mr. Ibanez)
• Nick Swisher is terrible. I’m getting sick of Swisher. Fans love him because he’s a ‘happy-go-lucky’ type of guy, but this is the playoffs and he just sucks. Swisher was just 2-for-18 with five strikeouts. During his post-season career, Swisher is 23-for-139 (.165) which may be the worst batting average among players with 100+ at-bats. Since Gardner can’t swing a bat and Ibanez can’t run, Swisher is the de-facto starting right fielder. In the playoffs, it’s impossible to hide hitters, but I’ve learned to not expect anything from Swishalicious. In a month, he’ll be suiting up for Kenny’s New York Mets!
• Will Joe add Andruw Jones? Given Swisher’s struggles and Joba’s injury, does Joe add Andruw Jones to his ALCS roster? Detriot’s starters are all right-handed and Jones has been futile against righties this season (.185/.293/.400). However, Swisher has been so bad that he has to at least consider it.
• Still waiting for Soriano. Rafael Soriano didn’t have a big pressure-packed moment in the ALDS. Soriano’s counter-part, Jim Johnson was involved in almost every contest. Soriano was able to keep games tied, but did not have a pressure-packed save opportunity. With that being said, I’m sure Soriano will have that opportunity against the Tigers. We’ve seen closer after closer crumble in October, but we don’t know how Soriano will fare. Since Yankee fans are so used to ninth inning, post-season dominance, anything less will be a massive disappointment.
• Congrats to the Orioles. No one expected anything from the O’s this season. However, they battled the Yankees for 23 games this season. The Yankees were able to get the better of them, but the future of the team is very, very bright.

Since both the Yankees and Tigers just used their aces, we’ll see #2 pitchers square off tomorrow night. Andy The Dandy vs. Doug Fister. Fortunately for the Yankees, a meeting with Justin Verlander won’t happen until Game 3. The downside? No CC until Game 4. Aces are wild, but these two will not meet unless there is a Game 7.

After beating the Red Sox 2-1 in a series to close out the first half, the Yankees head into the All-Star break with a 52-33 mark, the best in baseball. Whoever’s backing New York with their free MLB picks has been making bank.

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It’s been a common topic for at least three or four seasons already; are the New York Yankees too old to compete? Should they go with a youth movement on offense? Or even, can they? And how is this affecting their MLB odds?

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The Yankees played home run derby today as they topped the Royals in the final game of this four-game set, 10-4. Robbie Cano delivered a much needed grand slam while A-Rod and Swisher also homered for the Bombers. While the offensive fireworks were nice, Phil Hughes was the story of this game.

Yankee fans have been very, very critical of Mr. Hughes this season. Coming into this game, Hughes dropped four of his first five decisions and carried an ERA over seven. But today, Hughes gave the Bombers 6 2/3 innings of hard work. He threw 116 pitches, issuing one walk while striking out seven. More importantly, Hughes’ velocity was sitting around 95 MPH for the entire game. Hughes’ absent velocity has been a cause for concern, but today’s outing is hopefully a sign of things to come.

I don’t get too caught up over wins and losses for pitchers, but strong, quality starts are encouraging. With his next three starts coming against the Mariners, Blue Jays, and Royals, look for Hughes to build off of this one and forget about his ugly April.

Huh?

Going into the 2012 season, Yankee fans are routinely forgetting about A-Rod when discussing the team’s offensive potential. Sure, Curtis Granderson had a career year in 2011 and Robinson Cano is one of the game’s best hitters, but A-Rod is no slouch, either. After missing 63 games last year with a knee injury, the soon-to-be 37-year-old A-Rod had a knee procedure done in Germany. The same doctor who performed surgery on Kobe Bryant (the NBA’s leading scorer) also worked on A-Rod. While no two bodies are the same, we’ve heard nothing but great things about this German doctor. While the German doctor can’t hit a baseball for A-Rod, this procedure will hopefully help him start driving the ball again. Given A-Rod’s down year in 2011 and successful knee surgery in the off-season, are people undervaluing A-Rod for the first time in his storied career?

AP Photo

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It’s hard not to get excited about the 2012 New York Yankees.

Outside of Jorge Posada, the Yankees return every offensive starter from last year’s team that led the American League in home runs. Add in a revamped, younger pitching rotation and bullpen, and the optimism is running high. Through their first two Spring Training games, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez have come out swinging the bat well. Granderson homered off of Cole Hamels on Sunday and A-Rod hit an A-Bomb against Roy Halladay. Granted, these statistics are meaningless, but it’s reassuring to see Grandy picking up where he left off and A-Rod swinging the bat with some authority.

AP Photo

The Yankees have had their share of defensive mistakes. Eduardo Nunez has already committed multiple errors and Freddy Garcia got a bit roughed up, but everyone is working through the off-season kinks.

After a great debut from Michael Pineda, let’s just prepare (and hope for) a long, enjoyable regular season that culminates in putting up Banner #28.

Baseball players aren’t robots (Except Albert Pujols)

The game’s best hitters cannot hit on command.  The best hitters may produce in the regular season, but fail to do anything in the playoffs (cite: Mark Teixeira & Nick Swisher). The playoffs are all about hot streaks and trends. To illustrate this point, let’s look at two sets of numbers:

• 10 HRs, 55 RBIs, .297 BA, .350 OBP (97 games)
• 5 HRs, 21 RBIS, .397 BA, .464 OBP (18 games)

These were David Freese’s numbers during the regular season and playoffs. Are Freese’s post-season numbers a sign of things to come? Is he the next coming of Babe Ruth? Both answers are obviously no, but these stats just show us that hot streaks are arbitrary and players can’t be forced to hit on command. Albert Pujols, the game’s best hitter, went just 3 for 21 in the World Series if you remove his historic Game 3. The Rangers weren’t throwing four aces at the Cardinals, either.

The point of this post? Relax.

I’ve read/listened to/heard so many different fans claiming that the Yankees need to get of Gardner, A-Rod, and even Teix. Without Teix, the Yankees are short 40 HRs and more importantly, a Gold Glove at first. Without Gardner, the Yankees are a one-dimension power hitting team. Without A-Rod, they do not have the pure presence of one of the game’s best hitters. All three of these players (plus all 22 others) make up the Yankees. Most of these players are under contract into the forseeable future.

The playoffs are so short; teams get hot and teams go cold. The Yankee bats happened to turn into ice during Game 5 of the ALDS. It happens. They aren’t robots.

Even though you probably wanna strangle A-Rod when he strikeouts with the bases loaded, he’s part of the family. When Derek Jeter can’t get to a ball in the hole, he’s still part of the family. Love’em, embrace’em, and scream at em when necessary. You never know when one of these guys will unlock their inner David Freese… 

Mariano Rivera saved his 601st career game today, tying Trevor Hoffman’s all-time save record. Rivera tossed a perfect ninth inning to preserve a 7-6 victory. Curtis Granderson blasted his 40th homer as  the Yankees record improved to 91-59 on the season. They sport an ML best, 40-11 record in day games. 

#42 Saves His 42nd Game

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The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins tonight by a final score of 3-0. Ivan Nova dominated the Twins and picked up his ninth win in ten attempts. Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira picked up home runs as the Yankees picked up another W and are now 77-48 on the season.

Word. - Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

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