1. As always, everything - everything!- will hinge on Aaron Judge. When he hits, the offense comes alive. When he slumps or - God forbid - gets injured, we are dead.
2. He's been healthy now for the last two years. Are we feeling lucky?
3. No player is more likely to feel the effects of being one year older more than Giancarlo Stanton. He is 36. He will surely miss playing time with injuries. The concern is that he'll produce less, when playing. (In last year's postseason, he went 5-for-26 - .192.)
4. Once upon a time, it was believed that Stanton would eventually finish his career at 1B. Not gonna happen. In fact, he will probably never play another inning in the outfield.
5. The team still needs a RH-hitting 1B/OF, a bullpen lug nut, and a RH-hitting catcher.
6. Apparently, the Yankees will seek to fill those needs by dumpster diving. There is always a Franchy Cordero out there.
7. Slowly but steadily, the Yankees have reverted to doing what Brian Cashman, in his early days as GM, vowed to never do: Trade the farm system to stay competitive. That's what led to the drought of the 1980s and early 1990s. He must be feeling the pressure. It's going on 17 years.
8. For the first time in this decade, the AL East looks stacked.
9. The Yankees will heap a ton of pressure on Gerrit Cole to return before the all-star break and, at age 35, reinvent himself as a pitcher.
10. The Yankees will enter 2026 as NY's "other" team. It's not clear how that will affect the franchise. But it will definitely have an impact.
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4 comments:
But we have chemistry. Rosario's dugout group will save us. It's fun! Baseball is a game, and we should just have a good time. Which will lead to winning!
What a lame franchise.
I saw on the intertubes that the Yanks have four targets they want to sign or trade for in January. So....this week?
They're all in the analytics department.
Yes, "chemistry," that unmeasurable force that makes or breaks teams, that defies analytics, that laughs in the face of injuries and stupid team-building decisions, that is impervious to gravity and even the laws of physics. We are so blessed. We are so blessed. Have a blessed day, y'all, as they like to say down south, where I am currently roosting on the banks of the Big Muddy. I miss NYC!
Since there is likely to be a protracted impasse next season, I think MLB should shake things up. After everything has been settled, they should try something innovative in 2028 to win back the fans. Do something unique. As many skiers know, Colorado gets most of their snow (many feet) between mid-March and mid-April. Manfred should schedule as many East Coast teams to play in Denver in the first 2-3 weeks of the season. It would justify moving spring training to Syracuse.
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