Today begins the great Yankee Experiment of 2026: Steven Wright's team.

A Steven Wright joke goes, "Last night, somebody broke into my apartment and replaced everything with exact duplicates. When I pointed it out to my roommate, he said, 'Do I know you?'"

Today, as pitchers and catchers arrive in Camp Tampa - de facto home to both the Rays and the former Evil Empire - the Yankees have replaced their team with a roster of exact duplicates from last year. 

Somehow, this winter, somebody got into the clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field and replaced every player - every lug nut, every molecule - with a perfect replica from last year's 2nd place team. 

Same team, one year older... 

I've followed the Yankees for 70 years. Never - never - do I recall them simply doubling down on last year's unexceptional team, as they have done. No big free agent, no major trade, no massively hyped rookie - just the same lineup that finished runner-up. 

This year, the Yankees and Mets will mount completely opposite strategies. The Mets begat a total winter teardown, recreating their clubhouse down to the wall studs. The Yankees didn't even rearrange the furniture.  

This could mean a craftier, wiser Yankee team, fused by comradery and experience.

It could mean a lineup that implodes from the strains of age.

On this blog, Cooperstown Cashman has few admirers. For years, I've wanted a new GM. But let's be honest: We're watching an exceptionally bold strategy - something entirely new. Cashman is holding his cards, standing pat, with or without a winning hand. He is doing this, of course, at the directive of Food Stamps Hal Steinbrenner.

Will it work? 

Can the Yankees, buttressed by maturity, create a winning clubhouse? Or will we simply see more blown out body parts?

This winter, I wanted a frontline starter. Come October, I believe they will regret not adding one. So be it.  

Another Steven Wright joke goes, "Whenever I think about the past, it just brings up so many memories." He's right. But I don't recall anything like what we're about to see. 

And so begins the Great Yankee Experiment of 2026.