In watching the New York Yankees five-run comeback against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night I began thinking about what this team can truly accomplish this season. As a Yankee fan, I am biased in favor of this team as they are my favorite but there is a lot to be excited about with this team. So let’s just get into a little bit of the reason why shall we?
Star Power
The New York Yankees have always had superstars in the game of baseball and this year’s team is no different. When you have the reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton and the AL MVP Runner-Up Aaron Judge on this team. Not to mention the man who came in third place in last year’s AL Cy Young voting Luis Severino. Then factor in a man who took baseball by storm in August of 2015 Gary Sanchez and a man from Curácao who was the most clutches of clutch during the 2017 ALDS Didi Gregorius. Then give them a first-year manager with no experience to add to the spectacle of it all and a man who hit one of the most famous New York Yankee postseason home runs in history Aaron Boone. And you mix it all together and that’s a star-studded team.
Young Yankees
In what seemed to be an overnight transition starting August 13th, 2016, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman changed this team. What went from an old and ever aging team with the like of Alex Rodriguez (I wrote a piece about A-Rod after his retirement game entitled “A Lightning Rod“) and Mark Teixeira. Turned into Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin. What has made this team so special is the youth that is now on this roster. Young and talented Yankees that have grown up in the minor leagues with a culture of winning. From winning championships in Trenton, as part of the Thunder. To winning the International League championship with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders. These young men have known the team winning as the first and only goal of success.
Incredible Depth
What Cashman and his team have been able to do is procure so much talent that the minor league levels are overflowing with Major League caliber talent. Clint Frazier and Brandon Drury have spent a majority of the season in Triple-A Scranton. Both men would be not just everyday Major Leaguers on other teams but hitting top five in the batting order. Yet, as we witnessed last night having Frazier in the starting lineup he was hitting ninth.
Raising Already High Expectations
Possessing and MLB best 49-22 record and having a positive run differential of 105 makes the Yankees one of baseball’s juggernauts this season. Along with division rival Boston Red Sox and World Champion Houston Astros, these three teams are looked at as the cream of the crop. What this start has done is assure the baseball world and Yankee fans all around it that the mentality of yesteryear has returned.
History Repeats Itself
The mantra of “The Boss” Mr. George Steinbrenner, being that winning is the only thing that matters. And not just winning in the regular season but winning the World Series. Much speculation has been made about the Yankees starting rotation. And a potential need for another front of the line starter. And if a deal presents itself rest assure that Cashman will have all the leverage to make it happen. But if nothing materializes this team has the depth. And overall pieces needed to bring back the Commissioner’s Trophy to the Bronx where it belongs.
