The New York Yankees have gone from rebuilding club to a stacked with superstar championship-hunting powerhouse in just a few seasons.
But rebuilding is a gracious word to use for a Yankee club that hasn’t necessarily “tanked” multiple seasons like the Houston Astros or the Chicago Cubs, the two most recent World Series winners. Especially since the Yankees haven’t had a losing season since 1995, but it’s not the winning culture the Yankees lacked, it was a lack of young talent.
Their dynasty had come to end in 2012 after being swept in the ALCS by the Detroit Tigers, spending the next four seasons scuffling through the AL East. They would make one Wild Card appearance in 2015, being ousted by the Houston Astros. But these teams were never terrible, but still somehow were able to re-load with talent.
The reigning AL Rookie of the Year, OF Aaron Judge, was the Yankees first round pick in 2013 and he’s panning out so far. Starter Jordan Montgomery is a former 4th round pick in 2014 who has been excellent since joining the big-league club.
They signed both sweet-swinging catcher Gary Sanchez and potential staff-ace Luis Severino on international deals, but the rest of the pieces have been acquired via savvy trades from GM Brian Cashman.
For starters, they traded both fire-ball closer Aroldis Chapman and swingman Adam Warren and ended up with both of them back on the roster last season. Of course, Chapman was flipped to the Cubs during their 2016 championship run for current top prospect INF Gleyber Torres, OF Billy McKinley, and Warren.
And they traded Warren to the Cubs before the 2016 season for 2B Starlin Castro, who they used to facilitate their massive deal to acquire reigning NL MVP, Giancarlo Stanton. Moving reliever Andrew Miller for former Indians top prospect Clint Frazier and lefty Justus Sheffield should pay off major dividends this year as well for the Yankees.
Judge, Sanchez, and Stanton in the same lineup give the Yankees potentially 120+ home runs from just three bats. Factor in SS Didi Gregorius who hit more home runs than any Yankee SS ever last season with 25 and Brandon Drury who has 20 home run power, Yankee Stadium should be a fun place to watch a game in 2018.
And when you consider players like Torres, Frazier, and Miguel Andujar who had a hot spring, should all contribute in some way this season. Of course, the Yankees have arguably the best bullpen in baseball, with four potential closer-level arms in Chapman, Dave Robertson, Shawn Greene, and Dellin Betances. The rotation is underrated and filled with depth, featuring Severino and Mashiro Tanaka, who declined his opt-out clause to stick in New York for three more seasons. The Yankees have once again built a team that looks to compete every year for the next decade.
But, the one thing that has changed for the Yankees in 2018 is the club’s expectations – which have a lot to do with first-year manager Aaron Boone. At the team’s press conference to announce Boone’s signing, the former Yankee 3rd baseman was asked about the expectations and specifically comments the Betances made about how not winning it all this year would be a disappointment.
And without missing a beat, Boone swiftly agreeing with Betances, but it was the comment he made at the end of his response that stick with me.
"“From what I can tell, the hunger in these guys is real.”"
Boone acknowledged that, on paper, this Yankee club should be one of the best teams in baseball, but that’s not good enough. His clubhouse is full of guys who aren’t satisfied with what they were able to accomplish in 2017 and know the type of lofty expectations Yankee fans have for their team.
But this club thrives on high expectations because they don’t plan on disappointing. Because it’s bombs away for this new-era of Bronx Bombers.