The offseason is only a week old and I'm already itching for something to happen. The Yankees have an old inversatile roster so there won't be much movement unless something drastic happens. I think that's what should happen.

If there's any good of the NY Mets making the World Series its that the Yankees saw just how much attention that the youth of the Mets organization got. The Royals won it all because they were young, hungry and durable. Sure, they needed to make some mid season additions to get over the hump, so did the Mets. The Yankees were quiet at the trade deadline. That was the right move because it meant they kept all their young guns. The thing that gets me is that the young guys aren't exactly part of the plan for 2016.

Rob Refsynder is platooning at second base, Greg Bird doesn't have a spot on the big league roster after belting 11 home runs in his month and a half stint replacing Mark Teixeria at first base and in the lineup. Aaron Judge still won't see any significant time above Triple A because of Carlos Beltran clogging up time in right field. If last season was anything to learn from it's when the old guard goes down with an injury, which is going to happen with older players, you need reliable replacements. Brendan Ryan and Chris Young aren't the answers.

2016 should be the year where much like Luis Severino got his chance in 2015, Judge, Refsynder, and Bird should get significant time to showcase their talents and learn on the big league level. Teixeria doesn't give you any reason to think you're going to get a full healthy season out of him. Beltran was great down the stretch but it took him 4-5 months to get there. By that time, the rest of the team wore down and were left for dead.

While not young to be a rookie, Nathan Eovaldi showed he was reliable and develpoed into a solid top of the line pitcher. Pair him with Micheal Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees have a formiable 1-2-3 punch. If Ivan Nova goes back to his 18 win form, then the Yankee rotation came be one of the best in baseball. It would be a shame if they were and the lineup couldn't back them up because of age.

I wanna see the young core play and develop. It's time. Even if it's at the expense of some expensive past their prime players.

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Tags: Aaron Judge, Carlos Beltran, Kansas City Royals, Luis Severino, Mark Teixeira, Masahiro Tanaka, Mets, Nathan Eovaldi, Rob Refsnyder

It's been two weeks since the Yankees were eliminated at the hands of the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Playoff game and it still hurts.

This Yankee team that no one gave a shot at winning before the season started far exceeded expectations. By the end of July it looked like the Yanks would coast into October, except three things happened that derailed the entire season. Mark Teixeria went down with a season ending injury hurting the offense. Nathan Eovaldi ultimately went down for the remainder of the season hurting the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Yankees got old very quickly.

Teixeria was on his way to a 40 home run 115 RBI season when he fouled a ball off his shin and fractured his shin. Eovaldi was 14-2 and on his way to 200 innings when he went down with a forearm strain and he threw the balance of the pitching off its rocker. It put trusted pitcher Adam Warren back into the rotation, which was ok because he excelled during his stint in the rotation earlier in the year BUT it left a gapping hole in the bullpen. The 2-3 innings Warren would solidify in case a game was close or within reach now went to young inexperienced kids and boy did the Yankees pay for having to go that route. The Yanks lost countless games down the stretch because their starters just couldn't give them enough length. When they did, the offense was non-existent causing there to be more pressure on the lineup to produce. This formula was the demise of the 2015 Yankees.

So much could be said of how manager Joe Girardi handled the bullpen down the stretch in the final month and a half of the season but the REAL cause for concern is the lineup. The lineup that produced 20 runs in Atlanta, two potential Comeback Players of the Year in Teixeria and Alex Rodriguez, the future first baseman in Greg Bird, and a 7 game lead in the A.L. East on July 29th could only muster up 3 hits against the Astros. They went 1-7 in the final 8 games of the overall season. Pitiful, pathetic and embarrassing.

I'm not sure where the Yankees go from here but the answer to me is crystal clear. Get younger, get hungry, get rid of the old. Look around the MLB LCS's going on. All young teams going around. Out are the days of the high priced payrolls, In are the young and hungry want to make a name of themselves kinda players. This is what the Yankees should be aiming for. The new core is ready to be unleashed, Bird, Luis Severino, Rob Refsynder, Aaron Judge, Dellin Betances are just some of the homegrown talent waiting to make this THEIR team. I'd say make this happen sooner rather than later.




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Tags: Aaron Judge, Adam Warren, Alex Rodriguez, Dellin Betances, Greg Bird, Joe Girardi, Luis Severino, Mark Teixeira, Nathan Eovaldi, Rob Refsnyder, Yankees

I was going to post during the Toronto series but the rain out and god awful play of the Yankees delayed that until I had a better understanding of where they stood in terms of the playoff picture. I wanted to post yesterday after Monday night's amazing comeback but it seems after last night's loss, the Yankees are destined for the Wild Card.

Last night was a missed opportunity to gain ground on the Toronto Blue Jays when they lost to the Atlanta Braves in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Braves are one of the worst teams in baseball and for them to beat one of the best teams in baseball was a gift. A gift they might get again. So the Yankees blew a 3-2 lead and lost 6-3 and stayed 3 games out of first.

“It’s tough,” Joe Girardi said after watching his team blow a 3-2 lead in the sixth. “It’s tough that we’re not able to hold them down.”

The reasoning for the Wild Card over the Divsion is simple. Last night was the prime example of why the Yankees are in trouble. The Yankees that played like one of the best in baseball in June and July would've had Nathan Eovaldi on the hill and his 14-2 record. In the 5th when the Yanks went to the bullpen, Joe Girardi would've summoned Adam Warren to bridge the gap to Justin Wilson and Dellin Betances but with the injury to Eovaldi, that wasn't possible. We got Warren going 4 innings then went to young inexperienced relievers to hold a one run lead. That didn't go too well as Nick Rumbelow gave up a two run homerun to Nick Franklin who's batting .133 (!!) on the season.

“They’ve come up all year and done a pretty good job,” Girardi said. “It’s a lot to ask of them, but we think they’re capable of doing the job and we need it.”

Now with the opportunity missed, the Yankees don't gain ground and are just as close to losing that top Wild Card spot as they are overtaking Toronto. By this time next week we will have a better idea where the Bombers stand but I don't think it'll be good news. This team relies too much on the long ball. Their top two hitters Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner are the spark plugs, but they don't steal bases like they're supposed to. Ellsbury is batting .250 on the season and in the middle of an 0 for 28,29, 30 slump. That's very alarming. The offense goes into spurts of knocking the cover off the ball but it hasn't happened much since the beginning of August. This team is talented and have the tools to win it all but I feel with the injuries to Eovaldi and Mark Texieria, it may be too much to overcome. You lose your best pitcher and most productive hitter in the lineup. That kind of loss will eventually catch up to you.

I certainly can see the Yankees turning it around within the blink of an eye. I thought that was the case after Monday night's comeback but after what I saw last night, it's back to the same old story we saw this weekend against the Blue Jays. The Yanks aren't ready and they're just not as good as the Jays. It may be too late for the Yanks to turn it around, but then again..who says the Wild Card is a bad thing. It may be the best thing that happens to the Yankees.

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Tags: Adam Warren, Atlanta Braves, Brett Gardner, Dellin Betances, Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Wilson, Nathan Eovaldi, Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees

Last night proved the Yankees can hang with the best the American League has to offer. The surprising Houston Astros are in town for a 3 game series and the Yanks took the opener in a nailbiter, 1-0.

The offense was non-existent once again until the 9th inning where they ultimately won the game but that's for a different blog. The thing we really want to focus on that came out of last night is the fact Nathan Eovaldi pitched magnifecent. 8 innings, no runs allowed, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts. Solid performance by a guy who was an afterthought in the Yankee rotation back in April.

Eovaldi seems to have turned a corner and it's happened at just the right time. With CC Sabathia going on the 15-day DL and possibly lost for the re
st of the season, Eovaldi has stepped into the slot we all thought CC would occupy. Reliable, solid starting pitcher.

“Tonight was the best I’ve felt about an outing,” he said.

Since that game in Miami on June 16 when he couldn't get out of the first inning, he’s gone 8-0 with a 2.93 ERA in his past 12 starts.

“Last year I had to rely on my fastball a lot more than this year,” Eovaldi said. “That and my slider, then I’d get behind in counts with my slider. I didn’t have a great feel for my curveball last year, and then I didn’t have the split. This year I’ve been using my curveball a lot better and all my offspeed pitches (have been better), which is helped me out a lot.”

The difference is now Eovaldi is more of a pitcher than a thrower. The results are showing.  The Yanks win keeps pace with the surging Toronto Blue Jays at top of the AL East. The two teams have 7 head to head matchups remaining and certainly those games will determine who wins the divison but a win last night will prove valuable should the Yankees make it to October. The Astros are among the AL's elite so whether it's a 1-0 win or 16-2, a win's a win and it gives you the confidence moving forward to gain another victory. Eovaldi's emergence couped with Tanaka, Pineda, and Severino will provide the Yankeees with a dynamic rotation going down the stretch and in a postseason series. After 2 years of missing the playoffs, that's all you could really ask for from this team.

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Tags: Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, Yankees