The New York Yankees once again go into a season without the title of "defending World Series Champions. After failing to win the American League East for the first time since 1997, they finished the season as the ALWild-Card winner. However another postseason birth ended in a third straight first round exit, this time at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. The continued playoff failure finally brought an end to the Joe Torre era. Torre never failed to make the playoffs in his 12 years as Yankee Skipper, but he could never recover after game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. Since their 19-8 win in Fenway Park the Yankees have won four post-season games in total over the past 3 years. For the first time in over a decade the Yankees would have a new manager and they again turned to a catcher. Former Yankee and three time World Series champion Joe Girardi will take the reigns and hope to guide the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 2003 and to their first title since the turn of the century in 2000.
Much of the off-season chatter revolved around the opt-out of Alex Rodriguez and the possible acquisition of Johan Santana. In the end, A-Rod remained a Yankee and Santana landed in New York, but in Queens rather than the Bronx. The rest of the Yankees Off-season was geared around keeping their aging veteran core intact. Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera were each given multiyear contracts and Andy Pettitte signed on for at least one more year. Bryan Cashman's refusal to part with young talent such as Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy in a deal for Santana, could put his job security in jeopardy should the youngsters struggle in their first full year in the Majors.
Arrivals:INF Morgan Ensberg
IN Chris Woodward
INF Nick Green
OF Jason lane
RHP Latroy Hawkins
RHP Jonathan Albaladejo
Re-Arrivals:
3B Alex Rodriguez
C Jorge Posada
RHP Mariano Rivera
LHP Andy Pettitte
C Jose Molina
Departures:RHP Tyler Clippard
RHP Roger Clemens
1B Doug Mientkiewicz
1B Andy Phillips
OF Bronson Sardinha
LHP Mike Myers
LHP Ron Villone
RHP Luis Vizcaino
Offense: The Yankees still have one of the most lethal lineups in baseball. Alex Rodriguez won his third MVP in five years with a monster season. With solid bats like Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui throughout the line-up and Youngsters like Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan coming into their own, the Yankees appear to be strong one through nine. Former MVP Jason Giambi is in the final year of his contract with the Yankees, will have to fight for plate appearances with Matsui, Damon and Duncan. If he can stay healthy, Giambi could be a big force in the middle of the line-up, but that is a big If. With more flexibility off the bench with potential bats like Ensberg, Lane, Betemit and Duncan, Girardi figures to be able to change and adapt his team as the season progresses.
Pitching: With a deal for Johan Santana never materializing, the Yankees will rely heavily on youngsters in their rotation. Chine-Ming Wang will again anchor the staff followed by Andy Pettitte, from there it's anybody’s guess. Phil Hughes pitched well down the stretch coming off of a hamstring and ankle injury that sidelined him for half the season. His playoff performance was outstanding, picking up the team’s only win in game 3. Mike Mussina hopes to bounce back after a very poor year posting the highest ERA in his 17 year career. The 5th starter role will come down to whether young flamethrower Joba Chamberlain will be in the rotation or the bullpen. Should new manager Joe Girardi return Joba to the pen where he dominated down the stretch after his promotion to the majors, Ian Kennedy would be the likely candidate to round out the rotation. The bullpen figures to be the area of concern for this Yankee team. With Joba and Rivera a the back end, the task to bridge the gap will fall to Latroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth and a cast of youngsters and non-roster invitee's who will compete in spring training.
Prediction Time:
With the Boston red Sox winning their second World Series in four years and no signs of slowing down, the Yankees may spend another year looking up at the defending champs. Much of the Yankees success will rely of how well the young pitchers develop and succeed at the big league level. If Hughes and Kennedy and deliver on the promise they shower in September and October, and in Joba stays dominant in either the set-up role or as a starter they have a chance to catch-up with the sox. Scoring runs shouldn’t be a problem but keeping runs off the board might be, if the kids run into growing pains they will find themselves again on the outside looking in come late October.
Yankees:
91-71
The New York Yankees once again go into a season without the title of "defending World Series Champions. After failing to win the American League East for the first time since 1997, they finished the season as the ALWild-Card winner. However another postseason birth ended in a third straight first round exit, this time at the hands of the Cleveland Indians. The continued playoff failure finally brought an end to the Joe Torre era. Torre never failed to make the playoffs in his 12 years as Yankee Skipper, but he could never recover after game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. Since their 19-8 win in Fenway Park the Yankees have won four post-season games in total over the past 3 years. For the first time in over a decade the Yankees would have a new manager and they again turned to a catcher. Former Yankee and three time World Series champion Joe Girardi will take the reigns and hope to guide the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 2003 and to their first title since the turn of the century in 2000.
