The New York Yankees Won’t Win The World Series: As Told By A Yankee Fan
I think the Yankees are going to have a great season. I could see them easily getting 100 wins. However, I don’t believe that they are a complete enough team to win the World Series. Bear with me, while I try to reason out why one of the most promising preseasons in recent memory for the Bronx Bombers is going to ultimately end in disappointment.
For starters, I have to focus on the starting rotation. There are injury and durability questions all over the board, and the first person that needs to be discussed is Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka had a very up and down season last year, sporting an ERA well over 4.00. He did well to erase these woes by having a pretty fantastic postseason, but there were rumors cropping up towards the end of the season that there might be some structural damage in his elbow. Opting not to have surgery may have been the correct answer for the short term, but it remains to be seen how it will be in the long term.
CC Sabathia has done more than enough to earn the respect of Yankee fans, but he has been frustratingly inconsistent the past few years. Sonny Gray has been solid in his short time as a Yankee, but he’s been dealt with some really bad luck in terms of run support. Luis Severino has been great as of late, but he’s not so far removed from some really bad performances.
The bullpen has some elite names, but there were certain points in the season where Chapman and Betances were shaky at best. Both struggled with command at different points last season, both without any real indication of why. It could have been overuse, bad luck, or some kind of combination of both. Robertson, Kahnle and Green provide a lot of help, but the front end of the bullpen needs to remain consistent throughout the season to beat the best that the AL has to offer.
The lineup doesn’t have a lot of questions and could be one of the best in baseball, but Greg Bird is battling injuries once again. The outfield picture isn’t as clear as people think, and Jacoby Ellsbury is somewhere collecting a fat paycheck he doesn’t deserve.
And finally, the managing situation. Aaron Boone was a great baseball player, but there is no indication that he’s going to be a great major league manager. Joe Girardi was removed from his position at the wrong time in my opinion, leading an overachieving team to one win away from a World Series appearance in a year where the Yankees were not even projected to make the playoffs.
The Yankees will be a great team, but I feel like this version of the team has too many holes to overcome the best teams that MLB has to offer. Teams like the Astros, Dodgers and even the Indians feel like more complete baseball teams right now.
