People always seem hesitant to use the word “rebuild” when it comes to the Yankees. They may have a sub-par season here or there, but a sub-par season for them is still a good season for the majority of teams. They’ve never had to rebuild because they’ve always had the pieces. They print their own money and can buy anyone. But the 2016 Yankees are in uncharted territory. They didn’t spend a dime in the offseason. They didn’t go out and get a star. They lack a face. Lack an identity.
Yankees fans aren’t used to this, so a lot of us get mad at this statement and choose not to believe it. But it’s true. Nobody on the roster gives you that warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach when you watch them play. Sure, ARod is exciting to watch, but he’s also going to be 41 years old come July and will be gone in a year or 2. Brett Gardner seemed poised to take the reins, but the fans are sick of his second half stats and seem to be turning on him. Mark Teixeira had a great start to 2015, but wound up on the DL like we all knew he would. Expect him to land there again in 2016 then to be out the door in 2017. Luis Severino was impressive in the short time we saw him in 2015, but we haven’t seen enough to make him the face of the franchise. The team has no pop. But the pop is coming.
And this brings me to the point of this seemingly random rambling. The Yankees don’t need to rebuild, they just need to wait. They have the pieces to be great again, they are just stuck in the Minors due to the contracts that were handed out before we knew the names of Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Rob Refsnyder and Aaron Judge. The team doesn’t need to pull a 2008 and buy all the big names on the market. Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, CC Sabathia and ARod will all be off the books in the next 2 seasons and this will open the door for the young studs.
The vets on the team are like your first car when you were 16 years old. Is a ’96 Oldsmobile 88 LS the hottest car to be rolling into prom with? Absolutely not. It was a hand-me-down piece of junk you didn’t even want to be seen with. But it was still special. It was your first car. It got you to the prom. It opened up the world to you. It wasn’t brand new, but it was once great and you will always remember it because it was yours. You will always be grateful for all the things it did for you and how long it held on, but eventually you need to sell that Oldsmobile for scrap and upgrade to a brand new Chevy Camaro. We are grateful for the guys that got us the ’09 Championship, but they’ve hung on as long as they could. It’s time to upgrade.
Bird should be healthy and in the lineup in 2017. Judge should take over in right field as long as he works on his swing this year in Triple-A. Refsnyder should see time platooning at second this season as well as Sanchez being the primary backup for Brian McCann. James Kaprielian is impressing everyone this spring along with Jorge Mateo. They will be up before we know it. All the pieces are within the organization already, it’s just a matter of waiting for the aging vets to relinquish their spots and for the young blood to take over. All these guys have pop and, honestly, I can see any of them being the next captain.
Do I expect the Yankees to win the World Series this year? No. Be realistic, it’s just not happening. But do I expect a World Series in the next 5 years? Absolutely. The talent coming down the pipeline is special. Along with the framework in place now (Didi Gregorius, Starlin Castro, Dellin Betances, Chasen Shreve) and Bryce Harper destined for the pinstripes, we’re on the verge. Just be patient. The winning ways are coming back to the Bronx. We will get our face back.
