With some exciting and perplexing off-season moves, this 2016 Yankees team is poised to keep us guessing. Here are some of the more interesting storylines to follow in 2016.
Will Gregorius and Castro be the combo everyone is expecting?
With two names that make them sound like a Las Vegas act, people are understandably excited to see Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro working together up the middle. They’re both young, incredibly athletic players that are also going to be a presence on offense.
Gregorius batted .265 last year and proved to be a tough out with an OBP of .318 (good for sixth-best among league shortstops). Castro had the exact same average, and hit 11 home runs with a slugging percentage of .375. Will Gregorius motivate Castro? Will the two motivate each other?
Castro has stated that he’s excited to play in New York, and it will be interesting to see if the Big Apple motivates him to play to his full potential. It’s a safe bet that both players are going to help form a strong defense up the middle, but it will be exciting to see just how well they play together. Whether they turn out to be the best NY duo since Jerry and George remains to be seen.
How will the Yankees handle the greatest one-two-three punch in baseball?
This much is clear: Aroldis Chapman is a hard thrower and a good closer. He recorded a 105.1 MPH fastball in 2011, and recorded only two fewer saves than Andrew Miller in 2015 (despite playing on an abysmal Reds team in a loaded NL Central) with a 1.63 ERA. Making him the closer is as close to a no-brainer as you can get. With that said, the focus should be on grooming Dellin Betances as the Yankees future closer should Chapman move on when he’s eligible for free agency after next year’s World Series.
In terms of Miller, at age 30 he’ll make for a dominating relief pitcher, but Betances should remain the setup man, and step in should the closer spot momentarily open (say, due to injury, or suspension). Whatever the order, it’s invaluable to have a bullpen that could theoretically shut a game down after the 6th (which will be important with the questions surrounding the starting rotation).
What will the season look like for Greg Bird?
It seems likely that Greg Bird will start the 2016 season in the minors due to some congestion at first base, but with Mark Teixeira suffering major injuries in the last four seasons, it seems likely that Bird will eventually get some extended playing time.
It remains to be seen how Bird handles his time in the minors, but extended playing time in the bigs could show us if Bird is the future franchise first baseman. According to baseball-reference, he’s projected to bat .264 with a .333 OBP, a slugging percentage of .477, and an OPS of .810 (albeit with only 258 projected at bats). That’s higher than all of Teixeira’s projections, though currently, Tex’s defense at first is important along with his veteran leadership.
With Teixeira turning 36 this year, and with his contract up after this season, it would be nice to gain some clarity about the future at first base. We could get a lot of answers about Bird if he sees extended playing time in 2016.
What happens with a revitalized, corporate A-Rod?
After a season long suspension, and reaching what everyone thought was the apex of distrust and frustration, Alex Rodriguez pleasantly surprised people when he returned in 2015 with a decent season, and renewed power. A fresh A-Rod even appeared to show some leadership qualities.
Basically, no one knew what was going on. In his return he amassed 523 at bats (his most since 2010), and also hit 33 home runs, his most since 2008. That’s no small feat for a 40 year old. An OPS of .842 suggested there might be another year or two of meaningful offensive contributions from A-Rod. Two things became abundantly clear: the time off from baseball helped, and his move to permanent DH was going to both help the team, and benefit him.
During this offseason he also started A-Rod Corp, a super mysterious corporate entity that apparently specializes in signed baseballs and photo portraits of his children. What does A-Rod Corp do? No one’s really sure, the website is still under construction, but you can bet your life I’ll be there for the IPO.
And so, like A-Rod, we’ll be looking towards 2016 with some questions: will A-Rod, who turns 41 this season, continue to hit for power? Will he continue to be a leader and mentor to young players? Will his walk-up song be an 8-second advertisement for A-Rod Corp? Will he replace the Yankees backdrop with an A-Rod Corp backdrop during press conferences? Maybe 2016 will be the year of the A-Rod.
There’s a lot of speculation about this 2016 Yankees team, and quite a few unknowns, but with Opening Day right around the corner, we’ll be getting our answers soon enough.
