Alright, the dust has settled after the trade deadline. We’re all upset. The Yankees have one of the worst team ERAs in baseball, and a pitcher would have been ideal. Plus, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova are hurt, and CC Sabathia can’t pitch past the fifth inning. On top of that, the Toronto Blue Jays went all in and grabbed David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, which left the Yankees with one other option in trading for Craig Kimbrel, but the Padres wanted our best prospects, and that was not going to fly with GM Brian Cashman. You know it’s bad when the Padres wanted Paul Goldschmidt from the Diamondbacks, who is arguably the best first baseman in the league.
Therefore, nothing substantial happened, besides getting Dustin Ackley from the Mariners. The short porch in right field might improve his numbers, and maybe the Yankees staff thinks they can bring him back to his glory days when he was a number two pick coming out of North Carolina.
So, Yankees fans are miffed. Luis Severino is coming up without a pitch limit, which seems to be the only positive right now. But I’m telling you all to relax. Have a drink (if you’re of age) and if not, sip your juice box until your blood pressure returns to normal. Would it have been nice to sure up the rotation? Yes. Is it annoying that the Blue Jays can score 15 runs per game, and added an ace to their rotation? You bet. But don’t always listen to the reporters on TV, because all they’ve done since the deadline ended was trash Cashman for not getting a deal done.
The Yankees have a six game lead in the division. It’s not comfortable, but it’s solid. Pineda should be back in around a month. He suffered the same injury Andrew Miller did, and Miller came back strong, so I’m not too worried. Nova is hurting but it doesn’t look serious. He hasn’t been stellar, but he can be great at times. If Severino is anything close to what he’s been in the minors, he’ll make the rotation instantly better. Without an innings limit, he can hopefully go deep into games, giving the bullpen a needed rest (especially with Sabathia earning his contract).
The offense has been electric. Scoring 21 runs against Texas is something to hang our hats on. I’m not expecting the Yankees to run away with the divison anymore, but winning it is still very possible. They’re still the hottest team in the divison, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Keeping momentum might prove to be better in the long run anyway.
I’ve heard in a lot of media outlets that even if the Yankees make the playoffs, they don’t stand a chance in a seven game series. Really? Because Masahiro Tanaka, a (healthy) Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, and Luis Severino is something to laugh at? No, especially with the monster Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller locking up the end of games. They don’t have the best rotation, but the last time I checked, scoring more runs than the other team wins games, and the Yankees can certainly do that.
IMPORTANT: Recall that last year Madison Bumgarner carried the Giants to a World Series victory. San Francisco had a very good rotation, but they did not show up when push came to shove, except Bumgarner. The only move the Giants made at the 2014 trade deadline was trading for Jake Peavy, who had an astounding 12.79 ERA in the World Series, and a 4.50 ERA in the NLCS. Therefore, calm down. Anything can happen. It’s baseball. It’s going to be pretty funny if the Yankees make a deep run in the postseason with the “terrible” trade deadline they had, and if the Blue Jays end up not making the playoffs, wasting their farm system on a broken season. So sit back, relax, have another juice box, and enjoy the rest of the season. The future is bright.
