The State of the Yankees

The official state of the New York Yankees is one of change and retooling.

I avoid the word “rebuilding” for the Yankees because I truly don’t believe that is their plan, or even in their vocabulary. The plan for the Yankees is always retool and compete. The prize and goal is always the World Series. Failing to win the championship is largely considered a failed season for the pinstripes. With 27 rings in the fold, fans and the team have come to expect Championship or bust. Because of this ideology, the last two seasons have been severe disappointments as the team has missed the playoffs in each season.

Heading into this season, once again there has been change. Most notably the Captain, the face of the franchise, Derek Jeter has hung up his cleats and called it a career. With his departure, as well as a franchise-wide focus on youth balanced with experience, the front office went to work on their off-season plan.

To easily break down the moves, let’s dive in position by position.

Starting Pitcher: 

Departures- Hiroki Kuroda (went to play in Japan), Brandon McCarthy (signed with Dodgers), David Phelps (traded to Marlins), Shane Greene (traded to Diamondbacks)

Acquisitions- Nathan Eovaldi (Marlins) & Chris Capuano (Red Sox) 

The major change here is Kuroda’s presence in the rotation as an option that was reliable for most, if not all of his starts. He would battle through poor outings to help the bullpen and gave this team everything he could each start. The addition of young flame thrower Eovaldi, falls in line with the plan to get younger and build for the future, while also giving them an arm who threw 200+ innings a season ago.

Bullpen:

Departures- David Robertson (signed with White Sox), Shawn Kelley (traded to Padres), Manny Banuelos (traded to Braves) & Preston Claiborne (waived and picked up by Marlins)

Acquisitions- Andrew Miller (Orioles), Justin Miller (Pirates), David Carpenter & Chasen Shreve (Braves), Johnny Barbato (Padres), Gonzalez German (Mets) & Domingo German (Marlins)

Heading into this season, the bullpen is being touted as the Yankees strength with the additions of the players listed above to go along with young closer, Dellin Betances. Losing Robertson looked to be damaging, but with the quick signing of Andrew Miller and several trades, the Yankees seem to have one of the best bullpens to start the 2015 season.

Infield:

Departures- Derek Jeter (retired), Martin Prado (traded to Marlins) & Francisco Cervelli (traded to Pirates)

Acquisitions– Didi Gregorius (Diamondbacks), Chase Headley (re-signed), Stephen Drew (re-signed), Gergorio Petit (Astros), Garrett Jones (Marlins) & Alex Rodriguez (activated off suspended list)

Obviously, as mentioned before, losing Jeter is a big hit to this team on and off the field. Leadership in the clubhouse will be shifted and so will his spot in the lineup. Speaking of the clubhouse, the media circus will be there as A-Rod steps back into the lineup after his year-long suspension. Questions surround him on how he will be used on a day-to-day basis in the field and batting order. Brian Cashman made moves to bring in a defensive stud in Gregorius who’s expected to step into the shortstop position. Cashman also shored up the D at third and second with the re-signings of veterans Headley and Drew. With the moves made, this could be the most defensively talented infield we have seen in the Bronx in years (no matter how much we want to ignore the fact Jeter’s play had fallen drastically the last few seasons).

Outfield: 

Departures- Ichiro Suzuki (signed with Marlins)

Acquisitions- Chris Young (re-signed)

There wasn’t much movement in the Yankees outfield this off-season as the three starters are all established in Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran. Young will play the fourth outfielder role this season giving mostly Beltran days off. Also, Garrett Jones has some time in the outfield to give Joe Girardi some options on how to manage this lineup. Look for Jose Pirela to also give an injection of youth as a utility player for the Yankees this year.

Prospects to Watch: 

The youth movement is real for the Bombers and a big part of it is the influx of prospects in the system. Some names to watch out for in the coming year would be; Pirela (utility), Refsynder (2B), John Ryan Murphy (C), Luis Severino (SP), Bryan Mitchell (SP) & Jacob Lindgren (RP).

Missed Free Agents?

During the free agent rush this winter, Yankees fan were waiting for the big fish; waiting to land Jon Lester or Max Scherzer. Neither happened, and again, the front office looked to build through smart trades and financially safe moves. The big splashes came in re-signing Headley to boost the defense and Andrew Miller to solidify the back end of the bullpen.

The state of the Yankees after all of the off-season moves and changes is the same as always: to get back to their winning ways and win the World Series. To hear more in-depth conversation about these moves, make sure to listen to our off-season recap podcast.

Projected Starting Rotation:

Masahiro Tanaka
Michael Pineda
C.C. Sabathia
Nathan Eovaldi
Adam Warren

*Ivan Nova is recovery from surgery and is expected to return sometime in June.

Projected Lineup:

C- Brian McCann
1B- Mark Teixeria
2B- Stephen Drew
SS- Didi Gregiorus
3B- Chase Headley
LF- Brett Gardner
CF- Jacoby Ellsbury
RF- Carlos Beltran
DH- Alex Rodriguez

Bench- Garrett Jones, Chris Young. With battles for backup catcher between John Ryan Murphy (expected to win job) and Austin Romine; as well as Utility Infielder between Jose Pirela and Gergorio Petit, who was recently acquired after Brendan Ryan‘s injury. Petit is expect to take the job out of camp as Pirela recovers from a concussion.

Expected Bullpen:

Esmil Rogers (RHP)
David Carpenter (RHP)
Justin Wilson (LHP)
Chris Martin (RHP)
Chasen Shreve (LHP)
Andrew Miller (LHP)
Dellin Betances (RHP)