Oh baby, Yankee baseball is almost here! When you see the sunshine pop in late February, that means spring is in the air. And for us baseball fans, it's not just the season of spring, its spring - training.
As for my New York Yankees who are getting ready for the 2016 season, it's basically the same question that's in their air in spring, every year. Which is: Can the Yankees stay healthy.
There's a reason why the media/fans ask that question since their core players are 35-years-old and older.With a suspect starting rotation and an amazing bullpen, the only way the Yankees will win games in 2016 is by scoring runs. Scoring runs to help the starting pitchers stay in the game for at least six innings and to hand the ball to bullpen with a lead.
That being said, can the meat of the middle of that Yankees lineup, which is a 38-year-old Carlos Beltran, a 35-year-old - injury prone - Mark Teixeira and a 40-year-old Alex Rodriguez, give the Yankees one more big season. That's the key to me.
Teixeira and Beltran are in the last year of their contracts, while Rodriguez still has a year left after this season, although I still consider it as his last year. Because after this season the Yankees won't need to ask him to be a superstar, when they'll have enough money coming off the books and could sign free agency again, and also the Yankees will have their top prospects ready to play in 2017; prospects such as Aaron Judge replacing Beltran in right field and Greg Bird replacing Teixeira at first base.
Yankees couldn't really upgrade their team in free agency with the longterm contracts they have.
So to me, this will be the only season we will ask A-Rod for 30-homeruns and 90-RBIs.
Last season he gave us 33-homeruns and 86-RBIs. You'd take that again.
Before Teixeira got injured in August, he put 31-homeruns and 79-RBIs. Probably on paste to have gotten 36 homers with 100 ribs. And you'd take THAT again, as well.
Beltran has 19-homeruns and 67-RBIs. If it wasn't for a bad April, he could've gotten over 20 homeruns and maybe 80 ribs.
Can A-Rod, Teixeira and Beltran give you these numbers for ONE MORE SEASON? Also, stay healthy, for one more season.
You're not asking for ten, five, three good years. Just one more good year. With a bullpen of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees are gonna need to put runs on the board quickly; that will pressure the opposing team to score runs before seeing that bullpen in the seventh inning.
A-Rod has another year left in him, I believe. He's a strong, well physiqued 40-year-old. Even though the year off made have helped have that type of season, I still think he's got another 25-homerun season in him. Or more.
Beltran worries me because he's gonna be asked to play right field everyday, where he doesn't belong anymore. In this league, there's not a lot of 38-year-old everyday outfielders. If it wasn't for A-Rod playing at DH, Beltran would be the everyday DH; and that would've been wonderful have, because he'd be a healthier player since he wouldn't have wear himself out in the outfield and he'd focus predominantly on hitting.
As for Teixeira, he's not that old, he just gets into these freak accidents that cost almost the entire season. He's probably the number one or two player who has to stay healthy this season in order for the Yankees to succeed. He's our only great player left. He's still great defender, leader in the infield and a power switch-hitter.
You can make a case that Teixeira has been one of the best Yankee signings in the last seven years. He hasn't been unbelievably great, but he's been very, very, very good. He's a great player; you can't deny that. There's some signings from the past where the player's in the middle of his contract and I'd say I wish the Yankees would've never signed this player, but I've been very happy with Teixeira since he came here, until now. And the reason for that is, you don't find great gold glove, power hitting first basemans like that anymore.
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