The New York Yankees have not won a World Series since 2009. In the last four seasons, the Yankees have had early exits in the postseason, denying the Yankees fans another championship. Now in the Yankee fan offseason of discontent, the Yankee front office is sitting on its hands waiting for one thing to happen to resign DJ LeMahieu. At the same time, they have a golden opportunity sitting in front of them that they are at least for the time being ignoring. The Tampa Bay Rays that took the division and the postseason away from them have let walk and traded away pitchers that denied the Yankees. Blake Snell and Charlie Morton.
With a diminished Tampa Bay Rays team and the Red Sox in shambles, the Yankees could yet again win the East Division and go on to the postseason with greater ease than they did in 2020. But to do that, the Yankees have to stop stalling and sign DJ LeMahieu. Then they need to get reliable pitching to back up their biggest purchase in the decade, Gerrit Cole. If they don’t do that, they will find themselves right where they are now or with an even weaker team. This is the window of opportunity; the New York Yankees must go for it and not blow it.
The Yankees have the Yankees have the money. The Yankees have farm system talent. They also have the wherewithal to make the big acquisition, whether by a blockbuster trade or by the free agency market. The primes of Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge’s likes will only last so long, and this core deserves to make it to at least one World Series. They’ve made it so tantalizingly close but could use an assist to take them over the top. Sign the big contract. Make the bold trade. This is not the year to save money and lose out.
The Yankees still have the key to a World Championship in ace Gerrit Cole, they have the winningest pitcher in 2019 in Domingo German, and they have a returning Luis Severino midseason. But they can’t experiment with many young guys that are not 162 game season tested and hope to make a World Series win. Sure, I like the young blood, particularly Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt, but the bottom line is that they need at least one proven veteran in the mid-rotation. Let the young guys fight it out at the bottom of the rotation.
The New York Yankees, when they get the pitching rotation stacked to win they have to work on a weakened bullpen that, for the most part, failed them last year. Number one, they have to take a serious look at whether designated closer Aroldis Chapman or Zack Britton should be closing for them. Maybe manager Aaron Boone needs to mix and match according to who they are facing, rather than Chapman always closes. He lost both of our last two postseasons for us.
The Yankees need at least one quality arm in the bullpen to replace Tommy Kahlne, who was out last season with Tommy John surgery, and then let him walk to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a dumb move. Adam Ottavino has faltered in the last two seasons. Can they count on him rebounding? That isn’t very likely, making the need for a quality arm or two even more important. The Yankees had the best in baseball bullpen and must return to that. I have faith that the Yankees lineup can do the job and provide the runs, but the Yankees must have the pitching to get to that 28th World Championship.