A Quick Review of the New York Yankees’ Offseason
A flurry of moves leading up to the trade deadline during the 2016 season seemingly relegated the New York Yankees to a rebuilding franchise. However, they did stay close enough to finish at 84-78 just five games from a berth in the Wild Card game.
Despite that positive end to the season, general manager Brian Cashman has since made a number of moves to get the Yankees back into the thick of contention for their record-setting 28th World Series title. One playoff game in the last four seasons has made the fans in New York more than a bit restless.
With the young talent coming up through the pipeline, fans who used to criticize the Yankees for not making enough moves, have now become patient. There is no question that there has been a shift the way winning teams are constructed these days. Long gone are the days of throwing a blank check on the table to the top free agents every season. Do you need non homegrown pieces to win a World Series? Yes. Do you need a majority of your team to homegrown? I would say so.
Look at the Chicago Cubs. The core of their team is Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, and Javier Baez, but they have also complimented those players with acquisitions such as Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, and Aroldis Chapman. Money doesn’t buy championships, and the Yankees have adopted that philosophy, after learning that it doesn’t produce results anymore.
The salary dumping started with the trade that sent catcher Brian McCann to the Houston Astros in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects. The emergence of Gary Sanchez made keeping McCann and his $17 million a year salary a luxury that even the Yankees found excessive. The two hurlers, Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman, won’t be factor in 2017, if ever. This deal was more of a salary dump, especially considering that New York will be paying roughly one-third of McCann’s salary.
However, the Yankees weren’t as prudent as last offseason, where they spent $0 on free agents. They did address some holes on their roster through free agency. The first came on December 7th, when they signed outfielder-designated hitter Matt Holliday to a one-year deal. New York is hoping the soon-to-be 37-year-old bounces back after investing $13 million in him. If Holliday plays well, there’s plenty of reason to expect that Cashman will flip Holliday for even more prospects for the growing Yankees’ farm system.
The most expensive pickup was closer Aroldis Chapman, whose comeback to the Yankees were predictable by some. Chapman gives the Yankees one of the most lethal weapons in baseball and once again gives them one of the best bullpens in all of baseball. The Chapman signing signals to the fanbase that even though the team is “rebuilding,” they are not giving away seasons. The Yankees are and always have been dedicated to winning, they are just adapting to the times and finding new ways to do so.
-Kevin Kennedy
Kevin writes over at USS Mariner and his work can be found here.
