With a veteran lineup like the New York Yankees', it is tough to decide which players you would want to bat with the game on the line. Hall-of-Fame resumes and mega-million-dollar contracts can help make the job easier, but a heap of injuries and aging talent makes the job slightly more difficult. We all can agree that Derek Jeter is practically synonymous with the word "clutch" at this point. However, the 38-year-old superstar wouldn't be available if the Yankees needed him in a pressure situation tomorrow. So with that being said, which players ...
Every year, the New York Yankees find themselves signing veteran players to cheap, one-year deals to add depth on the bench and in the rotation. With the Yankees trying not to commit themselves to any more long-term contracts, they have signed even more of these older veterans in the last couple of years.For the most part, these moves have worked out, like Raul Ibanez delivering so many huge hits last year and Bartolo Colon's revival giving a thin rotation a boost two years ago. Some of them haven't, like Freddy ...
The season's second week begins with what normally would be an innocuous April baseball series: Yankees at Indians, April 8-11. Outside of a postseason series in 2007, the Yankees-Indians rivalry of the late-90's is all but dead. Terry Francona, former Red Sox manager, adds some intrigue. As does the return of Travis Hafner to Cleveland.Yet the real story lies within Cleveland's big ticket free agent acquisition: Nick Swisher. The former Yankee right fielder was allowed to leave New York via free agency this past winter. He takes with him a ...
With a full week of baseball under their belts, the New York Yankees have gotten off to a slow start.The weaknesses are already evident in the New York lineup that is marred with old age and injuries. Even the rotation saw a scare this week when Hiroki Kuroda took a line drive off a finger on his throwing hand. Although it’s early, one thing is becoming clearer than it has been since the mid-1990s: The Yankees need to get younger, talented players. As we see players like Mike Trout, Bryce ...
After two seasons, the New York Yankees decided not to re-sign starting catcher Russell Martin during the offseason, only a year after Martin rejected a three-year, $20 million extension. Martin would get even less money from the Pittsburgh Pirates—two years, $17 million. So after this winter, the Yankees catching situation has looked dire. They chose not to go after other free-agent catchers like A.J. Pierzynski and David Ross, opting to pick from in-house competition. During Spring Training, the battle for the starting catching job started between Francisco Cervelli, Chris Stewart and some ...
The New York Yankees are in for a long year. That seems to be the theme of the 2013 MLB season. The first week has not done anything to change critics’ opinions on that thought. The Yankees seem to be headed for a lost season. The first one they've had in many, many years. The issue is that it doesn’t have to be. The Yankees could actually learn something from their biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox. Last year, the Red Sox suffered through a season of injuries and underachievement. ...
The New York Yankees looked doomed in spring training, and their opening series against the Red Sox this week did not help silence any of their naysayers. After losing the first two games by a combined nine runs, they were able to take the third game to avoid an embarrassing opening series sweep at home by their hated rivals from Boston. Despite recording a win in their most recent contest, many of the Yankees' preseason doubters seemed to be proven right over the course of the first three games. Often times, too much can ...
A disastrous season for the New York Yankees wouldn't necessarily be such a disaster. On the contrary, it could actually be a blessing in disguise for both the club's present and future.[Stares out at audience, sees they're not convinced.]Yeah, you're going to have to hear me out on this one.I'm not actually saying that the 2013 season is going to be a disaster, mind you. Not yet, anyway. The Yankees' first two games against the Boston Red Sox certainly were a disaster, but it felt like old times at Yankee Stadium on ...
Thursday was Opening Day for Major League Baseball's Minor League (MiLB) system. Likewise, the Yankees' minor league system from regular Single-A to Triple-A kicked off their season.Like the big league club opened up against the Red Sox, the newly renamed Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Raiders, the Trenton Thunder, and the Charleston RiverDogs (supposed, was postponed) opened against Boston's respective minor league affiliates.The Yankees have several notable prospects on all levels, but the elite talent is at the lower levels as of right now. But, obviously, it will be interesting to see how ...
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter originally hoped to be fully recovered for Opening Day in the Bronx.When a setback occurred during spring training, New York scaled back Jeter's playing time, even pulling him from action against other major leaguers in order to backdate his disabled list stint to March 22.The thinking at the time was for Jeter to rest a few days, rid the soreness in his surgically repaired ankle and show up to help rescue the Yankees lineup within a few days of Opening Day.Of course, it's now been a ...