Expectations are everything in the Bronx; they're hard to ignore when the club's history and current spending produce and project them so high.
They're more difficult to forgo because last season's 85-77 record left the team short of the postseason and sent them into the biggest reactionary frenzy since the winter that mended and retooled the 2008 debacle into the 2009 World Series champions.
And now, following a successful spring training, what had been on-paper, calculated, anxious anticipation has become justified, high expectation for the regular season. The refashioned yet untested 2014 ...
Baseball debuts are always memorable.
Stephen Strasburg dropped jaws in his major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 8, 2010, as the then-21-year-old right-hander struck out 14 batters in seven innings.
Chris Coste made his debut as a 33-year-old on May 26, 2006, 12 years and 973 games after beginning his professional career in the Independent Prairie League.
Rick Ankiel hit a home run in his debut as a hitter on Aug. 9, 2007, roughly eight years after reaching the major leagues in 1999 as a highly touted 19-year-old left-hander.
In Tim ...
Baseball debuts are always memorable.
Stephen Strasburg dropped jaws in his major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 8, 2010, as the then-21-year-old right-hander struck out 14 batters in seven innings.
Chris Coste made his debut as a 33-year-old on May 26, 2006, 12 years and 973 games after beginning his professional career in the Independent Prairie League.
Rick Ankiel hit a home run in his debut as a hitter on Aug. 9, 2007, roughly eight years after reaching the major leagues in 1999 as a highly touted 19-year-old left-hander.
In Tim ...
Living up to its purpose, this year's spring training has answered a ton of roster-related questions for the New York Yankees.
The Yankees had three legitimate questions to answer heading into spring camp.
Who are the reserve middle infielders?
Who is the No. 5 starter?
Who is the backup catcher?
Those questions have all been answered, and the decisions made were rather easy ones. The players that stepped up in each of those respective areas have really set themselves apart from the rest of the competition. Manager Joe Girardi should feel confident heading into the ...
Living up to its purpose, this year's spring training has answered a ton of roster-related questions for the New York Yankees.
The Yankees had three legitimate questions to answer heading into spring camp.
Who are the reserve middle infielders?
Who is the No. 5 starter?
Who is the backup catcher?
Those questions have all been answered, and the decisions made were rather easy ones. The players that stepped up in each of those respective areas have really set themselves apart from the rest of the competition. Manager Joe Girardi should feel confident heading into the ...
The New York Yankees trotted Masahiro Tanaka out for his fourth appearance and third start of the spring on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. It was his longest outing so far, both from innings (5.2) and pitch count (92), and the results were basically what they have been all spring—a lot of good and some things to work on.
One thing that Tanaka has been able to do all spring is get hitters to chase that split-finger fastball in the dirt when he gets ahead. There have been a few times ...
The New York Yankees trotted Masahiro Tanaka out for his fourth appearance and third start of the spring on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. It was his longest outing so far, both from innings (5.2) and pitch count (92), and the results were basically what they have been all spring—a lot of good and some things to work on.
One thing that Tanaka has been able to do all spring is get hitters to chase that split-finger fastball in the dirt when he gets ahead. There have been a few times ...
"It's a win for both teams."
That was seemingly the league-wide consensus back in early 2012 when the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners completed what appeared to be a deal involving two future superstars: Jesus Montero and Michael Pineda.
Twenty-six months later, Montero came into Seattle camp overweight coming off of a 50-game ban for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, while Pineda has yet to appear in a regular-season game for New York.
The last we saw Pineda, he was capping off a strong rookie year in which he went only ...
"It's a win for both teams."
That was seemingly the league-wide consensus back in early 2012 when the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners completed what appeared to be a deal involving two future superstars: Jesus Montero and Michael Pineda.
Twenty-six months later, Montero came into Seattle camp overweight coming off of a 50-game ban for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, while Pineda has yet to appear in a regular-season game for New York.
The last we saw Pineda, he was capping off a strong rookie year in which he went only ...
As shown by their massive spending spree this offseason, the New York Yankees retool through free agency and not through their minor league system.
However, it is hard to know if they do that by choice or if they are forced to by a lack of organizational depth.
Entering the season, ESPN.com's Keith Law (subscription required) ranked the Yankees farm system 20th in MLB. That rank is mainly because they lack any big league-ready players.
That couldn't have been made any clearer than this spring when only six players currently ranked in the Yankees' top ...