New York Yankees (83 TT)
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2016 wasn't the season the Yanks had hoped for, but the off season might have been a relief for the team and fans. My personal opinion is the loss of A-Rod and Teixiera is a good thing. Plus you have the departure of Beltran as well. This really got rid of some veteran players, but opened the door for young players this year. How will the Yankees respond this year after a tough 2016 campaign that netted them only 84 wins?
The Manager : Joe Girardi
Girardi has been with the Yankees it seems like forever. Player, coach and now manager. Joe has lasted in NY and that's not easy to do...My feeling is he has two years to show some signs the Yankees are back or Girardi might find himself on the hot seat...One of my big reasons for liking the Yankees this year is because Girardi will be a bit tougher with veterans off the lineup chart this year. He is dealing with some young kids, but IMO that can help the Yanks this year....Yankees also have talent in the minors and plenty of guys looking for a job. My feeling is Girardi will get his team playing well enough with some pressure from himself and the farm system looking to make it to the next level. Yankees also unloaded some monster contracts over the last few years and that alone gives Girardi the incentive to make a few comments about what could be on the horizon for his young players. Not to mention the Yankees should be very active during the next off season looking to pick up some monster bats and arms. That in itself could push a young club to really put forth max effort night in and night out.
The Lineup:
LF: Brett Gardner
SS: Didi Gregorius
C: Gary Sanchez
DH: Matt Holiday
1B: Greg Bird
2B: Starlin Castro
3B: Chase Headley
RF: Aaron Judge
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
The Yankees overall won't be a powerhouse lineup, but they do have some bats that can produce runs. Yankees slipped in the HR and Runs area last year. Once Sanchez came up though, he provided a big spark for this team. Will he have a slump looking to do things that are not in his wheel house is the question. Plenty of decent hitters here and the key area to focus on is the 7-8-9 spot...This could be a juggling area for Girardi and the so-called dog house for those that don't produce. It could also be an area pitches hate to see with Aaron Judge sitting in the 8 hole...Judge has a ton of power, but also is a strikeout risk Vs. even the weakest of pitchers. My feeling is he tries to crawl up the lineup this year and will do so at some point and join Holiday, Sanchez and himself as the 3-4-5 guys....Greg Bird is another hitter that has some power and if this Yankees lineup can get it together at the top and middle, they can win some games in bunches this year. I like Ellsbury batting last because of his experience and I believe he will have a much better year this year. My gut feeling is Headley will find himself out of the lineup at some point this season. I'm not big on Headley, but at times he gets hot and does some things well. I'll wait and see, but my feeling is one of the younger players will step in at some point this season for Headley...Obviously Gardner and Didi will be a fixture at the top of the order, but Castro is an interesting piece. A team player and Girardi really likes Castro..I won't be shocked if you see Castro batting cleanup or flipping in and out of the 3rd, 4th and 5th hole if Sanchez or Holliday struggles...Overall the Yankees lineup is young, but I think we will see them do well this season overall...You also have a few guys looking to get some playing time this year that have been ok over the years..Romine and Hicks should see plenty of action and that will help the Yanks...Still got guys like Torreyes...You also have Tyler Austin lurking back at 1B if Bird struggles...Bird will be the starter as Austin will be out with a broken foot, but he should heal up quick and apply some pressure for Bird to perform early and often.
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Starting Rotation:
#1. Masahiro Tanaka
#2. CC Sabathia
#3. Michael Pineda
#4. Chad Green
#5. Luis Severino
......Another area the Yanks have some youth looking to fill in...Good things might happen here though later rather than sooner. I like this Cessa kid and my feeling is he gets plenty of innings this year. Yankees have a good problem here with the pitching staff IMO. The farm system is pretty deep with arms and guys like Severino will be looking to keep on the staff. Severino struggled last year and it wasn't all that surprising IMO. He would much better serve the bullpen IMO than be a starter. He doesn't have a large amount of pitches and throwing 2 pitches last year batter after batter got hit lit up. He has been working on a his change up, but that pitch needs to be on point for him to hang around IMO. Green is quality and showed signs of being great at times. We also saw the other end of the spectrum with Green as well. My feeling is he will be cemented in the lineup though as the 3-4-5 guy. Pineda has some crazy numbers if you really check him out. I watched him enough to know he has a bad at bat and his world turns upside down. We will see if he can handle emotions this year. I honestly thought CC was going to fall off a cliff last year. I was wrong and my thinking was the same again for this year. I will probably be wrong again. One guy I could never figure out or beat or win with was Sabathia. I'll just say he goes .500 with 4.10 ERA. Tanaka is easily at the top of the rotation and should be. A CY Young kind of pitcher who shows flashes of greatness in his starts. My only concern is if he can handle a heavy inning workload this year. He has lost speed this year and concerns of a tiring arm might be a red flag. Still he is the ace of the staff and if Girardi gets smart, he will limit him and push his bullpen to pick up some extra innings.
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Relievers:
Tyler Clippard
Adam Warren
**Luis Severino (starter)
Tommy Layne
Dellin Betances
Richard Blier
Aroldis Chapman
***Well the bullpen will be strong again this year. My only concern is Betances. He kinda got the crappy end of the stick from the Yanks and if his head is not screwed on straight it could blowup this season. Still he will be looking for a big payday and a solid year will provide that. Yankees might also have Warren who can easily start and Severino could see time if his change up isn't working. Still got plenty of good arms on this staff and plenty of arms looking to bump up from Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. Chapman as the closer doesn't get much better. This will be the area the Yankees make ends meet IMO....Not a top 5 bullpen, but pretty damn close.
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Overall Projection: OVER 83 Wins
I know right off the bat I'm paying a premium to get the Yanks at 83. My number was 81, but they should get over those numbers this season. My fuel for the pick is the youth. It could be really bad or really good. We seen it go both ways. I like the pressure the young guns could put on the starters here. The pitching IMO is above average and the bullpen is very good. Yanks have plenty of arms to move around and many guys will be looking to get into the starting rotation. I won't be shocked if we see a high numbers of starters this year in pinstripes. The lineup can be hit and miss. If it's missing, it's going to be missing by a long shot....My feeling is they come together rather well though. I like the fact that this team is very young. This can bring them together rather quick. Many of the players especially being in New York will be able to relate to each other. I can see this group of players being rather tight. Something that lacked with the Yankees for a number of years. With the old guys gone and distractions of A-rod, this Yankees team could be something special in another year or two. It's a build for now, but I really like the pieces they have moving ahead. For the first time in a long time the Yankees coaching staff can apply some real pressure to this team. It was tough with Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeria, Beltran and many other vets on this team the last few years...I also think they will be a healthy team this year as well. Lots of young guys here and many who won;t bitch and complain about a minor injury. Next guy is just waiting for a guy to go down on this team. Tanaka will have to be a fixture at the top or the Yanks might struggle to get to this number...All in all the Yankees IMO have enough to get to 86-88 wins if they really come together and gel early. If they struggle to get anything going and the pitching is amess, the Yanks might not even hit 70 wins. I'll take a shot on the Yanks getting over 83 wins this season. Not a Yankee fan at all, but I'm very excited to see them grow or fall apart.