Yankees could be worst team in AL
The New York Yankees are winners. They have won 27 World Series titles, the most of an organization in the sport by more than double. When you think of the Bronx Bombers, you think of tradition, pinstripes and some of the greatest players to ever take a field.
Now, when you think of Bronx Bombers, you think of a team that is bombing.
New York is 8-13 and in the American League East basement after dropping its third straight game, this time to the Boston Red Sox at venerable Fenway Park. Boston has been struggling despite ample talent, lurking around the .500 mark, but the Yankees might be the perfect tonic to get them going as we head toward May.
When you look at New York, you see a team with flaws all over the diamond. The offense has only produced 74 runs, which is penultimate in the junior circuit to only the Tampa Bay Rays. There are no major injuries holding this unit down, but instead a group of aging players who simply aren’t producing the way their bloated contract would indicate they should be.
Starlin Castro and Mark Teixeira are the only players enjoying RBI totals in double-digits, while Castro is the only regular hitting above .270. Chase Headley is actively trying to become the worst hitter in the history of mankind at the moment, hitting an absurd .140 with no home runs and a pair of RBI in 57 at-bats. Alex Rodriguez isn’t fairing much better with a .194 average, albeit with a quartet of homers.
The main problem with the Yankees is the aforementioned ages of their core. Rodriguez is 40 years old. Teixeira is 36 years old. Brian McCann is a 32-year-old (and frankly, hefty) catcher. Carlos Beltran is 39, and both Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner are 32. Ellsbury and Gardner could still be productive moving forward, but both rely heavily on their legs. As their speed is taken away by Father Time, so will their effectiveness to a large degree.
On the mound, Masahiro Tanaka is the only name worth mentioning. The rotation is a mess with the washed up CC Sabathia still plugging along, and the combination of Luis Severino and Nathan Eovaldi enough to turn any stomach. Michael Pineda has talent, but he has struggled to begin 2016 with an ERA of 6.95, the highest of anybody with more than one appearance on the team.
For the fabled Yankees, there is no quick fix. They need to wait out the contracts of their aging stars and continue to develop the farm system. When the time is right and money comes off the books, sign some young free agents who can be helpful for years while avoiding the late years of big money and diminishing returns.
For years, New York loved when the Yankees would lavishly spend, crushing teams with oodles of cash. Now the city and its team are trapped under it, left to wait for relief that is years away.
