The New York Yankees made moves this offseason. Truthfully, only two big moves in resigning the cornerstone of the franchise in Aaron Judge and bringing in a proven #2 starter in Carlos Rodon, but don’t be fooled, Yankee fans. This is more or less the same team from 2022. Now can you call 2022 a failure? I don’t think any other fan base in the majors would, but as Yankee fans, we have been spoiled with historic teams and winning beyond the likes of any professional sports team in the world and with that comes high expectations year after year. That’s why 2022 was a failure. It didn’t end with lifting the World Series trophy; even worse, it came down to getting swept by the one team that has been the franchise’s kryptonite for the last five years, the Houston Astros. The series wasn’t even close. From the start, you could tell the Astros were more complete, better constructed, more consistent performance-wise, and just flat-out the better team. This led us Yankee fans into an uproar wanting change, accountability, and big moves to build a team that can take down the juggernaut of the American League in Houston, but has this been done this offseason?
Honestly, as of January 18th, no, this hasn’t. Yes, the Yankees resigned Aaron Judge, but they HAD to. Without Judge roaming the short porch in Yankee Stadium, this team wouldn’t be recognizable. It would put the franchise into a full rebuild mode. So congratulations, front office, you made one move you had to get done to put a team on the field that you could market as competitive. What came next was a step in the right direction! A contract to finally get a genuine, proven #2 starter for the rotation in Carlos Rodon. Yes, Luis Severino showed flashes of being a good second option to our Ace, Gerrit Cole, but health has limited his ability to be trusted by fans and the Yankees Front Office to be in that slot consistently. Rodon was a must for that spot and arguably boosted the Yankees rotation to one of, if not the best, projected starting pitching rotations in all of baseball. Great, how has this offseason been a disappointment and been the same thing we have seen for the last few seasons? This was the last move. The front office has gone dormant, forgetting to address the third and perhaps most important fix. A left fielder that can hit for contact and play great defense, and that Left fielder is not Aaron Hicks and not Oswaldo Cabrera. That player is not on the Yankees roster and not in the organization.
The Yankees front office has done an incomplete job at fixing this team to compete against Houston and has been able to fend off Yankees fans through the re-signing and awarding of captaincy to Aaron Judge. A classic cover-up by leadership to ultimately run back out the same team they did last year. What has been the Achilles heel for this team once they get to the playoffs year after year? The offense is completely shut down by superior pitching because every spot in the lineup from 1 to 9 is a power bat not concerned with making solid contact and forcing teams to play solid defense. How has that changed with these moves? It hasn’t! So don’t be surprised, Yankee fans, when this team makes the playoffs, and the same thing happens again, and the front office comes out and says the season was a success. The leadership doesn’t care about championships. They care about fans in seats and purchasing enough chicken buckets to fill Hal’s pockets. How do they accomplish this? By running out a team that is just competitive enough, full of just enough names, fans want to see, to make the playoffs, BUT not spending the extra amount to get the team back to lifting the World Series trophy. It was not until Hal truly realized how much money Aaron Judge brings in that he agreed to sign that check. It has been this way for years, and I don’t believe this offseason has changed that approach.
