With the exception of Masahiro Tanaka, the acquisitions of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran have been a disaster. Let's examine this year's team starting with the infield, the outfield, the starting rotation and the bullpen.
Infield
This year's infield is a far cry from the one in 2009 that won a World Championship. The first base situation is fine as long as Mark Teixiera can play. The Yankees knew that Teixiera was coming off wrist surgery and decided to roll the dice as far as having a backup plan which has cost them several times both in the field and at the plate. Not keeping Mark Reynolds was a major mistake and now they must consider signing Kendrys Morales because they have nothing in the farm system or on the current roster to be a legitimate backup.
Brian Roberts has been ok at second base but he is a far cry from the Brian Roberts of several years ago. He is also injury prone. If he goes down, the options are Kelly Johnson, Yangervis Solarte or Brendan Ryan. There is nothing in the farm system now to call up or in the future.
Derek Jeter is Derek Jeter. At 40 years of age I'm not sure the Yankees could have expected anything more from him especially after coming off a season of various leg injuries. Again the main backup is Brendan Ryan. The bigger question here is: what's the plan for 2015? There is nothing in the farm system. Probably they'll sign a 35 year old shortstop to a 4 year contract. What a joke.
Solarte has been a good pick up and everything so far seems to indicate he can be an everyday major leaguer. However, I don't think he is your prototypical third baseman but maybe he could shift over to second. I guess even a blind squirrel can find an acorn.
According to most experts, the Yankees have plenty of organizational depth at the catching position which begs the question as to why they would have signed Brian McCann to a 5 year contract. Truth be told is that I was ok with this signing when it was announced. But in light of the ascendancy of John Ryan Murphy, one has to wonder if the Yankees would have been better off keeping Russell Martin 2 years ago to mentor Murphy and Austin Romine and used the money spent on McCann to bolster other areas of need. Now with McCann on board, can one of these youngsters be used to get a starting pitcher. With no apparent first baseman on the horizon, should the Yankees look to move Double A catcher Peter O'Brien to first base?
Outfield
With the signing of Jacoby Ellsbury, two-thirds of the Yankees outfielders are speed guys and when Ichiro Suzuki is in the lineup, there is no power threat in a position that usually provides power. Ellsbury is not the type of player that is going to carry this team. I thought it was a dumb signing when it was announced and I still believe that.
Right field is a major problem. Carlos Beltran was signed to play 80% of the time in right field and DH 20%. With his latest injury, we are now being told that Beltran will DH for the foreseeable future. What is reminiscent of the late 80s, signing a 38 year old outfielder to a three year contract is flat out stupid. The sad thing is that Beltran is the youngest of Alfonso Soriano and Ichiro Suzuki.
Once again, the farm system is barren. Zolio Almonte has played well in Scranton but can't seem to crack the big club's roster. An injury to the Ancient Trio will really make a bad situation worse.
Starting Rotation
Currently, it's Tanaka and pray for rain. During this latest seven game homestand, Masahiro Tanaka registered the only 2 wins both by the score of 2-1. This kid is a keeper and without him the Yankees would be with Tampa in the division basement.
Hiroki Kuroda is a battler who even when he doesn't have his best stuff will give the Yankees innings. If Kuroda falters, the Yankees truly are done and would most certainly cause them to acquire another starter though I think they need to get one regardless of what Kuroda does.
There is no question that injuries have impacted the starting rotation in a big way. Losing Ivan Nova for the entire season was a huge loss. CC Sabathia's injury is also a huge blow and one has to wonder if this former workhorse is breaking down right before our eyes.
Michael Pineda has been very frustrating and one has to wonder if the Yankees will ever be able to count on him to be a major contributor. David Phelps and Vidal Nuno are at best number five starters and certainly not material for a championship rotation. The jury is still out on Chase Whitley. The youngster has looked good but has only gone 5 innings in all of his starts. The Yanks need to give this kid more innings to make a determination on whether he can be a long term answer. Other than Whitley, I'm not aware of the farm system being able to help. Rather frustrating how other organizations are able to bring in young kids to pitch and be effective while the Yankees just can't seem to get it right. By the way, check out Phil Hughes and Jova Chamberlain's stats for this year. Just say in'.
Bullpen
Going into the winter meetings, many experts believed that the Yankees needed to shore up their bullpen with the loss of Mariano Rivera, Boone Logan and Joba Chamberlain. Well, if not for Adam Warren and Dellin Betances, the bullpen would be a disaster as evidenced by what happened Wednesday night. My concern is that Warren & Betances will be overused. Hopefully Shawn Kelley will be back sooner rather than later to help carry the load and Matt Thornton needs to be utilized more. The Yankees could use another veteran arm.
A common theme throughout this analysis is that other than catcher, the farm system is a joke and cannot be expected for immediate help and does not bode well for the future. Two weeks ago, Hal Steinbrenner said he was happy with the farm system because of the performance of Betances, Warren and Whitley. That's fine Hal, but what about the rest of the team.
For argument's sake, let's agree with Hal. My next question is: how do you spend over $400 million dollars in free agency and with 102 games remaining be 6 games out of first place in an AL East that is as weak as it has been since 1999?
Someone needs to be held accountable for the decline of this team since 2010 and in my opinion that is Brian Cashman. Injuries are no excuse when he continues to acquire and extend aging players and provide for no legitimate backups. Moreover, the farm system is a disgrace. While more players come from Latin America, the Yankees continue to miss out on the Jose Abreus &. Yoenis Cespedes' of the world. As I have said over and over, when was the last time the Yankees developed a first baseman, a third baseman or a power hitting outfielder? It hasn't happened since Cashman has been general manager.
But accountability doesn't seem to be a concern in Yankeeland. Tell me another business that would condone such incompetence. There needs to be a house cleaning starting with Cashman, along with Mark Newman and Damon Oppenheimer. Their player development on all levels is a travesty. The richest team in all of sports can't develop it's own players. There needs to be a blood letting.
Yankee fans, wake up!! We need to put pressure on Hal that enough is enough. I for one have not and will not buy another item with the Yankee logo on it. The only thing that Hal, Levine and Trost know is money and if they start to see dwindling attendance, a decrease in YES ratings and a decrease in Yankee paraphernalia being sold, then maybe we will see some changes. Until then, we are looking at seeing the late 80s again. It's time Yankee fans to stop being lemmings by licking up all the crap that is spewed by Yankee apologists like Michael Kay & Sweeney Murti. This team is in trouble and it goes beyond this season. We could be talking a generation. If you love the Yankees, the time has come to send a message that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!
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