Bomber Bites: It’s Not The End Of The World For The Yankees

How painful was it to watch the Yankees, after starting off their Sunday by celebrating the career of their Captain, to go out and literally lay a goose egg for the Bronx faithful? Not only did the Yankees lose the series, embarrass themselves on Derek Jeter Day at the Stadium, and get shut out twice in one weekend at home, but they gave the fans an ugly glimpse of what could be the immediate future for the Bronx Bombers. Am I still allowed to call them that? No idea, let’s move on.

Mandatory Credit: Chad R. MacDonald.

What do I mean by the immediate future? Well, most new-age Yankees fans (born in the 1990s forward), have to put it simply, been spoiled rotten. It’s not a bad quality. It’s the same experience that many, including my late father, enjoyed in the 1950s and first half of the 1960s before the bottom fell out for the Yankees. Experiencing nothing but pennants, division titles, and World Series crowns are the ideal life for Yankees’ fans. For guys like myself, and my a few of my fellow staff mates such as Wayne Cavadi, Dan Dechenaux, and Chad MacDonald, it’s not the reality of our lives.

Dan grew up in the late 1960s and early part of the 70s. Chad grew up in the early to mid part of the 80s, and Wayne and I both were kids of the mid to late 80s and early 1990s. We all know the definition of “lean years in the Bronx.” What the “new-age” Yankees fans don’t understand or fully appreciate, is that those of us that know the lean years, see what is and most likely will continue to be going on. Bloated contracts, over the hill players, not enough juice (no pun intended A-Rod), to lure the elite of the elite free agents to the Bronx any longer.

For the next few years, we could and I repeat could, be witnessing a period of mediocrity for the Yankees. It’s not the end of the world. The Bombers missed the playoffs last year. They’ll most likely miss them this season, and until a ton of cash and bad players come off the books (Alex Rodriguez, C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann), the Yankees are so far up against the the luxury tax threshold, they would be forced to pay a dollar for every fifty cents they spend on a player’s salary once they move past the limit.

Unlike Daddy, Hal and Hank Steinbrenner have shown an uneasy willingness to get close, perhaps jump over it a bit, but not go all the way in to do what their father lived for: putting the best pieces on the field to try and win a World Series. They sign a player like Masahiro Tanaka, extend a guy like Brett Gardner, and bring in the injury-prone Jacoby Ellsbury, but they allow key cogs at the time (Russell Martin, Nick Swisher, and Curtis Granderson) to walk away, trying to pinch pennies. Instead of having the Bronx Bombers, you have the American League version of the San Diego Padres. A team that pitches well despite injuries, and can’t hit a lick.

It’s okay though. At the end of this season, Derek Jeter will retire, David Robertson could test free agency, Hiroki Kuroda will retire or go back to Japan, and Ichiro Suzuki will move on. A-Rod will return, and the Yankees will have some holes to fill. I would suggest, instead of trading the farm for Troy Tulowitzki, or handing mega bucks to Max Scherzer, or Jon Lester, or James Shields, or J.J. Hardy, the Yankees should sit back, let this current group take their lumps over the next couple of years. Build up some nice draft picks, continue to develop the excellent farmhands that are at the lower levels of the Yankees’ system, and if the big club misses the postseason, that’s okay. Within a few years, the big contracts will go away, and by that time, guys like Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Ian Clarkin, Eric Jagielo, and hell, even Gary Sanchez might all be ready to take that final step to big league glory.  

More from Yankees News

• Yankees chose worst possible player to ring in New Year on 2023 team calendar
• Yankees make upside play, sign former Rangers top prospect outfielder
• Michael Kay’s Anthony Volpe story will get Yankees fans amped for Opening Day
• No, Yankees should not acquire Trevor Bauer for 2023
• Yankees’ Marwin González replaces Red Sox LF in Japan in logical next step

Before you laugh, before you blow up and say “The Yankees will never do that!”, think about this for a moment. Prior to the drafting of players such as Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte, along with the development of Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees had some big name guys who were supposedly the best at what they did too.

Remember Rickey Henderson? Willie Randolph? Steve Sax? Dave Winfield? and Jack Clark? Yep. All big money, big name Yankees. They won exactly ZERO titles together as a group. That group, like this current one, also had an aging, beloved captain. That guy was Don Mattingly. Big time Yankees’ dollars were used to augment the roster AFTER the Core Four developed and joined Williams in the Bronx. It wasn’t an elite, aging All-Star at every position. It was a group of homegrown guys, and it can be done again. Fans and the organization just need to be patient and allow it all to develop. It really does require the use of the old adage…the best things come to those who wait.