5 Players That Need to Be in Yankees Pinstripes in 2015

Don McPeak-USA Today Sports

2014 has been a long season. It started with a whirlwind of a free agent frenzy that saw our best player walk and some new faces come to town. Derek Jeter then announced his retirement in February, and the media circus that is New York Yankees baseball began. The 2014 season opened with endless possibilities of Yankees magic, a season like no other to send off the Captain. It has been anything but that.

The Yankees have already played close to 60 players this season, as the injury bug came in and bit them hard. Four of the Yankees five starting pitchers went down for almost the entire season. Carlos Beltran proved what every Yankees fan feared when he was signed to that ridiculous contract: that he was old, broken and a shell of his former self. The Yankees two prized big contracts of the off-season, Masahiro Tanaka and Jacoby Ellsbury, both dealt with season long injuries missing significant time. And Robinson Cano is leading a resurrection in the AL Wild West with the surging Seattle Mariners.

The Yankees hopefully have learned some valuable lessons from the past two seasons. It all starts with arming yourself with a deep team ready for anything that can be thrown your way. That means going into 2015 there can’t be anymore Beltran signings, and certainly no more Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts signings. We need proven stars or to simply take a chance on some of our major league ready talent in the minors. The 90s Yankees thrived by combining big name acquisitions like David Cone with budget-friendly utility players like Luis Sojo. Both of those types of players proved to be the perfect match for success. Here are five players that can do the same for the 2015 Yankees.