The Bronx is Boiling: It Wasn’t All Bad for the Yankees

2014 is officially done. The New York Yankees went out on a high note, defeating the defending chumps 9-5. The Derek Jeter farewell tour came to a chilling close as some of his long time foes stood with smiles showering him with gifts. Number two is now gone, along with the misery of this long season.

We’ve heard all the negatives all season long. Joe Girardi is a bum. Brian Cashman needs to go. Kevin Long couldn’t hit a beach ball with one of those big red wiffle ball bats, yet he is still the Yanks hitting coach. Negativity ran deep from the second CC Sabathia threw his first underwhelming pitch of the season. Every Monday this entire season, I was there to point out the worst of the worst. It has emotionally drained me. I’m not going to do that this week. The Bronx is boiling, folks, and I need to blow some steam. 

THREE THINGS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE 2014 SEASON

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This was a tough one to endure, but at the end of the day our boys in the Bronx finished in second place with an 84-78 record. That means it could have been much worse. Through all of the injuries, all of the regressions and all of the straight up lousy play, there were a few bright spots.

3. Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury were not that bad.

McCann’s first half of the 2014 season was horrendous. As a long time Yankees fan, this is something I have seen all too often. It takes people some time to adjust to the bright lights and big city, especially when you are brought in on big bucks to get a perennial playoff team back to October. But by season’s end, McCann ended up right around his career norms. McCann never finished with more than 24 home runs in any year in his career, and he finished with 23. He has averaged right around 74 RBI a season over his ten year career and he finished with 75 in 2014. His batting average was awful, however, it seems he has been in a regression in average the past few seasons, and as I mentioned, Kevin Long is not the cure for that. All in all, did McCann have the year Yankees fans wanted? No, but their expectations were too high. McCann showed he has the goods and will be better in 2015.

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Ellsbury came south with a ring on his finger. He signed a huge seven year deal which worried some Yankees fans due to his inability to stay healthy his first few seasons of his career. Well, we got what we paid for as Ellsbury was banged up for the majority of 2014. However, he played through the pain and appeared in 149 games. His numbers were down, but not terrible. He slashed a .271/.328/.419 line while hitting 16 home runs (the second highest in his career) and he drove in 70 while scoring 71 and stealing 39 bases. Most of this came batting out his normal leadoff spot, which I strongly disagreed with all season and made it quiet clear. Now that Jeter is gone, Ellsbury will most likely return to his comfort zone leading off and could become part of a deadly duo with Brett Gardner in the two hole.

2. Watch out, boys and girls, we have a farm system.

Jose Pirela made us here at Yanks Go Yard proud. We were his biggest advocates all season with our #PromotePirela campaign and when he finally got his chance he did it right. He batted .333 with two triples and three RBIs. Most importantly, he had the leadoff hit that started the rally that finished Jeter’s career in the Bronx so beautifully. Pirela was set to become a minor league free agent, but Martin Prado’s appendectomy may have cemented his spot on the 40-man roster for 2015.

Pirela isn’t alone. Rob Refsnyder will certainly press for time in the Bronx next spring. Aaron Judge had an impressive first full season and will continue to hone his skills in the Arizona Fall League. Luis Severino, once an little known fireballer, became a household name appearing in the MLB Futures Game and cracking the midseason Top 50 Prospect list. Ian Clarkin was sensational in his first full season on the mound. Eric Jagielo suffered through an injury plagued season, but man, when he connected with the ball, it was pretty to watch. Kyle Roller, Gary Sanchez, Manny Banuelos, Jacob Lindgren, Luis Torrens, and Jaron Long are amongst a handful of talented youth who, for the first time in a long time, look as if they have the talent to contribute on a major league level. If the Yanks play their cards right, they can have the next Core Four on their hands.

1. The Red Sox stunk up the joint.

If the Yankees miss the playoffs, it helps ease the pain if the Red Sox miss them as well. It makes it damn near laughable when Boston’s finest turn in a season like they did. The Red Sox finished 20 games under .500 and in dead last in the AL East 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. They were six games out of fourth place. Aside from Mookie Betts, much of their youth movement looked lost and unprepared most of the season, which is certainly promising for the future. They let Jon Lester go to bolster their offense with Cespedes, but they left a gaping hole in their future pitching staff. It wasn’t a surprise to see a drop off from 2013 to 2014, but the fall the reigning champs made was downright horrendous. It surely helps ease our pain a little bit.