Yankees Play the Waiting Game

The Yankees are playing the waiting game in more than one way as we approach the 2015 season. Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi are sitting back monitoring the Yanks’ health and the free agency frenzy. With an aging roster and coming off a season of numerous injuries, management can only wonder what will go wrong this year. The countless needs that need to be filled and the lack of urgency displayed is leaving baseball fans and GMs scratching their heads. 

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The need for a big move is a necessity at the moment because of health concerns for the rotation. The ace, Masahiro Tanaka, has a partially torn UCL. Instead of having season-ending Tommy John surgery last season, Tanaka rehabbed and came back to make two starts at the end of the season. He was strong in the first half of the season in which he was a candidate for American League Rookie of the Year. Tanaka finished his first season with a 2.77 ERA, 9.3 K/9. 1.4 BB/9, 141 strike outs, and a 3.3 WAR. When Cashman was questioned about Tanaka’s health he said, “…he is a healthy player so there is nothing to report.” He can only hope that Tanaka’s elbow does not completely give out on him this season. However, it is possible to pitch with a partially torn UCL, Adam Wainwright did it for years.

The entire baseball world is just waiting for the Yankees to make a big move. It is almost as if this is the calm before the storm. We saw the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and even the Miami Marlins make big moves this off-season. It isn’t fun when the Yankees are being quiet! Until the Yanks make a move, every baseball front office will be on the edge of their seat wondering what the front office is up to.

I believe that the play on Max Scherzer is being made, but much slower than usual. Instead of going out and giving into Scott Boras’s demands, the Yankees are waiting to see if they have to sign him and if they do at what rate. If this isn’t the case I am wondering if they are going to look to the farm for answers. It can be time that we see the highly talked about Manny Banuelos.