Bomber Bites: The End To The Yankees Killer B’s Era

Back in the mid-90’s, the New York Mets were supposed to challenge the Atlanta Braves in the NL East because of Generation K. Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen and Paul Wilson were supposed to lead the rotation. Well, Pulsipher got hurt, Wilson got hurt and then failed to become a star and Isringhausen became an All-Star. As a closer.

The Yankees had their own trio in the 2000’s. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain were big parts of the 2009 World Series. Ian Kennedy was then used in a trade for Curtis Granderson, while Hughes and Joba left via free agency. 

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Then came the Killer B’s. Dellin Betances, Andrew Brackman and Manny Banuelos. Brackman appeared in three games for the Yankees and was never heard from again at the Major League level. Betances was an All-Star last year, and may or may not close next year. As for Banuelos, well, now he’s an Atlanta Brave as of New Year’s Day.

What does the Banuelos trade mean?

Well, first of all, the Killer B era is officially closed. The Killer B era sounds more like Generation K than the era with Hughes and Joba.

Secondly, you just can’t trust prospects. For every Mike Trout, there’s an Alex Escobar. For every Clayton Kershaw, there’s a Brien Taylor. There’s an attrition rate.

We can all get excited about Luis Severino and Ian Clarkin. We can all check the box scores and see how they are doing, however, prospects are a crapshoot. You just never know with them. You can’t always bank on them.

The Yankees are going with a youth movement. You can see it from the moves that they made. However, not all prospects can be counted on. Even as the Yankees move ahead with a new plan, you can’t count on all of them, like how the Killer B’s didn’t exactly pan out.