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New York Yankees Editorial: The Bronx is boiling — Fare the well

By Wayne Cavadi

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For the past year and a half, you have allowed me to rant and rave every Monday afternoon about all things New York Yankees that made my proverbial gears grind. Today, well, today will be my last rant.

74 Bronx is Boilings have come at you over the years starting with Volume I, in which I took a look at the Derek Jeter and Masahiro Tanaka obsessive news coverage after the first week of Spring Training — 2014. You would think that after writing 74 features that I may have learned something. You give me too much credit. The Bronx is boiling and I need to blow some steam.

WHAT I LEARNED

One of the things I’ve learned covering the Yankees the past year and a half is that Joe Girardi is actually not as bad as we make him out to be. Is he Joe Maddon? No, but I’ll tell you this: there are very few active managers right now I would want leading the Yankees into battle over Girardi. 

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Look how much talent Matt Williams has in DC. Terry Collins six man rotation? No thanks. Robin Ventura who has been on the hot seat since he’s been hired? Nah. John Farrell. He’s awesome at coaching a last place team. Fredi Gonzalez who took last year’s NL favorites to last place? Could you imagine Bryan Price in New York?

Don’t get me wrong, Girardi still mismanages the bullpen. The revolving door between Scranton and the Bronx is annoying. But now that the Yankees are healthy, Girardi is winning.

Girardi had two broken down rosters in 2013 and 2014 and the Yankees were still alive right up to the end of August each year. Now that the team is healthy, they are rolling. Has he possibly cost them a few extra wins with some questionable calls? Perhaps, but he also has them running away with an AL East that many felt the Yankees didn’t have a shot at winning.

Another thing I have learned that I wrote about at length last season… Kevin Long is a disaster. Last season, the Yankees put up one of their worst seasons offensively in the history of their franchise. They finished last in the AL East in nearly every category.

The Mets offense is one of the worst in all of baseball. Who is their hitting coach? Exactly. There are no coincidence’s in life, this guy is not a teacher of hitting. Lucas Duda had a breakout season last year. This year, he is regressing backwards.

Look at trends. Long loves home runs. The Mets aren’t at the bottom in home runs. They are, however, last in hits and runs, while second to last in batting average and third to last in RBI. Their .300 on base percentage isn’t something to brag about either.

Then there is that A-Rod character. Man, it has been fun being a Yankees writer over his past two seasons. Love him or hate him, there is no question in doubt, he is the Yankees 2015 MVP.

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Brett Gardner has been exciting, and definitely a fire starter and when Jacoby Ellsbury is healthy, he is one of the best table setters in the game. Mark Teixeira’s resurgence is amazing. But Alex Rodriguez hasn’t simply been hitting, he’s has been hitting when it matters. 17 of his 24 home runs have come in Yankees victories, and he’s posting his highest OBP since 2009. He seems to really have matured, and is buying into the concept that the Yankees are in fact bigger than A-Rod.

Has A-Rod become my favorite Yankee? No way, and if he were on another team, I wouldn’t like him. It’s like I have said many times before: I don’t love A-Rod, but right now, I certainly love that he is in the heart of the Yankees lineup.

The Yankees also seem to be leaning towards handing the reigns to their farm system. They stood firm at the trade deadline and are ready to call up Luis Severino. We Yankees fans may be on the brink of something exciting. For the first time since the Core Four and Bernie, the Yankees may be a team of their own, and be heading towards another empire.

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Lastly, before I go, there are definitely a few things I’d like to say. I am forever grateful to Billy Brost and Jason Evans. I had written three whole blogs before Billy emailed me giving me a chance as a staff writer at Yanks Go Yard. When he came to me with he and Jason’s idea to have a Monday feature that let me go off on things that made me angry throughout the course of the week… well, it took me less than thirty seconds to reply yes.

I can’t write my final piece at FanSided without thanking Jason and Billy for allowing me to find my voice. Whether you the reader agreed with my rants or called me an idiot, I had the platform to express myself and that was because of them. The doors that have been opened for me since my first article at Yanks Go Yard two January’s ago wouldn’t be here without them. There’s no coincidence that they were FanSided’s 2014 co-editors of the year. I already told you there are no coincidences in life.

I also need to give two other shoutouts. Scott has been here longer than I have and we share the common bond of being two of the angrier Yankees fans I know. Ricky, well, I tell him all the time. My knowledge of Minor League baseball would be nothing without his help over the past year and a half. The kid knows more than some Minor League GMs. We have a few prospects that we definitely don’t see eye to eye on, but his tutelage has made me the minor league writer that I am.

That leaves one last thanks. And that’s to the readers that actually came back and read my rantings week in and week out. If the column wasn’t drawing viewers, it would have been axed a year ago, so for keeping it alive, I thank you. Now, there’s only one thing left.

The Bronx is boiling… and I am all out of steam.

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