Yankees: Four Reasons Why They’ll Make The Playoffs In 2017

The Yankees are having one helluva Spring Training. It’s hard to find a dark spot and the bright spots are everywhere. It’s no longer a stretch to say that this team is bound for the Playoffs in 2017. And here’s why.

The Yankees are digging a hole for themselves that, with each passing Preseason game, is getting deeper and deeper. Yesterday they threw some icing on the cake when three pitchers combined to no-hit the Tigers and you just have to wonder – what’s next?

What’s next for the naysayers is the Playoffs in October. And it’s not just braggadocios to say that because the proof is at Steinbrenner Field and on display every day.

And some of the other proof has already been shipped off to New Jersey and Pennsylvania because this team has no space for them at the moment.

Even the locked and loaded Boston Red Sox are noticing the Yankees as seen by their GM, Dave Dombrowski, referring to the team in the Bronx as “legitimate contenders.” Whether he means it or he’s just making noise and making a backhanded compliment to his arch-rivals in the AL East is unknown.

But whether the Red Sox put their stamp on it or not, this Yankees team will be a legitimate contender this year and for several years to come.

Nearly all of the prognosticators who do this kind of a thing for a living predicted that the Yankees would be fortunate to finish as a .500 team in 2017. A few extended themselves and said that, with a little luck, the team could finish five-over as they did in 2016.

Do The Math; It’s Not Out Of The Question

With 83 wins last season, it’s only a modest jump to 90 wins and a small leap to 94-95 wins that would put them in a position to win the division, unless, of course, the Red Sox win 100 games and then all bets are off.

But the math says the Yankees can do this with the team they are showing this spring. Think of it this way. The season is six months long. The difference between 95 wins and the 83 they had last season when they qualified for the one-game playoff shootout is only 12 more wins. Which, in turn, means winning only two more games a month. It can be accomplished.

Joe Torre used to say that you count ’em in fives. And what he meant is that your first goal is to get five over, then ten over, fifteen over and so on. The key to everything is winning series, and especially the series against teams that you are “supposed to beat.” Splitting a series with the Blue Jays isn’t a crime but going 1-3 in a four-game set against the Twins is a disaster.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the construction of this Yankees team and break down the reasons why the Yankees will be playing in October.