Accentuate The Positive

Feb 19, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; The sun rises over the stadium prior to the first day that New York Yankees positional players report for spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Last year, before the season began, there was much wailing and moaning from New York’s media. Doom and gloom permeated throughout Yankeeland. Nobody expected the Bombers to do much. Everyone said it would be their worst season ever.

And they were almost right.

Yes, New York did not make the playoffs. Yes, it was not a successful season. But to say that there weren’t bright spots at all would be a lie. The Yankees did hold first in the AL East for a while. They did so without the services of many of their superstar players. Indeed, New York had an All-Star team on the Disabled list at that time. For most of the season, actually.

Towards the end of the season last year, the Yankees had very little left in the tank. But they did not go down easy. They lost three of four to the Red Sox in one crucial series, but still managed to score over 20 runs in those losses. That would have beaten absolutely everyone else.

Now, the pre-season negativity is starting again. Fans are wailing about the loss of Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera. And with Derek Jeter‘s announcement that 2014 would be his last season, there is a pessimistic undertone beneath many pre-season predictions for the Bronx this year.

Well, stop it.

March 19, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (2) prior to the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Derek Jeter is not gone. You can believe The Captain will want to go out on top in his final year. There is no way this will fail to rally the rest of the team around him. Many Yankee sites, blogs, and fan pages are forwarding #2814. That means Trophy #28 in ’14. And that’s the attitude we all need to adopt.

Look at the reinforcements brought to the Bronx. Brian McCann. Brian Roberts. Jacoby Ellsbury. Masahiro Tanaka. And as reported first by this very site Saturday night, Andrew Bailey. And this is not to mention the return from the DL of Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Michael Pineda. CC Sabathia looks amazing and will be incredibly motivated to improve upon last year. This is a baseball team chomping at the bit to play hard for it all.

Never mind the players that have moved on. They are no longer Yankees. They are of no concern to you. They are not needed. Focus on the brand new and completely re-energized ball club in the Bronx. If last year’s short-handed and banged-up team still managed to hold first place, imagine what the Yankees will do this year.

The last time the New York Yankees missed the playoffs in 2008, they went out, signed big names, and came back to win it all in 2009. It looks like there’s a very good chance of that happening again.

Smile. This season looks good. The Yankees are back.

Play ball!

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