Message To The Yankees Front Office: Stick To The Script

By Kevin Van Amburgh | Oct 13, 2016

The New York Yankees front office have showed unprecedented patience with their rebuild the last two years and this winter is not the time to mess that up.

I have a message for the New York Yankees front office personnel: Stick to the script! Stick with the plan you presented back in July and August. The script that said the Yankees were going to get younger. You traded older veterans for prospects. You rebuilt the farm system to be one of the highest rated in terms of top prospects.

Despite the fact that such transactions usually send a message that your team is conceding defeat, the news that the Yankees brought back such promising young players in the deals, was exciting.

Plus, with Gary Sanchez getting off to a historical start to his career, the move to get younger seemed to pay off immediately. So my message to the front office is that now is not the time to tinker around and go off course.

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There are rumors that suggest that the Bombers would consider trading several front line prospects in return for an established ace such as Chris Sale. Sale, the star pitcher from the Chicago White Sox, is under the type of contract most general managers dream of, and is locked in until 2020.

If true, it’s tempting. But the Yankees just aren’t at the point where one player is going to be the difference between making the playoffs or going home early.

Don’t let this seasons second half surge towards contention fool you. This is a team that still needs a lot of work.

First of all, they need to find out if Greg Bird can come back from shoulder surgery, plus a year off from baseball,l and be the player he was in 2015. Bird hit .261, with 11 home runs and 31 RBI, in just 157 at bats. Could he possibly return to hit at that pace? Tyler Austin, who received playing time at first, showed some promise but was largely inconsistent.

They also need to find out who can play right field on a daily basis. There will most likely be competition between Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Mason Williams and the aforementioned Austin, who can also play third base, depending on your definition of a third baseman. The Yankees also need to find out if they have three competent pitchers to go along with Masahiro Tanaka and C.C. Sabbathia.

Most of all, what the Yankees need is patience. If there is anything to take from my message to Brian Cashman and Co., it’s to allow these young Yanks to play. In the past, young bombers were put on a short leash.

If they underperformed in their short window of opportunity, they were exiled back to the minors, most never to be seen again. This time, the powers that be have to give the players the chance to pull themselves out of slumps and not worry about being sent down after a bad week.

For the 2017 season, the New York Yankees need to use all 162 games to find out exactly what kind of team they have. With this years’ free agent crop thin, the time is perfect for the Bombers to not make any significant signings and stick to the script that made so much sense back in August.

Even with all the question marks, the Yankees still have several positions locked down. If Aaron Judge can figure out how to cut down on his strikeouts and be a legitimate power threat, and Greg Bird can pick up where he left off, then the Yankees going into 2018 look much better.

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In the end, only time will tell which prospects pan out and which don’t. However, the Yankees have to use their time wisely. This is the time to let the Baby Bombers showcase their talents. The 2018 free agent class could be one of the best in recent times, and if the young Yanks seem to gel well enough to be a player or two or three away, that would be the time to spend the money and go for broke. Until then, just stick to the script.

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