Yankees Fans: Mark These Important Offseason Dates on Your Calendars

Yanks Go Yard breaks down all of the most important events of the 2016-2017 offseason for the New York Yankees that fans need to know.

With the end of the World Series, the 2016-2017 offseason officially kicks off for the New York Yankees. The 2016 season was definitely a mixed bag for the franchise. The first half was probably the most disappointed I’ve ever been in my 20 years following the team. On the other hand, the trade deadline and the next generation stepping up down the stretch gave the club and the fandom a new energy that had been a lot of fun.

Just because the team is committed to building from within doesn’t mean this will be a quiet winter. New York is shedding roughly $60 million in payroll with the departures of Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, and Ivan Nova. We’ve already heard they will go hard after Chapman this offseason, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they had room in the budget for one more notable signing (Rich Hill? Jeremy Hellickson?) as well.

Yankees fans should also expect more wheeling and dealing from the front office this winter. General manager Brian Cashman made four big trades last winter, acquiring five key contributors to this year’s club (Chapman, Aaron Hicks, Starlin Castro, Luis Cessa, and Chad Green).

With the best farm system in baseball at his disposal, Cashman has the option of putting together a blockbuster for one or more of the biggest available names, but more likely we will see him continue his recent approach of making incremental upgrades and improving the club’s overall depth, especially of the pitching staff.