Yankees and Angels have reshaped the baseball landscape

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The Yankees are no strangers to big deals and big signings. But their recent improvements over the course of the season and since have contributed to a considerable shift in the 2018 baseball power structure.

The Yankees signing of Giancarlo Stanton sent shock waves through MLB. It was the surprising second hit of a one-two punch, coming hard on the heels of the Shohei Ohtani decision. His unexpected choice of the Angels, along with Derek Jeter’s first big move, quickened the pace of evolution in baseball.

Now, the centers of power are shifting for what could be a decade.

Out west, the Angels have been reinvigorated. It wasn’t long ago that the Anaheim nine thought they were building a super team. Once owner Arte Moreno realized just how good Mike Trout was, he rushed to surround him with talent.

Soon, the middle of the order featured three of the most feared hitters in the game: Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton.

But Hamilton had demons and Pujols an unknown Achilles heel. Josh was a bust, and Albert was reduced from maybe better than Lou Gehrig to a very productive power bat. Still, Pujols stopped being a superstar almost as soon as he arrived in Disney’s backyard.

And just as the hitting disintegrated, the pitching staff got old and ineffective seemingly overnight. The team finished in second place last year but was never a real playoff threat.

It seemed to baseball observers that Moreno was out of championship moves and the team’s fate was to lose Trout to free agency after the 2020 season, never again to threaten for a title until after his departure.

Not anymore. Not since Ohtani chose the Angels as his landing spot. Mr. Moreno sees this as his one last golden opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle. And that’s why an Angels team that might have made only small moves is suddenly the most active team on the trade market.

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For instance, they’ve shored up their infield by signing Zack Cozart and ancient Ian Kinsler. These are not necessarily championship moves, but they make sense for the once burned Moreno.

He hopes that a team that finished 80-82 will be better primarily because of Ohtani. He’s willing to give his team an improved chance, thus the right but not overwhelming signings. And if they reach July with a real opportunity to make the playoffs, he is likely to go all in.

But even that plan requires more pitching. Their ace, Garrett Richards, has an ERA under 2.34 for the last two years. He’s also pitched fewer than 63 innings the previous two years combined. He’s young enough at 29 to have a healthy season but, if he doesn’t, it’s hard to imagine the Angels challenging the Astros.

That’s a task that got easier when the Mariners missed on Ohtani but might get harder if the Rangers land Zack Greinke. And that seems like a move inspired by Ohtani’s signing, as well.

Rangers playing devils

Two years ago, baseball experts predicted Texas would be competitive in 2017. They arrived a year early, though, and became a surprise playoff team in 2016.

But instead of taking the next step forward, the team regressed this past season. They missed the playoffs and shipped off their best pitcher at the trade deadline.

They were always going to spend at least some of their Darvish-less payroll, but they might have been willing to be a bit more prudent with only one great team in the division. Not now. Now, they seem like the front-runners to trade for Greinke and his $127 million contract.

If that is their only move, it would be a terrible one. It’s okay for the Yankees or Nationals to trade for Greinke because they are two of the teams that seem like one good player away from the promised land.

But the Rangers had Darvish last year and still finished fourth in their division. Is 34-year old Greinke an upgrade? And if so, is he enough of one to lift the Rangers? Unlikely.

However, if this is just one part of a larger Rangers plan, then it makes sense. If so, it means they will draw more of baseball’s best to the AL West. That process seems in progress as the Rangers have already acquired starting pitcher Matt Moore from the Giants.

And this looks like the next step in shifting the power away from the East.

When the Astros won the World Series this year, they became not only the first AL West team to win a WS in fifteen years, but also the first to appear in the Fall Classic since 2011.

Now the Astros, Rangers and Angels want to make this a trend.

All moves both great and small

Seattle, though, might have a hard time holding up their end. The Mariners have made moves both big and small over the last four or five years, but still, keep missing the playoffs. Rookies never matured while King Felix got old, all of which negated the additions of free agents such as Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.

Now, they’re getting old, too.

GM Jerry Dipoto, the mad trader, pinned a lot of hopes on landing Ohtani. One of the most significant questions in the AL West is what the Mariners will do now?

They added Dee Gordon and his 60 stolen bases, but that might still leave them behind the Angels, let alone the Astros. Unless they add another impact player, they might be lucky if their bloated payroll lands them fourth in the West.

That’s a division that seems a lot more difficult than the AL East…for once.

The old order endeth

The AL B-East has been the most successful division in baseball for the last 25 years. And it’s not unusual for the power to shift within the division while the East itself remains preeminent.

That is now ending.

And that’s because two teams entered the off-season thinking of a Yankees style rebuild. Both Toronto and Baltimore can see that the Yankees and Red Sox are better teams, at least on paper.

But both had thoughts of keeping enough talent to be exciting but not serious contenders in 2018. The dream, of course, was to catch lightning in a bottle and reward the fans with an unexpected playoff run.

When the Yankees signed Stanton, they seem to have squashed those dreams.

Now, it looks more likely that the Orioles will trade Manny Machado, against recent precedent. And the Blue Jays are thinking of moving Josh Donaldson. At the very least, neither is making any moves of significance. Both seem like they are preparing for failure, instead of success.

Even Tampa, which came into the hot stove season already committed to decreasing payroll, might be more motivated to move Evan Longoria and Chris Archer now that there seem to be two unbeatable teams in the division. Those moves might make the AL East a two-team division for the first time since the early 2000’s.

21 AL teams have won Wild Card spots since 2003; the AL East has claimed fourteen of those spots and four of the last six. That kind of top to bottom dominance looks less likely in the foreseeable future.

Of course, Boston and New York are not without possible deleterious effects from the Stanton signing.

What goes up

Boston won the division last year but proved themselves too punch-less to matter in the playoffs, again. Even before the end of the ALCS, Boston recognized it needed to add power to keep up with the bombers.

The separation between the two clubs was magnified a hundred fold with the addition of Stanton. Now, if Boston doesn’t sign the only remaining power bat, they face a hostile home crowd and possibly some uncomfortable decisions.

Losing out entirely on J.D. Martinez would leave Boston still a great club. Their pitching keeps them in every game, and they could repeat as division winners. But they are a win now team, and that means a lot more than making it to the ALDS.

If Boston is left without a big free agent bat, they might have to reshape their club quickly. Adding Eric Hosmer would improve their offense, but not solve their power problem.

To do that, they might have to part with an existing player, such as Jackie Bradley Jr. But no team wants to start subtracting homegrown, big league players this early in what was expected to be a multi-year run at titles. It would mark the end of the ascension and the beginning of the desperate chase for championships.

They could decide to be patient if they miss on Martinez: Get Hosmer and wait for the 2018 free agent class. And while that would not be the same as conceding the division, it would mean putting up much less resistance.

And of course, the Yankees have the pressure to win it all, and to do so now.

The Only Thing, the Yankees, Cannot Afford

That means that Cash cannot afford not to add pitchers. One part of that plan is now completed as he has re-signed the very valuable, mid-level pitcher CC Sabathia (one year, ten million).

But he has work to do if he wants the Yankees to be the last team standing next year. The Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Indians, Nationals, Diamondbacks and Cardinals all seem capable of being that team. And let’s not forget the Astros, who don’t need to add anything.

Cashman would like to trade Ellsbury, but the signing of Sabathia might make a swap with Arizona cost prohibitive. It might also signal that the Rangers are about to complete a deal with the D’Backs.

However, Cash still needs another starting pitcher to create organizational depth. If he can make a deal for Gerrit Cole or another for-prospects-only pitcher, he might spend some on a veteran utility infielder.

But whatever he does now, he must get right. That’s what adding Stanton has done to the Yankees plans.

And all of this change is happening coincidentally to a number of teams going through their natural evolutions. The net result will see an almost complete shift of power for the 2018 season and beyond.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Ch…ch…ch…changes

The Angels and Rangers have become energized by Ohtani’s decision and seem like they are drawing talent to them, and the AL West. This might make them serious contenders for the next few seasons.

The Astros will remain at the top by doing nothing, but the Red Sox and Mariners will regress unless they respond soon. It’s possible that the Red Sox run at the top of their division is over.

The Giants have felt the ramifications, as well. Missing out on Shohei seems to have convinced them to go into a full rebuild, thus ending their dynastic run. They had hoped to land Ohtani and spend big in free agency, but that’s all gone, and they seem likely to continue their stay at the bottom of the National League for some time.

Even though the Pirates never had any semblance of a dynasty, they did have several great years. But trading Gerrit Cole might mean they shop Andrew McCutcheon before he can become a free agent. And that means Pittsburgh will have to wait a while until they see any more 100 win seasons.

Across the state, the Phillies look at the NL East and see the second spot and a possible Wild Card available. That’s what happens when the team that finished second, Miami, trades its best player. And then all of its players.

That’s why they recently added Carlos Santana. As they say, you gotta trust the process.

The Royals seem content to disappear entirely, but at least they have a World Series to show for their recent prominence. That’s more than the Tigers can say, who seem stuck in the baseball purgatory of mediocrity.

Into the future

The Stanton effect goes beyond this season, though. The Yankees were seen as a strong contender to sign Bryce Harper. Now, with both Judge and Stanton in pinstripes, the idea is less prominent. That has given new hope to the Dodgers, Cubs, and Nationals.

That newfound hope might be why the Dodgers recently shipped out several players. And it could bring teams such as Boston and Toronto back into the bidding next year.

But we have a full season in front of us before we think about that.

The Yankees are in full win-now mode. That was true before Stanton arrived and is doubly true since. And 2018 seems likely to mark a return to a place in baseball the Yankees have not occupied in a while.

Next: The Yankees Blue Chip Prospects Traded Next

Gone will be the Giants and Royals, winners of four recent World Series. Boston seems less likely to hoist the Commissioners Trophy then in the last three years, while the Orioles and Blue Jays look like also-rans instead of postseason possibilities.

The Yankees, meanwhile, will enter the season as one of the favorites to win the World Series for the first time in years.

They say change is good for the soul. If so, the soul of Major League Baseball is about to feel good. And to that Yankees fans say, right on, brother.

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