Can the Yankees avoid the missteps of the Red Sox and Mariners?

The Yankees have visions of multiple playoff appearances and championship runs. But can they avoid the mistakes and misfortunes of other recent teams that have tried and so far failed in their pursuits of glory?

The Yankees have arrived at 2018 exactly where they saw themselves. They had a vision in 2013 of a young, homegrown team laced with talent.

To that talent, they hoped to have enough left in the farm system to trade the many good for the few great, and money for highly talented free agents in positions of need. This is not a new concept, and the Yankees did not invent it.

Most recent successful examples are the Astros, Cubs, Royals and, the prime piece of evidence, the Giants. Every other team would like to have the success San Fran has had recently, including the Mariners and Red Sox.

But it takes more than just a good plan. The roster has to be constructed carefully, with players plugged in to create new strengths, and not as desperate maneuvers. Management must have the foresight and build a cohesive group both on the field and off.

Free agents have to be worth their contracts and young players have to round in to form. And both offense and defense have to be considered. Above all, though, it takes talent and money and all the fortune the gods have to spare.

And guts.

If you want to win it all in the big boy world, you have to be willing to push all your chips to the center of the table. Henry Ford did it. Then again, so did Preston Tucker. Same plan, two wildly different fates.

That’s What Makes it So Difficult

So the Yankees might very well be looking at a five-year span of playoff appearances and competing for World Series titles. But maybe not. A lot of teams have the same plan, but there can be only one champion each year.

The Red Sox and Mariners, for example, are in the middle of exactly that kind of hope for run. But those teams have so far not produced the wins the way their ownership groups envisioned.

Here’s a look at what has kept those two teams, so far, from finding the excellence they were supposed to be destined for. And hopefully, this will help the Yankees navigate the baseball landscape all the way to the Canyon of Heroes.