Yankees: Is Luis Severino their most indispensable player in 2018?

There are people and writers who say that Luis Severino is the Yankees most indispensable player this year. I think not….

Yesterday I read an article by MLB.com writer Anthony Castrovince titled, “Most indispensable players for all 30 teams in 2018“.  When I got to the Yankees section, I was surprised to see that Mr. Castrovince thinks that Luis Severino will be the most indispensable player for the Yankees this season.

He writes on MLB.com:

"“Injury or regression for Severino would rob them of their greatest source of starting upside and likely propel them to a more aggressive tact in the trade market.”"

I strongly disagree. The prime objective of the Yankees is to win the World Series, period. Everything else is secondary, including upside potential and the trade market aggression, and I don’t believe there is any argument against this.

Last I checked, there are 162 games in the regular season. Severino will probably get around 32-35 starts, equal to nearly 20% of the games played in a regular season. The player that is most indispensable would surely have to be one who plays on an everyday basis. Meaning they’d have an impact on say,145 games or 90% of the season. That’s just basic math and logic.

The Most Valuable Player award, which is given to one player in the entire league, rarely goes to a starting pitcher. In fact, as Ken Rosenthal reported in his 2014 piece for Fox Sports,

"“Since 1911, when the awards were introduced, voters have chosen 11 starters in the AL, most recently Justin Verlander in 2011, and 10 in the NL, most recently Bob Gibson in 1968."

Clayton Kershaw, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, should be added to that list since he received the award in 2014.

Well my friends, those are the MVP stats on starting pitchers, and I am absolutely sure Mr. Castrovince wasn’t implying that Luis Severino would win the American League MVP award this year. I also am not convinced that Severino represents the Yankees “greatest source of starting upside potential” as Castrovince maintains. There is definitely Jordan Montgomery and Sonny Gray to consider.

I’m firmly convinced that a position player, and only in rare cases, a relief pitcher such as Mariano Rivera“, can and should be the most indispensable player for a team. Unless of course Severino wins just about all of his starts.

Next: Top prospect Gleyber Torres optioned to minor league camp.

So, enough picking on Castrovince because it’s time to tell you my forecast. My pick this year for Yankees MVP is Gary Sanchez. Who’s yours?