New York Yankees
From 1995-2012, the New York Yankees enjoyed one of the best stretches in Major League Baseball history. Over that period the Yankees only missed the postseason once while capturing the World Series Championship on five occasions. After missing the postseason last year, the Yankees currently have a record of 63-60. The Yankees are in third place in the American League East as they are 8.5 games behind the first place Baltimore Orioles and they’re four games behind the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers for the AL’s final wild card spot. With roughly five weeks to go in the MLB season, these deficits are not insurmountable for the Bronx Bombers to overcome, but it won’t be easy either as the overall rules of how the Yanks have gone about business has changed.
When MLB introduced free agency in 1976, it was the Yankees and their former owner George Steinbrenner who were at the forefront in acquiring talent as the likes of Baseball Hall of Famers such as Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, and Jim “Catfish” Hunter helped the Bronx Bombers win titles in the 1970’s. Since then the Yankees have always spent top dollar in free agency as Steinbrenner loved to spend money on players that would put “meat in the seats”. And when free agency begins each year you can always expect the Yankees to spend a pretty penny. After missing the postseason last year, the Yankees spent big this past winter when they signed outfielders Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury, along with catcher Brian McCann, and starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees spent $438 million last winter on these four players, but the system that the Bronx Bombers have thrived on (free agency) has changed.
Ellsbury and McCann were each first time free agents last summer at the age of 30. Tanaka had never pitched in Major League Baseball before and he thus last winter he went to the highest bidder. Beltran is 37-years of age and the eight-time MLB All-Star was looking to prolong his career as a part-time outfielder/ designated hitter. MLB’s new collective bargaining agreement has now extended the time before a player can become an unrestricted free agent. Where in the past a player might have hit free agency at the age of 27 or 28, most players now hit the market at the age of 30, or in some cases 31 or 32. Now more than ever when teams such as the Yankees will sign an unrestricted free agent and they are paying for past accolades as players are nearing the end of the prime of their careers when they hit free agency. Along with implementing the luxury tax on teams that spend money, MLB made the change in regards to free agency as a way to aide the smaller market teams that could not compete with teams like the Yankees in free agency and the result has been more parity in baseball.
From 1996-2001, the Yankees made five appearances in the World Series and they came away with four titles. Since 2000 there has not been a repeat World Series Champion with only the 2001 Yankees and 2009 Philadelphia Phillies making it back to the Fall Classic after winning it in the previous year. The Texas Rangers won the American League Pennant in 2011 and 2012, but they were unable to win the World Series.
When George Steinbrenner passed away in 2010, the Yankees would be left to his sons Hank and Hal. But unlike their father, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner have not always gone crazy in spending. But last year’s non-playoff appearance coupled with the rival Boston Red Sox winning the World Series saw the Yankees spend money, but mostly on players who’s best years are in the rear view mirror.
In 2002, McCann was drafted in the second round of the MLB Draft out of high school by the Atlanta Braves and by 2005 he made the big club. In nine seasons with the Braves, McCann was a seven-time National League All-Star with a career batting average of .274. This season with the Yankees, McCann is only hitting .235 with a .290 on-base percentage in spite of the fact that the short porch at Yankee Stadium is inviting to left-handed hitters like him. McCann recently returned from the disabled list after sustaining a head injury and he really has not been the factor that the Steinbrenners and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman expected him to be when he was signed to a five-year, $85 million deal.
Unlike McCann, Ellsbury’s production has not dipped as much. Last year with the Red Sox, Ellsbury had a .298 batting average which has fallen to .274 this season in the Bronx. But Ellsbury still has a high on-base percentage and he is one pace to steal 40 bases for the third time in his career while also providing tremendous defensive range in center field.
Tanaka is 25-years of age and the Japanese born pitcher was rolling along with a record of 12-4 with a 2.51 earned run average until an elbow injury put him on the shelf last month.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi has kept this team together with spit and glue as they are remaining relevant. But if the Yankees are able to make the postseason this October, you can expect Cashman to spend once again this off-season in the pursuit of making this team better. With doubts about Tanaka and starting pitcher CC Sabathia, the Yankees need another starting pitcher. Current Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jon Lester will be an unrestricted free agent this winter and he will draw a ton of interest on the open market as the A’s will not be able to afford him. But he will be 31-years old in January. The same will be the case of current Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer who is 30-years old. If the Yanks went after either Scherzer or Lester they would be flirting with being stuck once again with a bloated contract down the road for a player that is past his prime. The only way for the Yankees to prevent this is by developing their own talent like many teams around Major League Baseball are currently doing.
But when the Yankees fail to make the playoffs they tend to get desperate and they might be willing to overspend once again this winter if they end up watching the playoffs at home.
Source: Baseball-reference.com
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