The New York Yankees have won 27 World Championships in their storied history- – five of which coming in the past 16 years. The Yanks have also made the playoffs 16 times in the last 17 seasons, only missing out in 2008. And despite trash talk from envious onlookers, the franchise has achieved these incredible feats with mostly homegrown players at the helm.
Yet, as dominant as the Yankees have been since 1995, this coming season looks pretty grim. In fact, it would be fair to say that the Yankees will be a bad team in 2013.
Three cornerstones of the bombers offense — Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez — will each be missing at least two-to-three months with a range of serious injuries. Derek Jeter, the team captain, is highly doubtful for the start of the season, due to the lingering effects of off-season ankle surgery. And injury aside, at age 38, Jeter’s production will be an unknown. Additionally, even though Mariano Rivera has looked himself during Spring Training (0.00 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 7.00 K/BB over 5 IP), after missing the majority of last season with a torn right ACL, the durability of a 43-year-old is suspect.
The team also had a very quiet off-season, re-signing Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, and Ichiro Suzuki, while only adding Kevin Youkilis, Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay, Brennan Boesch, and Vernon Wells out of pure depth necessity. Would the late George Steinbrenner ever want to trot out Hafner, Overbay, Boesch, and Wells in even short-term starting roles? Unlikely.
But as bleak as the New York Yankees major league squad might be in 2013, the organization’s farm system is bulging with talent. Continue reading
