LET THE TRANSACTIONS BEGIN

Yesterday, the Yankees dealt Brian McCann to the Houston Astros for yet even more young prospects.  This time, they acquired 2 pitchers – Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman.  Before you get ready for a potential Hip-Hip-Jorge chant, please notice that these guys are very young – 21 and 20 respectively.  It will take at least 2 years optimistically for them to establish any potentially true evaluations.  They both offer above-average velocity, especially Abreu.  Either could develop into a starter, but always anticipate reliever options if enough diverse arsenal is not nurtured over time.

This first major deal for the Yankees' offseason, to me, is a great start.  I feel this trade was very good for the Yankees and their fans for several reasons:

1) Youth – once again, the team got younger by dealing a 32-year old for two pitchers who are only 20 and 21 years old.

2) Payroll – the Yankees will pay a $5.5 million portion of McCann’s contract twice (once for the 2017 season and once for the 2018 season), but they are now saving $11.5 million for each of those same seasons and potentially saving $17 million for his optional 2019 season.

3) Roster Manipulation – if the Yankees don’t obtain a true DH-type player, such as bringing back free agent Carlos Beltran or initially signing free agent Edwin Encarncion, then Girardi will have the advantage of shifting players around to sharing DH duties – something that was done during some of their most successful years to help rest players or enable injuries to gradually heal for some.  (I prefer the team in that manner, but I also understand that this year’s pool of free agents may encourage the Yankees to obtain such players for some offense.)

4) Opportunity – the phenomenal  Gary Sanchez will no longer have to share time with veteran McCann.  Additionally, young catchers, especially Kyle Higashioka, will now get a respectable chance to make the 25-man roster as a the new back-up catcher in competition with Austin Romine who will probably get his last chance as the catching backup this year.  In any case, as a domino effect, others at lower levels in the Yankees’ system will also get chances for promotional opportunities such as Luis Torrens if he is not drafted and retained via the Rule 5 Draft by another team.

Stay tuned, there are a lot more transactions anticipated before the season begins.

CHICAGO, MY KIND OF TOWN (CONGRATULATIONS CUBBIES!!!)

Before I begin writing about the NYY, which will soon be in my next article, I’d like to take the time to congratulate the Chicago Cubs on their very long-awaited World Series Championship!!  I had visited the city of Chicago and both MLB ballparks six years ago and learned something that I didn’t think existed – the Chicago Cubs & White Sox fans are more competitive with (against) each other than the Yankees’ and Mets’ fans are!   I also experienced the nicest people in Wrigley Field – genuinely nice people.

Right before the 2012 season began, I was very happy when the Cubs hired Theo Epstein as their President of Baseball Operations, shortly after Theo had resigned from the Red Sox organization.   I had previously admired Theo during his very first season in 2004 as the General Manager of the Red Sox.  That is when I saw him execute some major and seemingly smart transactions for the Red Sox.  The following season is when the Red Sox finally achieved their first championship in 86 years, thanks to the major assistance of Theo and his swift architectural abilities.  For the Cubs, who hadn’t won in over 100 years, it seemed inevitable that Theo would once again be the executive to build a team that would eventually become strong enough to win it all.  It took him just 5 seasons to accomplish such a miraculous feat…again!   Additionally, Theo not only helped construct a team and hire the perfect manager (Joe Maddon) who would bring them this season’s championship, but a team that I believe will compete for years to follow this season.

Many executives tried to find ways for both the Red Sox and the Cubs to win it all year-after-year, but only Theo configured the perfect ingredients.  Building teams to win the World Series is hard enough, but building teams to win it after an 86-year drought and after a 108-year drought is so sensational!  It’s something that we will never see again!  As a result, in my opinion, Theo is currently the greatest current executive in baseball and can also be considered the greatest baseball executive of all time.

So, once again, congratulations Cubs’ fans, Theo, and all who were involved in this year’s World Series Championship; you deserved the championship like no other team ever has! 

TURNING THE PAGE

This season’s Yankees certainly failed my expectations - not that I was expecting them to win the World Series; but, in terms of wins and excitement at the end, it was a big letdown.  They only won 84 games (5 short of my prediction) and they didn’t even make it to the wildcard - which, I must admit, as the season winded down, was actually something I didn’t want them to achieve.  Yes, of course I’m a fan, but my reasoning was based on the structured team they had at that time.  That mainly included no true reliable starter.  For those who might argue that Tanaka was reliable, then I would pose this question for the other games, “Who would have pitched the following playoff games after the wildcard game?”  I just couldn’t bear to see us get further humiliated than we already did during the final weeks of the regular season.  It was clear that the youth movement of trades we made were strong stepping stones for the 2017 and 2018 seasons and beyond.

Elaborating on my last point, we truly should have a very exciting 2017 season with multiple youngsters!  As I’ve written so many past blogged articles, the Yankees’ youth movement is something that  brings us back to the same kind of plan that Gene Michael led with Brian Sabean and Buck Showalter  back in the early to mid 90s, something that historically paid off.  My last article talked about the sensation we’ve already witnessed that was provided by Gary Sanchez.  This offseason will help determine what other players will join Gary and the already-established MLB players they have on their 25-man roster.

I, for one, anticipate a better and more exciting team with the added youth onto next season's roster.  I'm anxious to see who else we add and what the team will look like as a whole within next 4 months!!