Are New York Yankees A Threat In MLB?

Are New York Yankees A Threat In MLB?

Once one of the proudest teams in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees have fallen on relatively hard times as of late. But they are trying to make some moves to get themselves back into the elite class of MLB, with the intention of returning to elite status again. Now that they have made some of those moves, are they a threat to win the World Series once again?

New York Yankees’ Moves

Pitching and hitting were both issues for the New York Yankees last season, where they lost in a one game Wild Card playoff against the Houston Astros. That is why the team’s top priorities in the offseason were to grab a capable bat to help the lineup and a pitcher to help strengthen things defensively. The Yankees were successful on both fronts.

First, they brought in second baseman Starlin Castro from the Chicago Cubs. Castro, who has had a strong start to his Major League Baseball career, is meant to be the answer to the Yankees losing Robinson Cano a few seasons ago. Since Cano’s departure, the Yankees have not had a second baseman with much offensive firepower, a need that has seen the Yankees’ offense decline in recent seasons. Castro, however, should fix that.

New York Yankees management also acquired relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds. Chapman, the hardest throwing pitcher in all of baseball, will help an already strong bullpen which looks poised to pitch at least three strong, dependable innings per night. This also puts less of a burden on the starting pitching staff for the Yankees, which is a valuable piece of this move that cannot be overstated.

Are The Yankees A Threat?

The question now becomes whether or not the Yankees are a threat to compete for a championship after these moves, and the answer is still unclear. If they stay healthy at all of their key positions, there’s no reason to believe that they can’t make a run toward a title. But the injury woes of some of their key players leaves no reason to believe that can happen.

Mark Teixeira is hurt seemingly every season. Brett Gardner suffers from the same problem. Alex Rodriguez is very old and could break down at any moment. All of this is to say that despite some great steps forward by the New York Yankees organization this winter, they still probably won’t have enough talent healthy and on the field at a given time to remain good enough to compete for Major League Baseball’s highest prizes.

With two very strong teams opposing the New York Yankees in the American League East, the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, it’s entirely possible that the New York Yankees aren’t even able to take advantage of their newly acquired roster talents enough to make the Major League Baseball playoffs. While that would be a catastrophic failure for the team, nothing is impossible when you are in as competitive an environment as the teams in the American League East are.

By: Jason M. Sanin