Although the blueprint is mapped out for future New York Yankees success the “Baby Bombers” may have other thoughts in mind.
The towel has been thrown in, right? After all, the New York Yankees sold off three of their most prominent players in a span of a week shifting the focus into sustained success which will likely come in the future.
The return general manager Brian Cashman received for Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran was insane as it implanted their farm system with a surplus of notable talent as they now have the most prospects inside the mid-season Top-100 Prospects.
For most teams, that would equate to raising the white flag and calling the 2016 season a lost cause. Something manager Joe Girardi refuses to do.
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I don’t ever wave a white flag,” Girardi said via NJ Media. “This organization never waves a white flag.”
On one hand, what is he supposed to say? That they’re going to tank the rest of the season while the remaining past-their-prime veterans clog up roster spots? He said what any manager across baseball would respond with.
On the other hand, he and Cashman have made it clear that the remainder of the season will feature the bright stars that are knocking on the door at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre meaning the youth movement fans have been craving has arrived.
Does that mean that the towel has been thrown in? That’s incomparably far from the truth.
On Wednesday, facing the New York Mets and lefty Steven Matz, New York’s top catching prospect Gary Sanchez got the call to be the team’s designated hitter which jump-started the movement into a younger, more feisty group of Yankees.
To kick off the Gary Sanchez era, the 23-year old went 1-for-4 with a run scored in his first taste of the Subway Series. This could be the start of the next core group of Yankee stars.
He joined Luis Severino, who demonstrated some flare in last night’s 9-5 win while earning his spot back in the starting rotation.
On the way next? Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin who will be joined by Clint Frazier and Greg Bird in 2017.
Again, Sanchez’s debut marks the start of a new era – like Andy Pettitte did back in 1995 with the initiation of the core four – but it doesn’t hurt to question whether or not he and the rest of the youngsters expected to join can bring a fiery jolt to a team that sits just five games out of the postseason.
Of course, those aspirations seem asinine and all but discouraged by poor play followed by the sell-off, but the Yankees don’t plan on giving up and have some hungry youngsters.
How hungry? Just ask the man who kick-started what is hoped to be “The Core Four: Part II.”
“I want to be one of the best out there in the game,” Sanchez told Jared Diamond. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Here this out.
If Cashman was serious with this plan on using the kids as much as possible until season’s end, there’s a distinct possibility that they could be an augmented ballclub.
Sanchez – while current catcher Brian McCann clogs up the position – will likely get repetitions at the designated hitter’s position while the frustrating 41-year old Alex Rodriguez continues to miss some action.
I don’t mean to set expectations too high, but if scouts are correct with their analysis of him becoming a future MVP candidate, then he will produce stronger numbers than A-Rod’s .609 OPS.
Judge is another rising prospect who would make the big league club better.
The 6’7″ monster owns a .264/.357/.472 slash line in the Electric City while clubbing 16 home runs and driving in 54 runs. Additionally, he is cutting down on his strikeouts (26% compared to 30% strikeout rate in 2015) and being more selective.
The 24-year old is expected to take over as the team’s everyday right fielder next season but could he perhaps give his team a jolt right now?
Their right fielder, Aaron Hicks, is batting .188 through 89 games while turning a bad start into a bad debut season in the Bronx. Why not give Judge his spot?
Again, playoff baseball for the Yankees is far fetched by every degree of the word. Want numbers instead of words? How about a 1.7% chance at securing a Wild Card spot. Just remember, the Toronto Blue Jays sat 5.5 games out of the division on this date a year ago and they took home the crown with a six-game margin.
Yet, they can attempt to bounce back – which is proven to be possible – using the trio of a dominant Severino, a consistent Sanchez a the DH, and a monster in right field who has been compared to Giancarlo Stanton on many occasions.
The best part about this is that it might sell out some crowds once or twice while giving your team better odds to win now and gear up for the future – the right way.
Bring on the Baby Bombers.
