The New York Yankees were in great shape prior to a showdown with the Blue Jays, now everyone is wondering can they still win the AL East.
By Steven Cifuentes
The New York Yankees were sitting pretty in the AL East at the trade deadline holding a six-game lead on the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. Visions of first round pitching matchups danced in every Yankees fan’s head.
What a difference 11 days makes. The Toronto Blue Jays
appear to have made all the right moves and walked into the Bronx last weekend and took a broom to the Bronx Bombers. Although, with the terrible hitting display the Yankees put on, you could have called them the Bronx Cessna’s.
Is Brian Cashman sitting in his luxury suite wondering if he did enough for his team to win the AL East? For the first time since the All Star break, fans need to start to wonder if the Yankees can hold onto a Wild Card spot, because the Jays are for real and made a major statement.
To put it bluntly, the Yankees are in trouble.
Can you look at their roster and honestly say they are better then the Blue Jays? Aside from a stacked bullpen, this club doesn’t match up with the current Toronto roster. The Blue Jays went from a one dimensional offensive team to the team to beat with two moves.
David Price gives the Blue Jays one thing no AL East team has, and that is a bonafide ace. Yes I know the Yankees have David Price’s number, how well did that work Saturday when Price pitched seven-innings of shutout baseball? Price is what will put the Blue Jays over the top in this division.
When the Blue Jays traded for Troy Tulowitzki everyone asked the question why would the top offensive team need to trade for more offense. The best answer I can come up with is why not.
Jose Reyes was always one play away from the 15-day DL, and while Tulowitzki is not exactly Lou Gehrig, he brings more substance than flash day in and day out. All the Blue Jays have done is gone 11-2 since he has arrived and cut the AL East deficit from 6.5 games to the current 1.5 games.
The Yankees schedule allows them a brief break vs. top teams when they travel to Cleveland and take on the cellar dwelling Indians for a three game set. But that break is over quickly as they are set to travel to Toronto for a series rematch next weekend.
If they are swept again it will be time to start thinking about playing for the Wild Card. The Yankees need to prove this week last weekend was a fluke and that they just went in a slump.
When the majority of your roster is made up of older veterans you start to wonder is this a slump, or just older players not being able to survive the grind of a late season pennant race.
Cashman took a stand at the trade deadline and did not give up any top prospects. While I agree with holding onto top prospects like Aaron Judge and Luis Severino, did Cashman sell this team short by not going for it.
Only time will tell, but unless the Yankees find their strokes, and quickly, we could be looking at a fan base that wonders what if we made the move for an ace. While the fat lady has not started singing she may start warming up , if the Yankees pull a another no-show vs. Toronto this weekend.
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