New York Yankees: Biggest Keys For 2017 Success

The New York Yankees could very well return to playoff-caliber by next season, but a lot still has to go right for the Bombers.

Success is forecasted in the New York Yankees‘ future… But how far?

Some rebuilding teams take years and years to rebuild (the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, etc.) but thanks to Gary Sanchez and other rising stars, New York could return to match expectations set every year by 2017.

It’s way easier said than done, though.

Their -22 run differential was the only negative run differential among teams over .500, so this team still needs some moves here and there along with some aspects to go their way from being a genuine contender.

After all, their 2016 season was considered a success for the potential the youngsters showed and the team ability to last until the fourth-to-last day of the year.

However, that won’t cut it during 2017. Progress need to be made if general manager Brian Cashman wants to see his team reach the promised land — or even a contract extension of his own.

In no particular order, here are the keys to the Yankees returning to the postseason, beyond the Wild Card Game, for the first time since 2012.

Avoiding The Sophomore Slump

There’s no ignoring it: Gary Sanchez made history in his first go-around in the Bronx.

In the month of August, the 23-year old slashed .389/.458/.832 with an OPS of 1.290 and 11 home runs en route to winning the American League Player Of The Month award.

Then, on September 21, Sanchez became the fastest player in baseball history (45 games) to reach the 18 home run mark and later tied Wally Berger as the fastest to reach 20.

Despite going just 23-for-102 (.225) in the final month of the year, expectations are sky-high for this kid as he enters his second season.

Some called him the next Babe Ruth, some say he’s the Yankees “savior,” and some have no words to describe it yet, heading into 2017, however, at least a portion of that magic needs to come back next season.

When he’s hot, he’s shown he can carry an offense and even a team.

Take Sept. 10- Aug. 10 for example. In 27 games played Sanchez batted .373 and smashed 13 of his 20 home runs. During that span, the Yankees went 18-9 and jolted themselves back into relevancy.

It’s completely unfair to think that those numbers will carry through to 2017, but to see such a professional hitter with that kind of potential is ensuring that you have a superstar, to say the least.

Even if New York only gets 25-30 homers and a .280 batting average, they’ll take it. What they won’t, however, is Kevin Maas 2.0.

Aaron Judge Turnaround

Getting a healthy Greg Bird in the lineup will help immensely, but a healthy Bird with Aaron Judge at his greatest potential makes the lineup inexhaustible.

The catch is, however, Judge still has some proving to do.

Along with striking out in exactly half of his at-bats, the monstrous slugger set the Yankees’ record for the most strikeouts (42) within a player’s first 27 games. But my goodness gracious when he made contact…

Judge’s average exit velocity on batted balls, according to Statcast, was 96.82 miles an hour. MLB’s average for 2016 was 89.57. The average distance his batted balls traveled was 249.67 feet while the average in baseball was 218.08. His average generated velocity was 8.00 m.p.h. The league average was 1.45.

Aaron Judge’s power can be confused with the power of “The Incredible Hulk,” but translating that into major league success is his contemporary hindrance.

Which is why this offseason is huge for him. Whatever transpires from now until he arrives in Tampa spring will have a huge bearing on the Yankees’ 2017 season.

If he takes this failure in his first go around in the show like he did in Triple-A, where he struggled in 2015 but adjusted flawlessly in 2016, then nothing but a turnaround should be expected.

Bullpen Help

Dellin Betances stretch to end his 2016 All-Star campaign was an absolute disaster.

In 11 games pitched in September and October, the 6’8″ right-hander surrendered 10 earned runs in 9.1 innings of work (9.64 ERA) while his opponents slash line (.279/.392/.372) was the highest line against him all year.

Additionally, his 13 surrendered runs in the month were the second-most among major league relievers behind Jeanmar Gomez of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Among starters and relievers, he ranked seventh which is downright terrible when you consider he pitched in 17.1 innings less than the starter ranked in front of him in runs.

It may have been his 73 innings pitched (ninth among AL relievers) catching up to him, but in order for the Yankees to make their bullpen a strong suit again, another reliever to throw into the mix in necessary.

Already locked with Tyler Clippard (2.49 ERA) for the 2017 season, New York could be one move away from creating another dynamic trio at the end of the bullpen.

Highlighting the free agent market are two former Yankees, Aroldis Chapman (1.55 ERA, 36 SV) and Mark Melancon (1.64 ERA, 47 SV), who can certainly give Girardi a reliable closer, shifting Betances into his natural habitat as a dominant setup man.

New York does have some wiggle room in terms of payroll. They are estimated to be at $128 million heading into free agency, so a solid contract to a top tier reliever could still keep them under the $200 million threshold they look to remain underneath of.

Bringing in a big name closer (again) will help eliminate late-game collapses of the second half and even if Betances’ struggles were just a result of fatigue, then it will benefit the middle relief — which was abysmal all season.

Retain Billy Butler

After signing Billy Butler, seems like out of nowhere, the Yankees certainly enjoyed their portion of country breakfast.

Through 12 games in New York, the 30-year old went 10-for-29 (.354) with one home run as the team’s designated hitter and even spent three games over at first base. Small sample size, sure, but to have his bat in the lineup (as a DH) against left-handers could be beneficial.

In his career against left-handed pitching, Butler owns a career slash line of .300/.382/.492 with an OPS of .874 and 55 home runs.

Additionally, among right-handed hitting first basemen and designated hitters since 2007, Butler is in the top-20 in home runs, OPS, and in the top-10 in batting average, hits, and RBI.

For comparison, his batting average (.290) is behind the likes of Miguel Cabrera (.325), Albert Pujols (.295), and Paul Goldschmidt (.299), but ahead of Alex Rodriguez (.276), Edwin Encarnacion (.267), Jose Bautista (.258).

No, he’s not the most dangerous bat but he is a solid right-handed contact-driven hitter with some pop, a history of success against southpaws, and a perfect compliment for the left-handed Brian McCann.

Add Another Starting Pitcher

If the Yankees plan on contending, they need another arm in the rotation. Why? Because, honestly, they only have three reliable arms.

After Masahiro Tanaka (third best ERA in AL), CC Sabathia (best season since 2012) and Michael Pineda (AL Leader in K/9), you have three unproven kids under 25-years old competing for two spots.

One of those kids served up an 8.50 ERA as a starter (Luis Severino), one served up 11 home runs in nine starts (Luis Cessa) and one had his season cut short due to an elbow injury (Chad Green).

And one could argue that Pineda — who is one of six players in MLB history to strikeout more than 200 but have an ERA over 4.80 — is unproven as well, but New York needs to consider adding an arm into the crowded mix.

One arm they could possibly add is 31-year old Gio Gonzalez.

The southpaw is coming off a year in which he went 11-11 with an ERA of 4.57 but in the five combined years prior, Gonzalez won 84 games and racked up over one thousand strikeouts.

Last offseason, the Nationals talked in the offseason with the Arizona Diamondbacks but the trade fell after Arizona became stubborn about dealing Ender Inciarte or David Peralta.

The Nats also spoke to the Miami Marlins, who declined due to the asking price of Christian Yelich but both Washington and New York have what the other needs. 

Washington needs a speedy leadoff guy and the Yankees could use a starter with proven success in recent times to help balance out a questionable rotation. Cashman could possibly make a deal involving Brett Gardner to obtain the lefty.

It fits directly into what New York wants to do. Gonzalez is a free agent after the 2017 season so there’s no long-term commitment while Gardner’s exit makes way for highly touted Clint Fraizer’s arrival when he’s ready.

There are two other ways Cashman can go. One being the free agent market, where 36-year old Rich Hill and 43-year old Bartolo Colon highlight the list or stick with their current situation.

Adding a starter with zero dedication beyond 2017, along with everything else listed on this list, may be the best way to go to esnure progress next baseball season.

What do you think, fans? Are these the greatest keys to success? Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments below.