You thought last year was hard to watch?
At least the early smoke-and-mirrors act of 2013 was compelling and provided a feel-good start to the beginning of a season that was wrecked by injuries and ended with the Yankees out of the postseason for the second time in Joe Girardi’s six years.
This year?
Despite spending $441 million on Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran, the Yankees as presently constructed have very large holes that threaten to swallow the season before May bleeds into June.
Third base, which lost Alex Rodriguez to a year’s suspension, and second base, where Robinson Cano traded The Bronx for Seattle, are huge questions. So much so that Derek Jeter, entering his final season, isn’t the Yankees’ biggest infield concern.
Age has invaded the rotation where CC Sabathia isn’t ancient (33 in July), but it’s the miles, not the DOB. Ditto 39-year-old Hiroki Kuroda. Anybody who tells you he knows what Tanaka is going to do is lying. Ivan Nova? Trust him? The fifth starter is Michael Pineda, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2011.
David Robertson will be fine as Mariano Rivera’s replacement, but who replaces Robertson in the eighth inning is a bigger concern. Boone Logan’s replacement is Matt Thornton. Logan wasn’t an All-Star, and his elbow barked at the end of last year, but his final season in pinstripes was his best.
Yankees essentials
MOST IMPORTANT EVERYDAY PLAYER: Mark Teixeira turns 34 on April 11 and is coming off right wrist surgery that limited him to 15 games last year. A lot of eyes will be watching the switch-hitting first baseman, who will be paid $22.5 million. He was signed to an eight-year, $180 million deal before the 2009 season, and the first three years were acceptable, but the past two were filled with injuries. If healthy, he has to drive in at least 100 runs.
MOST IMPORTANT PITCHER: David Robertson has enough fastball and a knee-buckling breaking ball. He developed into one of baseball’s best eighth-inning relievers. Now, he is being asked to replace Mariano Rivera, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball history. There will never be another Rivera, but remember this: He flushed seven saves last year out of his 51 chances.
WILL HAVE A BIGGER YEAR THAN EXPECTED: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann drew a lot of attention because they came from the outside and cost a bundle of money. That has provided the 38-year-old outfielder/DH Alfonso Soriano a lot of shade in a walk year. In 58 games last year with the Yankees, Soriano hit 17 homers and drove in 50 runs. Double those numbers and Soriano sets himself up for a juicy deal as a free agent.
MOST LIKELY TO DISAPPOINT: Ivan Nova’s track record is scary. He has enough stuff to succeed in the majors, but every time he strings together five or six strong starts he goes backward. The Yankees can’t have Nova, who was sent to Triple-A last summer, pitch inconsistently this year. Now, they need him to pitch 180 innings and avoid the potholes. Unfortunately, that might be asking too much.
KEY CALL-UP: When camp opened, right-hander Jose Ramirez was a strong candidate to land a spot in the bullpen. Then, warming up late in the first exhibition game, Ramirez suffered an oblique muscle problem in the same area that shelved him for two months last year in the minors. If he is healthy and the Yankees need arms, he will be the call.
BIGGEST MANAGERIAL DECISION: It’s the ninth inning of an early-season game, the Yankees have a one-run lead and Derek Jeter made the final out of the previous half-inning. Does Joe Girardi insert defensive whiz Brendan Ryan for Jeter? That’s a decision Girardi will wrestle with all year long. Jeter still has sure hands and an accurate arm, but Ryan’s range is as good as there is in the majors.
DON’T BE SURPRISED IF: Brett Gardner and Alfonso Soriano are All-Stars. There are bigger names in the Yankees’ lineup, but Gardner is on the verge of a breakout season and Soriano is in a walk year.
SURE TO MAKE FANS GRUMBLE: Alex Rodriguez won’t be around to get dumped on this year. Nor will Joba Chamberlain, a target of the boo-birds last season. That means the focus will be on Mark Teixeira to deliver. If he doesn’t, Teixeira will hear it. Ivan Nova is the runner-up.
WILL MAKE PLAYOFFS IF: Nobody gets hurt, David Robertson is a force, CC Sabathia wins 18 games, Shawn Kelley thrives in the eighth-inning role and Derek Jeter hits .280 to .300 while playing 125 games.
WILL MISS PLAYOFFS IF: A starter suffers a long-term injury, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira don’t produce and Ivan Nova doesn’t avoid the bouts of inconsistences of the past years.
INJURY THAT WILL HURT THE MOST: CC Sabathia may not have the velocity of years past, but he is the staff ace and an injury to him would be crippling. David Robertson finishes second here because there is no replacement.
Playing the field
FIRST BASE
Mark Teixeira needs a big year. With third baseman Kelly Johnson the backup at first base, Teixeira needs to stay healthy.
SECOND BASE
Brian Roberts will get first crack at playing where Robinson Cano did a year ago. Even Roberts in his prime wasn’t the player Cano was/is, so don’t expect the production from second the Yankees were spoiled with by Cano.
SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter will be 40 in June and is coming off a season in which he played 17 games because of surgically-repaired left ankle and leg woes. Bet against Jeter at your own risk. But how many games will he play? Sure-handed Brendan Ryan is the backup, but as good as he is defensively, that’s how bad of a hitter he has turned into.
THIRD BASE
Even with bad hips and Biogenesis baggage, Alex Rodriguez would be an upgrade over Kelly Johnson, who is more comfortable at second. Look for this to be the first area the Yankees upgrade.
LEFT FIELD
Gardner gave up the chance to be a free agent following the season by signing a four-year, $52 million extension that starts in 2015. He is poised to have a big year hitting in a lineup that should score runs.
CENTER FIELD
Jacoby Ellsbury was given $153 million after Cano split for Seattle, and the consensus is it’s too many years and too many dollars. What the Yankees need is for Ellsbury to stay healthy and be a productive leadoff hitter.
RIGHT FIELD
The switch-hitting Carlos Beltran is expected to produce from somewhere in the middle of the lineup. Alfonso Soriano, who has never played right field in a big league game, could play some here and Ichiro Suzuki is a possibility, too.
CATCHER
Brian McCann’s left-handed stroke has many people believing he can hit 30 to 35 homers taking advantage of Yankee Stadium’s friendly right-field porch. Francisco Cervelli is the backup.
DESIGNATED HITTER
Alfonso Soriano is entering a walk year after combining for 34 homers and 101 RBIs for the Cubs and Yankees last season. He arrived in camp in wonderful shape, and though he would prefer playing the field, he has accepted the DH role.
BENCH
Ryan, a defensive whiz without much of a bat, will open on the DL with a neck injury. That left the door open for Eduardo Nunez, Yangervis Solarte and Dean Anna. Suzuki is essentially a fourth or fifth outfielder and defensive replacement.
STARTING ROTATION
Masahiro Tanaka will be watched very closely after signing a seven-year deal for $155 million. Expectations are way out of a line for the 25-year-old right-hander with a basket full of pitches. CC Sabathia remains the ace and must pitch like one even if the velocity doesn’t return.
BULLPEN
All the focus will be on David Robertson, but the more important issue will be who works in front of Mariano Rivera’s replacement. Right-hander Shawn Kelley and lefty Matt Thornton entered camp with jobs and still have them, as do Adam Warren and David Phelps. Dellin Betances had a very impressive spring and put himself in position to possibly claim one of the remaining pen spots.
PREDICTION
As presently constructed, the Yankees will go 83-79 and miss the postseason for a second straight year finishing third in the AL East.