Appearing to be out on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper is disappointing, but there’s still plenty of reason for optimism for the 2019 Yankees.
There are no sugar coating things. The Yankees appearing not interested in singing Manny Machado or Bryce Harper is frustrating.
The team set-up their spending plans last offseason to be big players in free agency this winter. However, it appears the Yankees won’t be going after the two superstars on the free agent market despite both being potentially good fits for the team.
Despite all of this there’s tons of reason for optimism for 2019 and beyond.
The Yankees may not have done much to their offense, but fans need to remember just how great the Bronx Bombers lineup already is.
The Bombers finished second in the majors in runs scored in 2018 and led all of baseball in home runs by over 30. All of their scoring came despite Aaron Judge missing nearly two months of the season and Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres, and Gary Sanchez having spent their share of time on the disabled list.
Heading into 2019 the team is healthy outside of Gregorius who underwent Tommy John surgery this offseason and is not expected back until summer.
However, despite not bringing in Machado, New York did add insurance. The Yanks signed one of the games best defensive players in all of baseball in two-time all-star DJ Lemahieu. Lemahieu is a three-time gold glove award winner and three-time Wilson defensive player of the year award. He isn’t too shabby at the plate either as he is a .298 carer hitter who won a batting title in 2016.
Along with Lemahieu, New York took a chance on Troy Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki was a low-risk high reward move. The five-time all-star, two-time gold glover and two-time silver slugger has battled injuries the past two seasons which kept him off the field in 2018.
Tulowitzki has a lot of potential if healthy. Many teams were lined up wanting him to be their starting shortstop. That wouldn’t be the case if Tulowitzki weren’t healthy and ready to go. Yankees fans need to give him a chance.
On top of an already great lineup, the Yankees bolstered their rotation with the addition of James Paxton and re-signings of JA Happ and CC Sabathia.
The bullpen already looks to be elite again with Zach Britton singing a multi-year extension and Adam Ottaviano still a real possibility.
One last reason Yankees fans need to take a step back is that the Yankees may be cheap for a smart reason.
The 2020 free agent class is stacked. Perhaps the best. Take a look at the names.
Perhaps the Yankees are keeping their payroll flexible to go big next year. There’s still no reason the Yankees can’t win a world series with the team in place for 2019 and go big in free agency in 2020.
Yankees fans take a breathe and be thankful you have a team with world series aspirations.