BRONX TIMES REPORTER,24 OCTOBER 16-22, 2020 BTR
Yankees pick up
pieces after ALDS
Team faces offseason uncertainty
Catcher Gary Sanchez. (Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports)
BY JOE PANTORNO
Once again the Yankees are left
to pick up the pieces of another season
that has fallen woefully short of
initial expectations.
A Game 5 ALDS loss to the Tampa
Bay Rays has relegated the Yankees to
watching the ALCS and World Series
on television for yet another season —
an 11-year championship-less drought
feeling more and more like an eternity
to a fan base that was spoiled with
four championships in 13 years from
1996-2009.
And with it, a pivotal offseason that
could prompt some more major spending
and diffi cult in-house decisions
to make.
Sifting through the rubble that
is the Yankees’ premature exit, it’s
rather clear to assess what some of the
most glaring needs are to turn them
into more of a World Series competitor:
Starting pitching and stability at
the catcher’s spot.
After winning Game 1 of the ALDS,
the decision to start 21-year-old Deivi
Garcia as an opener only to make
way for JA Happ after one inning
seemingly took the wind out of the
Yankees’ sails.
Whether that was on manager
Aaron Boone or if he was pressured
to do so by general manager Brian
Cashman, it was an overly-analytical
decision in an attempt to one-up the
small-market Rays — who have made
advanced statistics and scouting the
foundation of the organization.
But it also showed that the Yankees
don’t have a true, reliable No. 2 arm to
complement Gerrit Cole — even though
Masahiro Tanaka has shown an affi nity
for pitching well on big postseason
stages more often than not.
Regardless, the Yankees’ rotation
isn’t far off from being a top-tier unit if
everyone were to stay healthy.
Behind Gerrit Cole next season, the
Yankees will still be able to boast Luis
Severino, James Paxton, and Tanaka
as proven arms — but one more highlevel
hurler would make the Yankees
elite while providing a true No. 2 behind
Cole without having to worry
about the hypotheticals that come
with Severino returning from Tommy
John surgery.
Upon external options is free agency’s
top prize this winter, Trevor
Bauer, who is on the verge of winning
the 2020 NL Cy Young Award after a
brilliant truncated season with the
Cincinnati Reds.
Regardless of who is pitching, the
Yankees seem to have a major question
mark still brewing behind the plate as
Gary Sanchez’s role at the club is still
very much up in the air.
The last three seasons have been
nothing short of a nightmare for the
27-year-old, who has batted .200 over
his last 244 games.
Offensive inconsistencies have
made him a liability, especially given
his defensive struggles, which had the
Yankees leaning on Kyle Higashioka
down the stretch and in the postseason
more than Sanchez — who had just
nine at-bats during the playoffs.
With two years left of arbitration,
the Yankees have a decision to make
whether or not they’ll want to bring
him back, especially when JT Realmuto
— considered by many to be
the best catcher in baseball — will be
available on the free-agent market.
The Yankees have been far more
frugal in recent years, even with
the $324 million signing of Gerrit
Cole, when it comes to rounding out
its roster.
Should that philosophy maintain
itself under Cashman, the chances the
Yankees make a major splash in free
agency isn’t too great. But if desperation
is sinking in, we could see some
major shakeups this winter.
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