YANKEE PRIDE?

The New York Yankees could be in danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight year. The first time this would happen since 1995.  The signature franchise of MLB, often likened to an "empire" is not in a good place.  Lackluster performance on the field and a lukewarm front office doesn't fit the "Yankee Tradition" of winning and exhibiting strong star power.

New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman  (cbslocal.com)

The Yankees don't look crisp and are a little slow and out of step. With an aging core of injury prone star players like Alex Rodriguez (39), Carlos Beltran (38), Mark Teixeira (35), CC Sabathia (34), the 2015 season doesn't look good.  They might as well be walking on eggshells. Declining skills coupled with persistent injuries take a toll on performance.  The only player under 30 in the regular lineup is SS Didi Gregorius at 25.  This is Didi's 3rd team in 4 years so I don't think he'll be a fixture in NY.  A middle of the order lineup of Rodriguez, Beltran and Teixeira is not a good thing, especially versus good pitching.

Mark Teixeira NY Yankees first baseman  (nbcsports.com)

New York's projected 2015 payroll is 216.5 million, second in MLB only behind the Monopoly-like money the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending with 279.0 M.  Besides this payroll they will pay a luxury tax (any payroll above 189.0 M must pay a tax to try to constrain the richer teams from outspending lower revenue teams) which is calculated with a complicated formula.  The Dodgers get to the postseason, the Yankees get no bang for their buck. At the Major League level the resources haven't been well allocated.  The Mets might be the best team in town this year.

Jacoby Ellsbury NY centerfielder  (planetminecraft.com)

The best Yankee players are Jacoby Ellsbury (31) with a 2014, 3.9 WAR and Brett Gardner (31) with 3.3.  Gardner is barely known outside his place of residence.  One of the Yankee advantages at the Stadium is they can field a team with 8 left handed hitters to take advantage of the short RF porch.  They can be the "Bronx Bombers" at home.  Away from Yankee Stadium it will be difficult. The Yankee bullpen features two of the best relievers in baseball in hard-throwing RHP Delin Betances and LHP Andrew Miller.  The braintrust hasn't figured out who will be the closer and if Masahiro Tanaka will be throwing less four seamers this year to protect his elbow.

Emblematic Yankees Logo   (screensavers.com)

The organization has a very good farm system. If they develop local talent and sign young impact free agents they can get good in a hurry.  With the second highest average ticket price per game in MLB ( over $50) only behind the Red Sox, the Yankee faithful will continue grumbling this year. Some fans commented they didn't like the 2.3 billion New Yankee Stadium that opened in 2009.  I wouldn't either if my team wasn't winning and the year ahead looked bleak.  George Steinbrenner was abrasive at times but he understood the "Yankee mystique".

Firebaling Matt Harvey in 2013  (wordpress.com

During the New York Mets 2015 spring training, Zack Wheeler (24), a fastballing RHP with a lot of upside and Josh Edgin (28) a left handed bullpen specialist, underwent Tommy John surgery.  At the same time, Matt Harvey, the 25 yr old ace of the staff and 30 year old Bobby Parnell, the staff closer, were coming back from TJ surgery from the year before.  Four key pieces of a 12 man staff in about 14 months is alarming and is part of the recent epidemic of TJ surgeries touching starters, relievers, young pitchers, veteran pitchers across the board.  

A baseball seams tattoo over a TJ surgery scar  courtesy of Kyle Blanks

The American Sports Medicine Institute founded by orthopedic surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, in Alabama is at the forefront of the research on TJ. The Institute along with other stakeholders like MLB, trainers,pitchers and executives are trying to find the root causes of the problem.  ASMI performs a lot of the surgeries and track recovery time and effectiveness.  Success rate now is above 80% and recovery time is about 14-16 months.  Some early research suggests a lot of the problems start during the early years and carry over to college and the pros.  Pitch Smart is a guideline by MLB outlining risk factors, TJ questions and guidance for parents, players and coaches at the youth level to protect against overuse injuries during the development years.