Yankees and the Great Middle Class

The Yankees must remember that they like America have their real strength in its middle class. The Yankees have bright stars on their horizon. The collection of Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge has NY fans buzzing and dreaming on a new Murderer's Row. They have shown the potential to be a foundation for an amazing future of winning and championship contention.

 

Muscle in the Middle

 The strength is in the Middle Class- Matt Holliday, Brett Gardner, Chase Headley, Aaron Hicks, Chris Carter, and Jacoby Ellsbury. Add to this the key reserves like Ronad Torreyes and Austin Romine and you have a balanced roster with no obvious weaknesses. The Middle calss group has the ability to rise to star contributions. They have great defenders( Ellsbury and Garder) and power hitters ( Carter and Holiday). They have skill and baseball savvy ( Headley,Torreyes and Romine). Each f these players is replaceable by bigger talents in the Yankee system or in the looming free agent market. Yet each has a solid home with NY and will likely stay unless the Siren call of young pitching captures the Yankee management. Ellsbury is paid like a star but has ever performed up to his past levels. This season, he has turned a new leaf. Injuries seem to follow him, but this year he has a higher rev- the motor seems to by in high-gear. He can still change a game on offense and defense.

Stars and more Stars

 Didi Gregorious, and Starlin Castro can yet grow into the star strata. Castro was there once and based on his efforts so far in 2017, he can get there again. He can hit, he can do everything needed on defense. He has shown more power than in his early Chicago days- a product of effort and physical growth. he ig changes for him in 2017 are in being in condition, and accepting the burden of leadership. Expectations can stifle or boost most baseball players. This season, the expectations on Castro have dropped but they seem to boost him rather than block him. He is on his way to a spectacular year. Didi Gregorious has the power arm that makes other MLB shortstops wish. He added a home run stroke last season and one can look forward to a defensively-able shortstop that adds 20 honers and some clutch rbi.

Strong Core

The three young stars , Castro and Gregorious provide a five man core that is as strong as any team in the Majors. They have power and hitting ability. One or two can carry a team in a tough match-up game, two or three can launch the team to a week of winning. They will be a hard team to shut down, they press the defense and opposing pitching for the full 27 outs.

2017 Yanks Have Something Special

Friday, Cinco de Mayo in Chicago, the old Wrigley Field still holds the thrill of the Championship that ended a long, long drought.  Yankee fans have not tasted victory since 2009, 100 years for a Cubs Fan is far less wear and tear than eight winless years for a Yankee Fan.  The expectation are so much higher and the experience so much more compelling. Having won 27 Championships creates a dire thirst for number 28.

2017 Has Hot Prospects

The 2017 Yankees have a chance at that type of season. They have by luck, skill, and adventure chanced into some outstanding talents. The talent level is higher than in most recent years, perhaps the best since the late 90'swhen the last Yankee dynasty flowered. They have some indomitable spirits on this roster. Both new and old, they play with a belief that they can win.  That belief, a sort of unstated confidence, put the Yankee franchise apart form the rest.  It is like the old Celtics with Bill Russell, the Bulls with Jordan, or the Canadiens when they ruled hockey. Some  franchises establish this trait of winning with or against the odds. The 2017 Yankee have a chance to join the line of heroes.

 Core Four Legacy

When the Yankees had Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte  as headliners, they also had side players like El Duque, Paul O'Neil, Chili Davis, and Darryl Strawberry. These were great talents but they had a sense of playing as a unit. One might fail only to sit and cheer the next person in the order on to success. Sharing success and failure, every man owned the team's accomplishments. They had big stars but no one was bigger than the team, no one more important than winning.

2017 has the Spark

The 2017 Yankees have that trait, the Yankees DNA. Playing hard, playing as a team, and picking up the next man's failure and moving forward.  They are the young phenoms like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. The team has promising young players from their own system for a change like Greg Bird, Luis Severino, Chad Green, and great signings of young veterans like Ronald (Mighty Mouse) Torreyes, the smallest Yankee with maybe the biggest drive to win.

The veterans have caught the fire too and have responded like youngsters with energy and enthusiasm. Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and Chase Headley have dragged the Yankees down the past two seasons with lackluster performance and injury. This season they are leaders on the field.

You're as good as your Pitching

CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka have guile and talent. They can dominate games, but so can Severino and Michael Pineda.  The rotation has Chad Green in waiting and Montgomery as the surprise from Training camp. The bullpen lost the best reliever in the game last season in Andrew Miller but still has Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman firing 100 mph fastballs and slow curves.

Hitting, Power, and Speed

This team has timely hitting, power and speed. They run the bases and hit the gaps for extra bases. They do not live by the Home Run but they thrive on them. The season is early and the hot days of summer will enliven the ball and the stadiums. This team has lit the spark, it will be a fascinating experience to see how far and how fast they can grow and achieve. The hard part is done, they have assembled a team with the potential for a remarkable season.