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.