You may have heard that Alex Rodriguez is back with the Yankees after serving a one-year suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal. Other big Yankees news this winter included the fact that Alex Rodriguez met with Rob Manfred to smooth over his relationship with Major League Baseball following his one-year suspension. There also was Alex Rodriguez meeting with Yankees brass as he prepared to rejoin the team following his one-year suspension. Then, Alex Rodriguez wrote a letter to fans apologizing for the actions that led to his one-year suspension. Most recently, Alex Rodriguez showed up to Yankees camp a couple of days early, eager to get back to work following his one-year suspension.
A deep dive into further research indicates that the Yankees have other players on their roster. Derek Jeter is not one of them. You may have heard that he retired at the end of last season, a gracious and selfless act of stepping out of the spotlight to allow Alex Rodriguez to finally receive the attention he deserves.
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So, what can be expected from the Yankees in 2015? Here are five predictions.
1. A-Rod’s comeback
The last time Rodriguez played, in 2013, he was limited by injuries to 44 games, in which he hit .244/.348/.423, for a .771 OPS that was his lowest since he posted a .672 in 48 games for the 1995 Mariners. Here are the Yankees who did better than .771 in 2014: Jose Pirela (.902 in seven games, currently the backup second baseman), Martin Prado (.877 in 37 games, traded to Miami), Chris Young (.876 in 23 games, re-signed as a reserve outfielder), and Francisco Cervelli (.802 in 49 games, traded to Pittsburgh). A-Rod turns 40 in July and the Yankees re-signed Chase Headley, who had a .768 OPS in 58 games after being acquired from San Diego, to a four-year contract to play third base. So, A-Rod will mostly serve as a designated hitter, where the Yankees also need to give some at-bats to Carlos Beltran and the lefty power bat of Garrett Jones. Again, though, A-Rod turns 40 in July. Expecting him to play 162 games would be idiotic. He’ll play a little short of 100 and put up a .713 OPS with 18 home runs. That will be a boost to a flagging Yankees lineup.
2. A-Rod’s other comeback
February is not over, and Rodriguez has been the focus of the New York Daily News’ back page eight times this month. Much more so than on the field, where he is an aging superstar who figures to draw some benefit from having taken a full year off after multiple hip surgeries (the difference between A-Rod and Jeter is that Jeter rushed back to try to help the Yankees in 2013 and did not get the rest and strengthening his body could have used for a productive 2014), the drama of Rodriguez’s return is what plays out in the media, where as much as people claim to be sick of him, they keep coming for more A-Rod news, information, rumors, innuendo, gobbledygook, mishegoss and chazerai. From this standpoint, A-Rod’s return will be disappointing. He will be on the Daily News’ back page only 13 times all season, because once the season starts, there will be far less to say about a four-day-a-week player who hits a good amount of homers as a DH and doesn’t do much else. The composition of those 13: three walk-offs, two game-ending strikeouts, one related to A-Rod shaking Pete Rose’s hand during All-Star week in Cincinnati (he’s getting voted in, possibly as a write-in, and it will be hilarious to see the squirming from windbags who say fans all hate him), five made-up controversies, one “Redemption of A-Rod” feature and one more that we’ll get to later on.
3. Life without A-Rod
The Yankees’ infield defense will be much stronger with Headley at third base and Didi Gregorius at shortstop rather than a guy born during the Ford administration at third base and a guy born six weeks before Nixon resigned at shortstop. Stephen Drew, a decent defensive shortstop, should be effective at second base after getting his first professional experience at the position last year and a full spring training this year. The Yankees have a rotation heavy with ground ball pitchers in CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi and, if he works as a starter, Adam Warren. The outfield defense also should be strong with Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Beltran (with the speedier Young a good late-game option for right field). The Yankees’ emphasis on defense will help result in the staff ERA dropping from 3.75, eighth in the American League in 2014, to the top five ñ good enough to put a team without an elite lineup into wild-card contention.
4. A-Mill and D-Bet
Another reason that the Yankees’ pitching numbers will be better this year is what has the makings of being a dominant bullpen, regardless of whether free agent signee Andrew Miller or last year’s dominant rookie Dellin Betances serves as the closer, or if the Yankees even have a designated closer. The acquisitions of David Carpenter from the Braves and Justin Wilson from the Pirates further bolster Joe Girardi’s late-inning options. That is a key piece in a puzzle of decent starting rotation, a lineup that will need to scratch out runs however it can and a potentially dominant bullpen, that forms the Kansas City catenaccio style that the Royals rode to the pennant last year.. Still, there will be blowout games, and in one of those games, Girardi will get a call from one of the more devious corners of the Yankees’ front office, looking to get rid of A-Rod for good, regardless of his decent play. Rodriguez will be called on to pitch, with the story being that he has always wanted to do it but the truth being that someone is hoping for a Jose Canseco-like experience on the mound and insurance covering the rest of the contract. A-Rod will unleash a hellacious knuckleball, prove the comedic hero of an otherwise forgettable game, and joke about becoming a full-time knuckleballer and playing until he’s 50. At least, people will think he’s joking.
5. A-hair short
The Yankees were old and brittle last year, with only three pitchers who managed triple-digit innings and three hitters who managed 500 at-bats. Their WAR leader was Brett Gardner at 4.0, the lowest for New York’s American League entry in a non-strike season since Charlie Hemphill at 3.8 for the 1908 Highlanders. They have gotten somewhat younger, while adding depth that should either help maintain veterans’ health or serve as cover in case of further injury trouble. The big-budget version of Kansas City catenaccio will pay dividends with the Yankees exceeding expectations and winning 87 games, their most since 2012, but it will not be enough to avoid a third straight year out of the playoffs.
