New York Yankees Preview: Chase for 28?

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Yankees fans should be excited to see first baseman Greg Bird return to the lineup alongside their other young studs.

By John Conturso, Staff Writer

Tis the season for Yankee baseball. Spring is in the air and it’s time to start the baseball season. The Yankees will look for their 28th ring this year.

The New York Yankees are going into the baseball season hot. They have been tearing up spring training. The Yanks had the best record in all of baseball for this spring. They went 23-8 in spring training. It’s almost like no one can stop them. They are coming into the season without deciding who their fifth starter is. The competition is between Chad Green, Luis Severino, and Bryan Mitchell. Bryan Mitchell has had the upper hand this spring, as he has been tearing it up. He posted a 0.57 ERA to go along with 12 strikeouts. Despite this, the last rotation spot is up for grabs and anyone can grab the last spot. They will be lead by Masahiro Tanaka who can be a Cy Young candidate this year. They also have veterans C.C. Sabathia and Michael Pineda who will look to have bounce back seasons.

The Yankees are going into the season with a mix of veteran players and young studs. For their veteran players, they are lead by Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Matt Holliday. Gardner and Ellsbury will look to set the tone for the rest of the lineup as they will be the first two batters up in the lineup. They are coming off down seasons in which they will look to rebound from and have a better season. They acquired Matt Holliday through free agency and signed him to a one year contract. He is coming off his first season in which he batted lower than .270 and had less than 70 RBI. He does have the benefit of the doubt as he was mainly injured last year and only played 110 games. He is clearly past his prime and he will look to prove that he can still compete at the major league level.

Now, the studs are introduced. It all starts with “The Great Sambino” or in other words Gary Sanchez. He is the real backbone of the Yankees and will look to carry this team just like he did in his monstrous second half last year. He came in second for AL Rookie of the year and he only played in 58 games. He hit 20 homers in that span, which is the most in a 60 games. He is going to be the franchise player for years to come and could be one of the best players in all of baseball. The Yankees also have young stud Aaron Judge, who has been one of their prized possessions for a long time. He has been in the farm system for what seems like forever. We got to see a little taste of him last fall when he was called up for September call ups. He hit .179 with 4 home runs, although he did only play in 17 games. We will get to see him this year as he will be the Yankees starting right fielder. The Yankees will also be getting their first baseman back. Greg Bird will be coming back from injury which caused him to miss the whole 2016 season. In his rookie season, he hit .261 with 11 home runs in 60 games. He will look to be the Yankees home run leader along with Gary Sanchez. They also have Tyler Austin, but he will miss the whole 2017 season as he was hurt in spring training. These “Baby Bombers” will be the Yankees future and will help them to contend for a championship for years to come. “I don’t think that we will contend this year, but trust me, in the years to come we can probably win another 5 championships with these guys at the helm” said freshman Andrew Ginart.

The farm system might be the best part of the Yankees. They have the number one farm system in the league. They are led by Gleyber Torres who is the number 3 overall prospect in all of baseball and the number 1 prospect in the Yankees farm system. He is going to be the shortstop of the future and can potentially be the next Derek Jeter. Their second best prospect and the number 24 overall prospect is Clint Frazier. He has amazing bat speed and he will look to lead the Yankees outfield in the years to come. They have Blake Rutherford, who is their 3rd best prospect and has amazing power and could be a potential home run king. They also have a speedster in Jorge Mateo, who has stolen 88 bases in his minor league career and was once the top prospect in their system. The Yankees will look to these guys in the future or even trade some of them for already proven players in the league.

The Yankees are a team that isn’t looking to contend this year, but rather for the years to come. They will be set for the future and look to win as many championships as they can. This team this year will be comprised of both grizzled veterans and youngsters. They will be a great team. This year they will look to do the best they can and get ready to contend for the 2018 season. They will look to chase for ring 28 in the 2018 season.