The New York Yankees remained relevant through a transition year in 2016 as they registered 84 wins and finished just five wins back of an American League Wild Card spot. What has their fans excited is the fact that they started the season 44-46 but finished the year 40-31. That shows that the team is trending in the right direction. Now the Yankees are hoping that the development of their young stars combined with the addition of some key veteran players could excel their reload and help them contend for a playoff spot in 2017. They brought back closer Aroldis Chapman to secure the ninth inning and added some bats in Matt Holliday and Chris Carter to give some pop to the lineup. If the Toronto Blue Jays take a step back in the division, the Yankees could step in and possibly take their place in the playoffs.
Key Additions: RP Aroldis Chapman, DH Matt Holliday, 1B Chris Carter
Key Losses: 1B Mark Teixeira, C Brian McCann, SP Nathan Eovaldi
Strengths
The Yankees are hoping their youth movement will be a success with Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge and Mason Williams getting their opportunities to lead the way this season. New York is going to rely on that crop of players so their success will be largely based off of their performances. Sanchez in particular is facing high expectations but the reality is that there is a lot of talent in this group and they have the potential to put up big numbers this season. New York also has a strong crop of veteran players with Chris Carter and Matt Holliday joining Starlin Castro and Jacoby Ellsbury. Meanwhile, there are question marks in the rotation but the bullpen should be one of the best in baseball thanks to the return of Aroldis Chapman. Chapman’s dominance will allow Delin Betances to transition back to the closer role while Tyler Clippard looks to build off his strong finish to the 2016 season.
Weaknesses
The youth movement also means a general lack of experience so it will be very interesting to see how the young players on the team perform. The Yankees were smart to bring in some established veterans to help out and take some of the pressure off of the young guns but there is no guarantee that everything goes according to plan. Meanwhile, the state of the rotation could put even more pressure on the hitters. Masahiro Tanaka is coming off elbow surgery while C.C. Sabathia will be asked to duplicate his strong 2016 performance. Luis Severino and Michael Pineda remain enigmas and there is no guarantee that either pitcher works out for New York. The Yankees have some obvious team strengths but question marks in the rotation could really hurt their overall potential this coming season.
The other area where they need to improve is at the plate. Normally known as the “Bronx Bombers”, the Yankees were merely 22nd in runs scored last year. That’s why they’re hoping guys like Holliday and Carter give them a boost at the plate.
New York Yankees 2017 Depth Chart
| Catcher | Gary Sanchez | Austin Romine | Kyle Higashioka | ||
| First Base | Greg Bird | Tyler Austin | Rob Refsnyder | ||
| Second Base | Starlin Castro | Ronald Torreyes | Rob Refsnyder | ||
| Third Base | Chase Headley | Ronald Torreyes | Rob Refsnyder | Miguel Andujar | |
| Shortstop | Didi Gregorius | Ronald Torreyes | |||
| Left Field | Brett Gardner | Mason Williams | Rob Refsnyder | ||
| Center Field | Jacoby Ellsbury | Brett Gardner | Aaron Hicks | Mason Williams | |
| Right Field | Aaron Judge | Aaron Hicks | Mason Williams | Tyler Austin | |
| Designated Hitter | Matt Holliday | Aaron Hicks | Tyler Austin | Rob Refsnyder | |
| Starting Pitcher | Masahiro Tanaka | Michael Pineda | CC Sabathia | Luis Severino | Chad Green |
| Relief Pitcher | Tyler Clippard | Tommy Layne | Dellin Betances | Richard Bleier | |
| Closer | Aroldis Chapman |
Projected Win Total: 83.5
World Series Odds: +2000
Outlook
For all of the positive talk about last year’s overall performance, it definitely felt like the Yankees overachieved and could come crashing back down to earth this season. New York has some intriguing talent but there are too many holes in the rotation and the youth in their offense could just as likely be a negative as it could be a positive. 80 wins is definitely still likely for this current Yankees group but they could experience a small drop of in wins while settling for the fourth-best record in the AL East in 2017.
Prediction: 82-80
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