2012 New York Yankees In Good Hands

Due to the holidays and rather uneventful Yankee off season, I've decided to spend my time defending Brian Cashman and the front office- mainly from those fans expecting an unnecessary acquisition in free agency or through trade. With a few minor bench signings, the 2012 Yankees will not only be good enough to make the playoffs, but they will be champions of baseball for the 28th time by years' end.

If the 2011 MLB season taught us anything, it is that there is no formula to building a championship team. Just ask the Phillies and the Red Sox- almost every expert out there predicted these two playing for it all in October. But the Red Sox were at home eating clam chowder during the playoffs, while the Phillies were getting knocked out in the first round by the improbable future champions, the St. Louis Cardinals. So, neither the Phillies boasting their elite starting rotation nor the Red Sox doing their best Yankee impersonation with the check book fared better than 27 other teams. St. Louis, on the other hand, not only lost their best starter (Adam Wainwright) before the season started, but they were also piecing their bullpen together almost all year. Yet somehow they were the last ones standing, leaving every GM in the game scratching their heads. Clearly, Brian Cashman was not to blame for the Yankees' failures in '11, and the best thing he can do for 2012 is absolutely nothing.

The 2011 Yankees had everything they could ask for in a playoff team: a great offense and defense, a deep bench, a "solid" rotation led by a true #1, and perhaps the best bullpen the majors has ever seen to finish off their games. If it wasn't for Mother Nature, maybe the Yanks would have gone on to win it all and I wouldn't be sitting here writing this post. Unfortunately, the rains did come, CC was bad, and the Yanks went home early despite having the most complete team in the playoffs. If the 2012 season started today, the Yankees would have a playoff caliber team. By resigning Sabathia and Garcia, the Yanks will have the same rotation heading into the upcoming season. To some, this might be a bad thing. Sabathia, Nova, Hughes, Garcia, and Burnett may not be a formidable starting five, but it is more than enough behind the number one offense in the league. The Yanks will have a full season of Jesus Montero instead of Posada at DH, it looks like Robbie has found a permanent home batting 3rd, and hopefully the resigning of Andruw Jones is in the near future. Yes, their offense does have some aging stars in the lineup, but what if Jeter continues his second half tear next season? What if Arod stays healthy? What if Teixeira stops trying to pull everything? This team could easily score 6 runs a game, taking a lot of heat off of the pitching staff. Just imagine if Nova continues to improve, and Hughes actually shows up in shape. And maybe, just maybe, "Good" AJ will take the mound the majority of the time. This team could easily win between 90-100 games with very little effort.

However, things don't always work out the way you hope, which is why the Yankees only have a measly 27 championships instead of 106. Pessimistically speaking, things will most likely go wrong. AJ will get bombed on a regular basis. Arod will be involved in some kind of drama and miss a ton of time. Teixeira will get 50 hits/home runs all season. Cashman will have a bunch of (non) decisions to make throughout the year, but by staying put this winter and holding onto all of his trade chips, he will be in a better position to mend things on the fly than most general managers. So no need to panic Yankees fans, the team is in good hands (As long as the front office butts out!). The future will be full of parades and gloating beginning in 2012.