By now you've heard the news that David Robertson is no longer a Yankee. Other than the two deals made last week, and the Francisco Cervelli trade, the offseason has been pretty quiet so far. That probably means that the team is gearing up to do something big, but until then, there's no point in dwelling on missed opportunities. There are plenty of reasons to remain optimistic about how the offseason has gone up to now.
1. The bullpen will be fine without D-Rob. It's always sad to see a homegrown player leave. However, while the bullpen undoubtedly would have been better with him, it should still be good without him. All signs point to Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances being a knockout duo. Miller had a strikeout percentage of 42.6% last season through 62.1 IP. Betances had a 0.78 WHIP. These guys were both really, really good in 2014. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod as closer, or if Joe Girardi decides to play the matchups. He's probably already getting his binder ready in anticipation.
2. No disre2pect to Derek Jeter, but thanks to the addition of Didi Gregorius, defense at shortstop will be better in 2015 than we've seen in years. This probably would have been the case regardless of who the Yankees replaced Jeter with, but at least we have a shortstop now. Gregorius may not be a boost to the offense, but he's only 24. Since he came over in a trade, the team also saved the money they otherwise could have spent on the likes of mediocre Asdrubal Cabrera or Jed Lowrie.
3. Since the Yankees saved money by not signing one of the free agent shortstops, and by letting Robertson walk, they should have a lot of money available to spend elsewhere. Such as on starting pitching. The rotation is in need of the most help at the moment, with CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka filling up only three of the five spots. You have to think that the Yankees are going to be in on Max Scherzer (though that has sounded less probable recently). Rumor has it that the Tigers really want to keep Scherzer, and that Scherzer wants at least $200 million, so the Yankees might need all the money they saved by passing on D-Rob to make it happen. Even if they don't go after one of the top free agent starting pitchers, there's no way the Yankees are done making moves.
4. Several of the players who missed time last season with injuries are successfully rehabbing and on track to return in 2015. CC Sabathia says he has "no complaints" about his knee, and feels that he'll be able to throw 200 innings next season. Ivan Nova seems on track to return to the rotation around May. After having elbow surgery in September, Carlos Beltran should also be good to go when the season starts. If nothing else, it's nice that we haven't heard about setbacks for any of these guys.
We may not fully understand the line of thought behind passing on D-Rob and not even making him an offer, but only Brian Cashman can see the big picture at this point. The offseason is far from over. There's plenty of time left for our minds to be blown (in a good way) by another deal or two.