FanPost

Bats, Bats, Bats!!! No, No No. Arms, Arms, Arms.

Yankee Fans: "Boston led the majors in nearly every offensive category and won it all! Yankees Need BATS!"

Slow your role cowboy...

Yankee fans are some of the most passionate, and often the most unrealistic, fans of any sport.

The goal- as the world knows- is to win every year.

Not just compete.

Not just to contend.

To win every year.

When that does not happen, which is often because reality and hopes offer do not exist within the same universe in tandem, fans expect them to do everything they can in the offseason to correct that drought- and yes my friends for the Yankee fan and the franchise itself, one season of not winning is definitively perceived as a drought.

Every offseason, win or lose, the Yankees turn to Free Agency or look to the trade market and the focus, regardless of actual need, seems to always gravitate to adding offense even when not needed- it is an expectation, a requirement and not always prudent or necessary.

As a franchise, the Yankees have always been more known for their prolific offense than their salvo of arms or their network of defense. Every year the fans want the best available bats added to the team, needed or not when they don't make it to the big show and win it all every year as the mandate demands- even when impossible and even when it's not true.

As a franchise, the Yankees have a long history of offensive focus. In the 1920's the Yankees had such a prolific lineup, led by Babe Ruth, that it earned them the infamous moniker of "Murderer's Row". A more common and better-known name for them is the "Bronx Bombers"- a name derived from where they play and the homers they hit and are expected to- every year.

Bats, Bats, Bats- it's what is always thought of as needed, its what they are known for, it's what the fans want.

The focus, in almost every offseason that I can recall, going back to 1976, has always been on hitting- even when that was not what the team needed, they still focused on offense. I always feel as if this franchises' mission statement, just under "Win Every Year" verbiage, only in smaller print, possibly with an asterisk, states that the Yankees operate with the belief that they needed to add more prolific hitters to the club, every season, because their pitchers are always going to give up 5-6 runs per game...so they needed to score at least 8 in order to be victorious.

That always seems to be the impression- until this year when it finally appears to be the offseason I have been waiting for- an almost exclusive focus on pitching.

In 2017 the Yankees, with a nice little combination of veterans and a fresh mix of younger talent, overachieved and came within one game of reaching the World Series, and while the Yankee mentality, and that of their fans, is to win it all every year I think it is safe to say that no one really expected them to go that far in 2017.

It was a pleasant, albeit bitter surprise and the immediate thought upon losing that decisive game to Houston was this: "Okay, we almost made it...what need have here is a failure to score 8 runs so let's go get a huge bat to go all the way next year!"

Bats, Bats, Bats!

Bolstered by the nearly complete victory in 2017, they added some more pieces in 2018- a balanced addition of both bat and arm by adding the likes of Giancarlo Stanton and Sonny Gray.

While Stanton had an off year, and an off year for him is a career year for nearly anyone else and Gray simply never showed up, the Yankees still improved as a franchise by winning 100 games in 2018. However, in reality, they regressed in the worst way possible- The were eliminated by the Red Sox in the playoffs, in their own park and suffered a further humility in having to watch their dreaded rival win it all a few weeks later- while gloating and trolling the Yankees in the process.

It was not a lack of offense that killed their dreams in 2018- it was pitching.

However, in losing in the worst way possible the Yankees may have realized something- at least I hope they did, as they move forward.

Their 2018, and current offense is pretty damn prolific and with very few holes and maybe, just maybe, they can fight their predictable tendencies, apply some common sense and go into the offseason looking at arms that throw strikes and not ones that swing at them.

As I mentioned earlier, the 2018 Yankees won 100 games and did so mainly due to an offense that led the majors in home runs (it wasn't even close), and finished 2nd in Runs, RBI, Slugging and OPS while tying for 7th in OBP.

Boston, the team that won it all? They finished first in nearly every other category.

So, I know what you are thinking, wanting and demanding in order to fix this situation...

Bats, Bats, and more Bats!

If Boston scores 6 per game, we need to score 7- Bats, Bats, Bats!

Guess what though- we already have those "Bats Bats, Bats!!!"

Think about it...in 2018 the Yankees through injury to Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks and underperformance from Sanchez, Brett Gardner and Greg Bird, who never showed up even when he did and Giancarlo Stanton, while having a good year, was still about 10 homers and 25 RBI shy of what was expected the Yankees collectively, and arguably, missed out on 35 more homers and about 60 more RBI in 2018.

It is a reasonable expectation, going into 2019 without adding a bat, for this current Yankee lineup to perform, collectively, at 80 percent of their potential and in doing so, they will be the leading offense in all of baseball.

Is there a reasonable doubt that between a healthy Sanchez and a healthy Judge, alone- just those two- that they will not add 25 more home runs combined in 2019 over their collective total in 2018? Anyone doubt that Hicks, who will be playing more in 2019 cannot hit 10 homers more than he did in 2018? Anyone doubt Stanton cannot add another 10 himself in 2019 as opposed to his total n 2018?

Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres improving upon their offensive numbers in 2019 over what they delivered in 2018 is a reasonable expectation. Luke Voit? I am not even going to speculate and anyone doing so is only setting themselves up for disappointment- let's just see what he does.

Offense Smoffense...itching for pitching.

Boston offense feasted on a tired Yankee rotation and no amount of added Yankee offense was going to change that.

Boston scoring 16 runs in one game and the Yankees needed to scoring 17 is not a reasonable expectation. The Yankees cannot go into next season thinking they merely need to outscore their opponent. They have a reasonable expectation, without adding a single bat this offseason that their offense when everyone shows up and remains reasonably healthy can outscore any other team in the game- thus eliminating the need to pursue any bats at this time.

What they do not have is a reasonable expectation that the majority of their rotation can prevent the opposition of matching run for a run as that's a game they do not want to play no matter how good their pen looks on paper.

All this is not to say that a bat or two is not out of the question though, but only after they lock up the pitching they need.

Trading for someone like Paul Goldschmidt to shore up first- because Bird has zero credibility right now and Voit, while a surprise, is not a sure thing until he does it again- makes sense.

If not his bat, then perhaps adding someone like Jonathan Schoop or Josh Harrison to help shore up the middle while Didi Gregorious recovers would be a welcome addition that won't deplete the funds or take away the focus of spreading all the money on pitchers they need, rather than to waste it all one bat like Machado or Harper- which the current lineup proves adding is unwarranted.

Don't get me wrong, they would be a nice problem to have, it's just a nice problem they do not need.

The Yankees do not need an embarrassment of riches in 2019 but rather a healthy balance to counter a scale that as of right now is tipped far too heavily in the favor of their offense.

While pitching is where it is at for me as a fan next season, I am not exactly thrilled starting off with the signing of C.C Sabathia unless they are going with a 6-man rotation for next year.

Don't get me wrong- Sabathia is a workhorse, a fan favorite, clubhouse leader and without him, the Yankees would not have won it all in 2009. Sabathia clearly had no intention of going anywhere else and I believe his signing should have waited until after they picked up three other starters and by signing the Free Agents arms on their own roster that they absolutely need to keep- Sabathia is not one of those arms.

Sabathia pitched above expectations last year but how many times can the Yankees tempt fate, injury and father time?

Sabathia faded in the stretch last season and next year he will turn 39 just before the stretch in 2019- not exactly exciting math. He will still carry the extra weight he always has, a weight that is unhealthy for someone with bad knees and another year older won't lessen the weight of that problem...(see what I did there...ha).

The spot he has been given spot should have gone to a younger pitcher with a higher upside.

I would have preferred the Yankees to have focused on resigning J.A Happ, Zach Britton, and David Robertson first and then turned their focus on acquiring two more starters via a combination of any two of the following; Dallas Keuchel, Patrick Corbin, Chris Archer, Carlos Carrasco and/or Corey Kluber before adding C.C as a cherry on top of a very nice, monstrous, well-crafted Sundae to match their very nice, monstrous main course of a lineup that they already have with no added additions required.

They could still do that of course and I hope that that is where their intent lies- three more starters with C.C has a little-aged icing as he still has value but not as one of only 5 starters with Boston's returning lineup looking pretty much the same.

Sabathia- while not an ideal starter at this stage of his career nor is he a bad signing on the surface either, has to be a nice option to have as a compliment from the outside looking in towards a more solid rotation, not a reliable necessity as one of the main five starters if the Yankees are serious about actually improving their rotation.

With the current lineup as it is, and the possible addition of someone like Paul Goldschmidt and or possibly one more higher level addition help in the middle of the infield, rather than the head hurting scraps they have already wasted paper in signing- coupled with a rotation as mentioned above the Yankees not only do not need Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, they will put themselves in a much better position to eliminate Boston next season, sending them home to watch a Yankee World Series Celebration, not just in 2019, but beyond.

And when that happens, and without Machado and or Harper, we can all sit back and watch the parade and enjoy Aaron Boone telling Boston to "Suck on It", not just next year, but for a quite a few after as well.

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