There's Some Hope for the Yanks Finally

 

 

        Well, finally the Yankees are winning games again after a long stretch where wins were rare to come by. The Yanks have won their last 3 in a row all by a score of 4-2 coincidently and 2 of them against arguably 2 top 10 pitchers in the league. Now after a long homestand, they are greeted with a long road trip.

        The Yanks head out to Oakland, then Anaheim, and then Tampa to conclude the upcoming road trip. 2/3 teams on the trip have had terrible seasons and the Yanks need to pickup these easy wins against their outmatched opponents. The A's have been in a rebuild since this offseason and the Angels have not been good since the Yankees last saw them in June. 7 out of the 10 games on the trip are against LA and Oakland and I expect them to pick up 6-7 wins against the two struggling ball clubs.

        These are games where the Yanks need to capitalize and kind of expand the division lead a little more even though it is still a pretty large lead to say the least. Tampa, Toronto, and now Baltimore are not going away anytime soon and the Yanks need to keep fending them off like they had been earlier. 

        These last three games should be huge confidence boosters for a team that had previously gone 12-25 in their previous 37 games. Andrew Benintendi is finally starting to become the guy we all knew he was on Boston and when they traded for him from Kansas City. Frankie Montas put together a great start last night against the Mets, and even with the minuscule bullpen, they have still found ways to excel in tough situations.

        Another plus is that Stanton will be rejoining the team tomorrow in Oakland to get another bat in the lineup. The main reason why Aaron Judge has been struggling is because of the rest of the lineup not being imposing enough. If pitchers were threatened by other bats in the lineup then they would give good pitches to hit to Aaron Judge, but with the offense and how it has been, they have not been threatened at all. They're pitching down and away to Judge and are succeeding doing so. 

        So Stanton back, relatively easy schedule coming up, confidence boosting wins, so the only way for the Yanks from this point on is up. It's all laid out for them to capitalize on, so they have to take advantage and cruise their way into October. 

Who is the Yankees Biggest Rival Currently?

 

        Being one of the best teams in baseball, and one of the best teams of all time doesn't always come easy and many Yankee rivals have stood in the way over time. You have the obvious team in the Red Sox, and more recent teams in the Mets and Rays. But who is the Yankees biggest rival currently?

        Nothing can top two teams separated by just a subway ride like the Mets and the Yankees and that is what makes this rivalry so intense. With both teams having amazing seasons, the battle for New York becomes more intense each and every game. There has been so many great moments throughout the head to head matchups over the years although they only started recently playing each other just over 20 years ago.

        You have the 2000 World Series, the missed pop up with the bases loaded, Lindor and Stanton last year, and many more controversial moments between the crosstown teams. It's safe to say that tensions are high and the state of New York is in good hands when both of their teams are succeeding at a high level. 

        A recently new rival in the Tampa Bay Rays have been a thorn in the side for the Yanks. Just a couple years ago tensions were at an all time high when Aroldis Chapman threw a fastball over the head of Mike Brosseau and then Brosseau hit the series winning homer in the playoffs. 

        For the past 4 years, the Yankees-Rays rivalry has never been more intense as almost every game is a nail biter and always crucial towards winning division games. What also makes the Rays such a good rival to the Yanks is that they are the complete opposite of the team that the Yanks have. The Rays don't have any household names on both sides of the ball, but yet each and every year they find ways to win and get into the playoffs and thrive like they did 2 years ago in the World Series. 

         In a David vs Goliath situation the Rays are like David versus the Yankees in Goliath and somehow they find ways to prevail against the big and powerful Yankees ball club. The Rays are based solely off of analytics and for Yankee fans including myself it is always very annoying whenever they lose to the Rays because usually analytics don't outweigh talent, but for the Rays it does.

        Finally the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have been bitter rivals with the Yanks for over 100 years. From the Babe to the 2004 ALCS to Rodriguez and Varitek, this rivalry has it all. After the Red Sox broke the curse of the bambino, the rivalry started to heat up as the Red Sox got competitive again. The Red Sox have been the victors in the previous playoff series over the Yankees, but whenever these two teams meet there is always a storyline.

        In my opinion there's no doubt in my mind that the Yankees have a lot of rivals and more teams than I just listed, but no matter what the storyline is, the Red Sox will always be the Yankees biggest rival. The constant brawls and intensity makes this rivalry the best in sports and whoever says Cowboys-Giants, Bears-Packers, or Giants-Dodgers is better, you are totally wrong nothing can ever top Boston vs New York. 

Keys to Success for the 2022 New York Jets

 

            The Jets haven't seen much success in the previous decade dating back to their last playoff appearance in 2011. They have not had a real chance at making the playoffs since 2015. Now despite all of this, the Jets have just had their most productive offseason in a very long time. I believe this team has taken a major leap from last year and has a serious chance to be a threat in the AFC if they can follow these keys to success.

 Zach Wilson:

            The Jets have been looking for their franchise quarterback ever since Mark Sanchez led the Jets to two deep playoff runs in the early 2010s. Many believe they have found it in Zach Wilson after many failures such as Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, Bryce Petty, and the list goes on. Wilson was nowhere near sharp to start the season last year, but then ended the year off on a really high note after he got injured midway through the season.

            Now you can't just have a good quarterback without any help and the Jets certainly picked up a lot of help for Zach Wilson this offseason. From drafting potential WR2 or 3 in Garrett Wilson and potentially new RB1 in Breece Hall. 3 new tight ends in CJ Uzomah from the Bengals, Tyler Conklin from the Vikings, and Jeremy Ruckert coming in as a rookie. They also signed two Pro Bowl offensive linemen in Laken Tomlinson from the 49ers and Duane Brown from the Seahawks to help out an offensive line that desperately needed a renovation and they certainly got one. 

            So you look around this offense and see nothing but weapons and great new additions, but in the end they only pay off if the quarterback is doing his part as well. If Zach Wilson struggles and does not lead his team in the right direction, then the whole offense falls apart no matter what new weapons and help they acquired in the offseason. The end result of where this team will be come the new year lies heavily on the shoulders of Zach Wilson.

The Revamped Defense:

            Not only did the Jets fill their needs on the offensive side of the ball this offseason, but they also picked up much needed defensive help for a defense that has been at the bottom of the league in recent history. 2 of their 3 first round picks were defense including the headliner Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, star cornerback out of the University of Cincinnati. Also Jermaine Johnson their late first round pick is another big addition for the defensive line and getting more pressure on the opposing offense.

            Cornerback was a position that the Jets really lacked last year and they picked up two starters this offseason that can make an immediate impact. Along with Sauce Gardner they also picked up pro bowler DJ Reed to be their CB2 for this upcoming season. A whole new look at the cornerback position for the Jets this year and it should payoff immediately. 

            Like the cornerback position, the rest of the Jets secondary lacked as well including the safety position and they went out and picked up another great safety in Jordan Whitehead. The secondary has a whole new look this year and I am very excited for what is has to bring to help out this Jets defense.

            Many people forgot but the Jets biggest signing last offseason was defensive end Carl Lawson and he tore his achilles last year during practice ending his season early. Now the pro bowler is back and better than ever and ready to make an instant impact on this team. The Jets started building this defense just a couple of years ago around CJ Mosley and Quinnen Williams and they have added so many pieces in the past couple of years to make this defense that much better. On paper it looks like a very underrated, low-risk high reward defense that could surprise many offensive coordinators across the league. As long as they can all stay healthy, look out for this Jets defense.

Winning:

            Now this one seems like a simple one, but for the Jets in the past 2 years it has not. They have had a combined 6 wins in the past two seasons and have had major trouble winning games. With a totally renovated offense and some new key additions to the defense, the Jets have a much better advantage than previous years.

            The whole offense relies on the shoulders of Zach Wilson and as long as he performs on a high level the Jets offense will be fine. Robert Saleh will get his 2nd chance to prove to the rest of the league why he deserves to be a head coach in the National Football League. 

            If this team can stay healthy and perform well together, they should have no problem in winning games this season. They do have a tough schedule compared to other NFL teams, but again they need to prove their worth by winning those tough games and showing to the rest of the league that the New York Jets are here and they aren't messing around this year. 

Something is Wrong With the Yankees

 

           Something is most definitely wrong with the New York Yankees. Sure we were all surprised and delighted when the Yanks started off the season 50-16, but never did we expect after this run that they would go on this bad of a skid. So where did the Yankees that were headlining every sports article and the top team in the world go?

            One clear reasoning behind the downfall has been injuries and that has been a huge obstacle the Yanks have encountered in previous seasons including this one. Currently they have no King, Green, Severino, Stanton, Carpenter, Castro, and Rizzo has been on and off with an injury of his own as of late. When you take out two guys in Rizzo and Stanton, who are 2nd and 3rd on the team in homers and are in the top 20 in the AL for home runs, the offense is going to suffer and recently it has. 

        And then when you look at how good and shut down the Yanks bullpen was through their first 80 some odd games and now when you lose King and Green for the year you're missing two huge pieces that can come into high-intensity games and help you preserve a slim lead or get out of a jam. King was in the midst of his best professional season and Chad Green, although he went down early, is an all-star reliever that would hurt any team if he got hurt for them.

        Severino is a huge loss for this team even after acquiring another starter in Montas because Severino has always found himself on the IL throughout his entire career and we haven't really seen a full season from him or seen him like his 2017 self. In brief glimpses in times when Sevy is healthy he is dominant and you just love to watch him pitch, but he is hurt too often. That leaves you now with no Jordan Montgomery and a questionable 5th spot in the rotation. Right now Domingo German is there but he is nothing like his 18-win season self and is not always very reliable as we have seen in glimpses this season.

        Now you can't blame everything on injuries because to be honest lots of their losing hasn't had anything to do with them. In the first half of the season when the Yanks used to win games with ease, everything was working for them. Their offense and defense was dominant and nothing could alter it. Now  its different and we saw that on display just last night. Last night Gerrit Cole and the bullpen pitched a gem in 13 innings against Seattle, yet the offense could not put up a single run! It has been a very one-sided team as of late, either the pitching is brilliant and the offense is sluggish, or the offense is great, but the pitching is terrible.

        We just saw the offense putting up great numbers in the final game of the series against the Cardinals when they loaded the bases almost 5 times and put up 9 runs in one game, yet they still lost because their pitching gave up 12 runs. The team has to be more consistent and I'm not talking about just consistent on one side of the diamond, it has to be on both sides or you're just going to see this division lead slip even further. Something has to change and it has to happen quick as we are entering the final months of regular season baseball for the New York Yankees. 

My Thoughts On The Yankees Trade Deadline

 

        The Yanks made some very key additions this past week that will certainly help them throughout October and the rest of the way throughout the season. Now although they did not have a trade deadline like the Padres who acquired all of the big names for a bundle of prospects, they had a great deadline in my opinion.

        The thing that the Yanks did best during this deadline was acquire their players before deadline day. Deadline day is when things get hectic and if there is a slight miscommunication while discussing a trade, things can go south quickly. They had ample time before the deadline when they acquired their biggest guys Andrew Benintendi and Frankie Montas. 

        In total 5 trades were made and all of them were focused on winning NOW. Benintendi certainly adds that missing offensive outfield bat that the Yanks had lacked from Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks's inconsistencies. They picked up the missing #2 starter that can give you lots of confidence going into a second postseason game in Frankie Montas. Montas was a guy they had been eyeing for awhile now and they also got another reliever in Lou Trivino in that deal as well.

        Trivino has not been very good this season and not in recent history either, so maybe the Yanks are trying to make Trivino into their next Clay Holmes prospect. A guy who had been struggling on his previous team, then picked up by the Yanks and gets fixed. They acquired not one but two relievers after getting Scott Effross from the Cubs as well. Effross has been having a great season with a low ERA and a sidearm pitcher. Effross is a great addition as well because if he meets or exceeds expectations, then the Yanks still have control of him through 2028. The Yankee bullpen, although they have been so good this season, has been drastically riddled by injuries to Michael King, Chad Green, Miguel Castro, and some other guys as well. 

        The move that everyone wanted the Yanks to make including myself was the Joey Gallo trade and they did end up moving him. Gallo goes from one contender to another as he was traded to the Dodgers. Gallo just couldn't find his stride at all in NY and the Yanks finally said this is enough and moved on. When you're batting .085 in your last 30 games it's clear you're not getting any better. The Yanks actually got a really nice piece in return for Gallo in Double-A pitcher Clayton Beeter. After losing so many pitching prospects in the previous deals made, Beeter comes in as the 10th overall prospect in the Yankee system now. Brian Cashman certainly knows how to negotiate and he does it well.

        Now the last trade they made was a bit of a confusing one as they gave up longtime Yankee starter Jordan Montgomery for center fielder Harrison Bader. Montgomery was pitching just fine this season and was a great 4th to 5th guy in the rotation and to dump him off to the Cardinals just like that was a bit confusing. The Yanks got Bader on the other hand because he is arguably the best defensive outfielder in the league and will start crucial games for them come playoff time. He is under control for multiple seasons as well. It's sad to say goodbye to Montgomery and I wish that they added another starting pitcher such as Pablo Lopez in his place, but the Yanks are doing what is best for success.

        The Yanks gave up many prospects to complete these deals and in total they gave up 8 of their top 30 prospects for these 5 players they acquired. They ended up getting back another top 30 prospect in Beeter though. Prospects don't always pan out and most of them never reach those expectations that were set out for them. All in all I would give this trade deadline an A- for the Yanks. They definitely did great things, but I am still skeptical about the Montgomery trade which had no effect in acquiring another starting pitcher. I can't wait to see what these guys can do to help out this team even more as the season continues and as October looms upon us.