Biggest Issues the New York Yankees Need to Address During Spring Training
February 18, 2015 · Chris Corso · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The New York Yankees enter spring training with a total payroll over $211 million, but they still have plenty of question marks that will need to be addressed by April.
New York will have to rely on the health of the majority of the team’s starting pitchers, which begins and ends with ace Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka did not undergo Tommy John surgery to his right elbow this offseason, which would have cost him all of 2015. The Japanese native is signed through 2020 for a total of $155 million and hopes to be the club’s Opening Day pitcher.
Per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, teammates were impressed by Tanaka’s workout at the Yankees’ minor league complex in Florida.
“He looked like the same guy, smiling all the time,” Ivan Nova told Feinsand. “When I saw his throwing program, he looked good.”
According to the Associated Press, via YesNetwork.com, Tanaka has been throwing as part of his normal conditioning program in Japan.
”So far everything is good,” Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild told the Associated Press. ”That does not mean it will be going forward, but we’re going to do everything we can. We’ll put schedules together and things like that to try to keep him healthy.”
Tanaka was forced to say farewell to his Rookie of the Year bid after 20 starts last season, in which he compiled a 13-5 record and 2.77 ERA. He was sidelined with the injury to his right elbow. If Tanaka’s elbow does not hold up through the 162-game season, the Yankees do not have much to fall back on.
Nova and Michael Pineda represent the rest of what hopes to be the future of New York’s rotation. Each has been promising in the outings in which they have been able to stay healthy in pinstripes. However, Nova continues to recover from Tommy John surgery, while Michael Pineda seems healthy but has been sidelined with shoulder problems for the majority of his Yankees career.
Rothschild did not seem so certain that Pineda would be invulnerable to injuries in the future, according to Dan Martin of the New York Post.
“He’s trying to make his way,” Rothschild said. “He pitched really good last year when he was healthy, but it would be nice to have him for a full year and make sure he’s completely over the hump, because shoulders you just never know about. So far, knock on wood, he’s handled it pretty well.”
Pineda has not pitched through an entire year healthy for the Yankees since New York traded catching prospect Jesus Montero to Seattle for the then-22-year-old coveted starter in 2012.
The proven veteran workhorse of the Yankees rotation has not been himself on the mound as of late, either. Last year, CC Sabathia underwent the worst season of his career in the Bronx (3-4, 5.28 ERA), before he shut it down due to a degenerative knee problem early on. Sabathia has high hopes that he can make 30 starts this year, though, according to Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.
“That was the shortest year, having my year cut short by injury last year,” Sabathia told Kuty. “Hopefully this year I can go out and try to make 30 starts and just be healthy and try to help the team win.”
The departure of veteran workhorse Hiroki Kuroda to Japan and midseason acquisition Brandon McCarthy to the Los Angeles Dodgers hurts a rotation that lacks stability. The offseason additions of journeyman Chris Capuano and youngster Nathan Eovaldi round out the Yankees fragile starting staff.
In mid-December, general manager Brian Cashman made the deal with the Miami Marlins that featured the 24-year-old starting pitcher Eovaldi. Eovaldi is a right-handed pitcher who throws a hard and straight fastball and can also eat up innings in the Bronx. In 199.2 innings last season, Eovaldi had a 4.37 ERA but looks to be slated in as the fifth starter in the New York starting rotation.
Lack of Veteran Production and Leadership
On Opening Day, the New York Yankees will play their first game without Derek Jeter as a part of the big league team since 1995. New York has hopes that former Diamondbacks prospect Didi Gregorius can provide some offense as the replacement at shortstop, but the leadership of the Yankees’ 15th captain will be tough to replace.
Cashman spent a combined $174.8 million on the acquisitions of catcher Brian McCann and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury last offseason. McCann hit .232 in 2014, a total of 40 points lower than his career batting average. McCann has been reported by ESPN’s Wallace Matthews as the top candidate to emerge as some sort of leader for the Yankees behind the plate.
Per Ryan Hatch of NJ.com, McCann thinks the team has multiple candidates that can fill a leadership role on the team.
“Leadership, to me, it’s guys having certain qualities,” McCann told Hatch. “It’s guys that show up every night that will do anything and everything for the guy next to him. I feel like we have a lot of guys that do that.”
The former Red Sox outfielder hit .284 last year and is slated to make over $20 million per season from New York until he is 37 years old. The Ellsbury deal is comparable to the signing of Alex Rodriguez. The team is still scheduled to pay Rodriguez $61 million over the next three seasons.
With Rodriguez’s health and status in question, New York re-signed Chase Headley as the starting third baseman. Headley signed a generous four-year, $52 million deal, after batting .243 last year with 13 home runs and 49 runs batted in. Cashman also re-signed Stephen Drew as the starting second baseman, after he hit just .162 in 2014 in 85 games played with the Red Sox and Yankees.
Veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran played 109 games before having surgery on his elbow last season. Beltran had trouble finding consistency on offense and batted just .233, with 15 home runs and 49 RBI. Beltran was acquired for $30 million over a three-year span.
The Yankees, as a whole, certainly did not perform up to Cashman’s expectations last year, after he spent over $500 million resigning players and acquiring free agents in the offseason. When Cashman signed his three-year extension in October, he expressed his disappointment to Matthews.
“Obviously, we know from our fanbase’s perspective that we need to do better than we’ve done for the past two years,” Cashman told Matthews in October. “I say that for myself as well. Being in my chair, I’m responsible for it all—offense, defense and pitching. I’ve got to find a way to get our fanbase back to enjoying October sooner than later.”
To sum it up, A-Rod’s media troubles are the least of the problems in New York.
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