Dethroning the Rivals

The 2018 Major League Baseball season has come to an end. It has been nearly three weeks since the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason by their rival Boston Red Sox. Fast-forward to three weeks later, the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to capture their fourth World Series title in the past 14 years. Boston winning titles and the Yankees having to watch them celebrate on their home field as well as the site of watching them hoist another trophy is something Yankee fans are not used to. The Yankees are on the verge of going an entire decade without winning a World Series title with their last championship coming in 2009. So, the big question going into 2019 is how can they improve to knock off the reigning champs?

For starters, the 2018 free agent class is going to be quite the eye-opener with a few big names on tap. Some of the big names include pitcher Clayton Kershaw, shortstop Manny Machado and right fielder Bryce Harper. Kershaw has been one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers the past six or seven years but his performance over the past two have shown a decline. As far as Machado and Harper goes, both players are two of the top hitters in all of baseball. Both players are expected to be in the Yankees radar, which will only make their lineup even more dangerous than it is now. The interesting part about those two top-tier players is that financially both are expected to want long-term deals around the 2 or even $300 million range. The Yankees organization have shown over the past few years as far as their thinking process goes that they would rather develop players through their farm system rather than break the bank. Harper and Machado are 25 and 26 years old, respectively.

The philosophy of this year’s Red Sox team was how they went about simply playing fundamentally sound baseball. How their Manager Alex Cora seemed to press all the right buttons as far as how he went about certain matchups and getting the best out of everything from his starters and his bullpen arms. All in all, it was timely hitting on offense and unlikely players that stepped up for the Red Sox. Their pitching stepped up in a big way. That should very well be the Yankees first priority if they wish to dethrone the Red Sox. It should be interesting to see what moves General Manager Brian Cashman makes to upgrade his roster in hopes of competing not only for an American League East crown but a 28^th world title.

Sports Notes: (Basketball) A few weeks in the books for both the Knicks and Nets in this young NBA season. Who will end up having the more productive season? E-mail me at castroeddie714@gmail.com. Let’s talk about it!