Things To Think About Regarding The 2015 Yankees

While "winning" is certainly the most important thing about the season, it would be a bald-faced lie to say it was the only important thing about this season.

"I could tell a better lie."

Hold on a second. "Bald-faced lie"? What the hell does that mean?

Most sources agree that the original expression, coined in the late 1600s, was actually barefaced lie. At that time, bare meant brazen or bold. At that time in history, almost all men sported a full set of whiskers, and it was considered quite daring or even audacious for a male to be clean-shaven, or barefaced. Eventually, the word for “hairless” went from bare to bald, and so did the description of a blatant fib.

Why, thank you MentalFloss.com.

So, anyway, what could possibly be nearly as important as winning? This is the Yankees we're talking about. This team doesn't use the term "maybe next year" until the final out of their season is over with. 

And that's the problem... the final out of their past two seasons has occurred before the postseason. So while I'll be rooting for the Pinstripers to win ever single game, there are a few things I'll be keeping in mind...

1. The development of Refsnyder, Judge, Bird, Severino. I'm not expecting those guys to lead the team in another dynasty, but they could very well be the next version of the Core Four. In the past I've skipped over the posts about minor league games, but this year I'll be checking those results with a passion.
2. I made a comment in today's game thread about the health of Tanaka's elbow. I said that I'll be holding my breath on every pitch, as it could very well be his last of the season (and beyond). As sad as it would be, it would not be surprising for the camera to pan back to Masahiro after the pitch to see him holding his elbow in pain, with the name "Tommy John" being uttered over and over again in the post-game conference.
3. Tanaka's elbow is one of many reasons the word "health" will likely be said more times this season than at any point in the history of mankind. It's not like Michael Pineda's starts will be any easier to watch, as he too could come up lame after he throws his next pitch. Hell, ARod's legs could simply fall off of his hips after his next practice swing. Mark Teixeira? He could trim his toenails too short and need a few days to recover from the pain.
4. Speaking of possible injuries, there's a very good chance the Yankees have to make a big move in order to compete this season. If Masahiro Tanaka, or Michael Pineda, go down only a couple of weeks into the season, I fully expect them to ramp up talks with the Philadelphia Phillies about Cole Hamels. While that would be an interesting development, it would also be pretty darn scary too, as that could mean the Yankees trade away one of the four players I mentioned a few paragraphs earlier.

I'm sorry if some of those things bring you down, but you can't tell me this is the first time you've read or thought about them. 

And I can't stop saying that this is bound to be the craziest season I've seen for the Yankees. If someone were to ask me what I think of the 2015 season for them I'd simply shrug my shoulders, because expectations for them are all over the place.