The 2015 World Series is underway now with the New York Mets
and the Kansas City Royals fighting for the ultimate crown. Neither team has
won a World Series in nearly 30 years, the last victory for the Royals coming
in 1985 and the last victory for the Mets coming in 1986, but would either team
be in the position to finally reward their players, fans and organization if it
weren’t for the Yankees? Maybe not.
I may be putting on just a bit but it’s true, there are
plenty of connections to the New York Yankees in this World Series. From
players to coaches former members of the Bronx Bombers are everywhere and it
may seem like the Mets and Royals are getting the last laughs on New York.
Currently on the Mets roster the team boasts hitting coach
Kevin Long (Yankees hitting coach from 2004-2014 including the minor leagues
and Major Leagues), right fielder Curtis Granderson (Yankees center fielder
from 2010-2013) and relief pitcher Tyler Clippard (Yankees farm hand and
pitcher from 2003-2007). Currently on the Royals roster the team boasts
pitching Dave Eiland (Yankees pitching coach from 2000-2010 including the minor
leagues where he coached Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain among
others).
Now the fun part, to play Devil’s Advocate. Would the
Yankees be in the World Series if they had this cast of characters on their
roster in 2015? Well we know what the offense did with Kevin Long when they
have a suitable cast of characters but you have to think the team couldn’t have
been much better with Long, the team had the second most potent offense in the
league behind the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees offense would have been better
with a healthy Mark Teixeira, not a new hitting coach. Down the stretch the
pitching became the problem but I’m not sure the pitching coach, Larry
Rothschild or Dave Eiland, could have fixed it. The team was wore down and the
sample size was humongous, that’s what happens when you’re starting rotation
only goes five innings a night.
Would Curtis Granderson help the Yankees offensive woes?
Probably would, sure, but it would make the Yankees even more dependent on the
home run or nothing. Carlos Beltran, presumably who Granderson would replace,
would simply make the Yankees even more dependent on the long ball and even
more left-handed. He may have added a few RBI and home runs along the way but
New York is still likely shut out in the Wild Card Game. You can’t win a game
when you don’t score any runs so having Clippard on the team would likely be a
moot point as well, the problem was the offense.
It’s a great story to follow, former Yankees winning it all
elsewhere, but it’s nothing to lose sleep over and it’s nothing to make you
wonder if they are getting the last laugh on the team. Some decisions work out,
some don’t and some only work out elsewhere. That’s life and that’s baseball.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)