Written by Ray Vann, August 19, 2016, at 12:14 p.m.
Used to a team of big names and big hitters, many Yankee fans were more than a little dismayed to watch A-Rod, Carlos Beltran, and Mark Texeira all announce they would be leaving the organization.
They were the last of the old brigade, if you will, the last members of a Yankee team that has routinely fielded older players in hopes of producing off of their past glory and general renown. On Sunday, however, a new team was on the field, starting eight players under 26 years old, the first time this has happened in 49 years.
A Difficult Choice
The decision was one that many in the Yankee organization were wary of. “I’m not naive. This is New York City. Our fans want marquee players, too, and I wanted marquee players because they’re good veterans and they’re good mentors, in many cases, so that’s always going to be there,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrennner told the press.
With the back to back homeruns by Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin in their first ever major league at bats, however, it might seem that fans perspectives are changing.
That said, however, the team is still not entirely young bucks. Brian McCann, 32 years old, is among other older Yankees who will remain on board (at least for the time being) to both make use of their talents as well as serve as mentors for the younger players. McCann, however, has himself lost a bit of playing time to the younger Gary Sanchez in recent games.
Steinbrenner took note of this, too, stating, “It was always the case that Sanchez at some point was going to come up and hopefully come up to stay, so we’ll cross that bridge in the off-season when we come to it, but McCann’s a great player, too.” This led some to speculate that much like his other teammates his days in the Bronx might be numbered.
A New Hope with the Bombers
For a Yankee team that hasn’t won a title since 2009, maybe it is about time for a change of pace. While nobody can predict the future, and even the best sports analysts can’t make any guarantees that Steinbrenner has made the right choice in looking for a younger team to reverse his fortunes, it just might be that this new team can be a breath of fresh air that will deliver the Bombers their 28th World Series win.
As it is, the Yanks are right on the cusp of a playoff spot with a record of 61-59. If the new squad can pull it off and bring the team to the post season, something tells me the Big Apple will be a bit more accepting next season.