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PB The RODRIGUEZ Report SPORTS
yorkpbnews.com
Thursday, October 17 2013
Sports Insights, Opinions and Latest Happenings Crippled Yanks Don’t Look to a Bright Future
After failing to nab one of the American League Wild Card spots, the Yankees had to end Mariano Rivera’s final season in the big leagues without making it to the postseason. On Sept. 26 Rivera made his final relief appearance in Yankee Stadium in front of the Yankee faithful. It was an emotional sendoff for the future hall of famer, but as Yankees watched their closer’s career officially come to an end you can’t help but think that the aging Yankees have some bad years coming their way. The Bronx Bombers were predicted to be irrelevant in the American League East and have a terrible season due to many injuries. But to the surprise of many, they remained in contention for one of the AL Wild Cards spots until the season’s end. Even though the Yankees contended throughout the entire season, they struggled offensively and could not stay healthy. A big reason as to why the Yanks cannot stay healthy is because a number of their key players are getting old, such as Derek Jeter, Mark Teix-
BY STEVEN RODRIGUEZ eira and CC Sabathia. a spot in their starting rotation. Jeter only played “The Yankees are going to have to do a 17 games, Teixeira lot of work with bullpen, since Rivera’s had season ending retired. David Robertson will probably wrist surgery and be his replacement And with Pettitte reSabathia had the tired and Hughes and Kuroda not comworst season of his ing back that leaves 3 spots open in the career as he sported rotation,” said York College Sports an ugly ERA of 4.78. Information Director, John Scarinci. Sabathia’s season came to an abrupt end The Yankees have a number of their key as he was put on the 60 day disabled list players hitting free agency such as: Robwith a hamstring strain. inson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Hiroki “Sabathia is definitely going downhill Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and isn’t the Yanks ace pitcher in his cur- and Boone Logan. rent status. He lost too much velocity on Even manager Joe Girardi was set to hit his fastball and he needs to learn how to the free agent market, but the Yankees hit his spots more recently signed him to a fouryear contract since he can’t overpower hitters like extension.. he used to. He is a number two or three The name that stands out is their star starter at best,” said 21 year old aviation second baseman, Cano. Since his debut in management major Eddie Mok. 2005 Cano is one of, if not the best second And of course there is Alex Rodriguez, baseman in the major leagues and he is who didn’t make his season debut until the biggest free agent on the market this early August after having hip surgery. upcoming winter. A-Rod is currently fighting his 211 game It is known that resigning Cano is the suspension and whether or not he plays Yanks number one priority, but accordnext season remains to be seen. Accord- ing ESPN.com Cano is seeking a ten year ing to the New York Daily News, with contract worth 300 million dollars. In an their contracts combined the Yankees interview with Bloomberg Television Yanowe these players a total of 244.875 mil- kees president, Randy Levine, spoke about lion dollars. the upcoming Cano contract negotiation. With the off-season set to begin soon, “We will sit down and talk to him. HopeYanks’ general manager, Brian Cashman fully he’s a Yankee. Nobody is a re-sign at all already has his hands full. With Andy Pet- costs, but we want him back and we feel titte and Rivera now retired that leaves good about negotiating something with their closer role up for grabs along with him. But nobody is a re-sign at any cost,”
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Robinson Cano is one of several Yankees hitting the free agent market this year
said Levine. With Cano setting a high price for his services, the Yankees may be reluctant to sign him to a long term deal, as they have seen how it has hurt in the long run with Sabathia and A-Rod. And the Yankees cannot afford Cano if they want to stay under the luxury tax which has been their goal since last winter. If Cano were to sign with another team it would be a big loss for the Yankees. According to Yankees.com, this past season Cano led the team with 107 RBIs, a .314 batting average and was second in homeruns with 27. With the possibility of losing their best player, the Yankees might be losing their team captain after next season. Jeter is heading into the final year of his contract in which he is owed 9.5 million dollars and he will be turning 40 years old.The captain had four stints on the disabled list this past season. The final blow was when Jeter was experienced dis-
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comfort in his surgically repaired left ankle,which put an end to his 2013 season. After having such an injury plagued season, the question heading into the final year of his contract is, will Derek Jeter call it a career once his contract is up? It’s clear that he can’t play shortstop like he used to, so all he has left to contribute is hitting. Maybe after a full off-season in which he can take his time to get healthy he can show some life in his bat, but if not Jeter may be following Rivera and Pettitte’s footsteps and head into retirement. It looks like all the big contract signings and age has finally caught up with the Yankees. They contended this past season but they were crippled doing so. It may be time for the organization to head into a rebuilding stage because the days of having a star studded team appears to have reached its end. Steven Rodriguez is the Sports Editor you can reach him at Steven.Rodriguez@yorkmail.cuny.ed
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