The crack of the bat is the heartbeat of America. After months of turmoil and uncertainty, one thing is now irrefutably certain: by the time you’ve read this, Major League Baseball will have returned!
On the local front, the Yankees and Mets are coming off underwhelming seasons based on initial projections; however, they have both made improvements this off season that should help them in their pursuit of the top of the mountain.
Let’s Go Yankees
In 2021, the Yankees were eliminated in the Wild Card game by even fiercer foe, the Boston Red Sox. Long time-coming additions and subtractions for the upcoming season should put them in a better position to contend for their first World Series title since 2009.
The first noteworthy maneuver: a trade with the Minnesota Twins. Early last month, the Bombers acquired former MVP third-basemen Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and backstop Ben Rortvedt in exchange for Yankee lineup mainstays Gio Urshela and catcher Gary Sanchez.
If Spring Training statistics are perceived as an instant indicator of value, it seems, as of now, that the trade has worked out in the Yankees’ favor; still, the true ruling of winners and losers in the deal can’t possibly be issued until individual production and overall team successes are submitted as evidence.
Donaldson brings “rain,” power and most importantly, leadership to the table. His veteran attitude and edge especially is something the “good-guy” Baby Bombers have missed in recent years. Kiner-Falefa is projected to defend the shortstop post with more sure-handedness than returned-to-second-base Gleyber Torres could offer last year. So long as he performs to the back of his baseball card, “IKF’ should also post a respectable batting average from the bottom of the order.
The consensus believes he is purely a placeholder until top prospect Anthony Volpe gets the call; until then, the former Texas Ranger will have his fair chance at becoming the next Yankee shortstop to carry them through the summer months, and ideally, well into the fall.
One final splash: re-signing 2021 mid-season pick-up, first-baseman Anthony Rizzo. His lefty stick and World Series pedigree restore balance to the lineup and the rest of the club’s eyes on the singular prize.
Internally, the Yankees will be looking for bounce back years from infielders Torres and DJ LeMahieu. They’ll also rely on big-time players like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gerrit Cole putting up the big-time numbers they’re paid to deliver.
Meet the Mets
The Mets were even busier with their roster reconfiguration on both ends of the lockout-disjointed off-season.
Free-spending owner Steve Cohen, compared to the Wilpon’s of yesteryear, has proven unafraid in flexing the wallet that helped him purchase his controlling stake in the team in 2020. To prepare for a run of their own, the Mets signed a generational talent in future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer and All-Star Starling Marte, as well as valuable lineup pieces like Mark Cahna and Eduardo Escobar.
Bluntly put, bringing Scherzer into the pitching rotation fold is almost unfair. Incumbent ace and fellow multiple Cy Young Award-winner, Jacob deGrom, will miss at least a month with scapula stress. He is arguably the only pitcher in the game with a better stuff and stats combo than “Mad Max.”
Former Oakland Athletic pitcher Chris Bassitt, another Met addition, will look to step up in their stead and set a course for another solid season right out of the gate.
As far as bounce-backs go: the Mets sure do need some out of both Pete Alonso and the nearly-traded Dominic Smith; each should benefit incredibly from the Designated Hitter’s permanent implementation in theNational League after only being used there prior during the Covid-shortened 2020 campaign.
Around the League
With the return of baseball comes a few new rule changes as well. In addition to the Universal DH, much to the delight of one-sided bashers like the Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and the Washington Nationals’ Nelson Cruz, another game-shifting rule was introduced, effective immediately (and it wasn’t the shift ban): the “Shohei Ohtani Rule.”
Designed with the reigning MVP’s two-way skill-set wholly in mind, the rule allows for pitchers penciled into the batting lineup to remain in the game as a DH after they’ve been removed from the hill. Ohtani’s early removal from games he pitched in last season prohibited the Japanese sensation from putting together an even more historic season than he’ll be able to aim for this year, and each successive year moving forward.
In the American League, the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, and Chicago White Sox are all seen as favorites to make it to the World Series – although optimistic Yankee fans would beg to differ. Meanwhile, in the National League, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers, and then everyone else.
After signing reigning world series champion and former Atlanta Brave “lifer” Freddie Freeman, for the first time in a while most of the question marks for the Hollywood heist team in baseball uniform disguise are in their pitching rotation. Anchored by ace Walker Beuhler, Clayton Kershaw has been retained despite his age showing he’s not nearly what he once was. The loss of longtime closer Kensley Jansen will also be felt, despite the recent trade of AJ Pollock to the Chicago White Sox for Jansen’s end-of-the-game successor, Craig Kimbrel.
Nonetheless, it’s been an offseason full of twists and turns. Imagine what the actual season could bring!
