New York Yankees a legitimate threat in October

By Michael Natelli | Sep 30, 2015

The Houston Astros moved out of a playoff spot on Tuesday night for the first time this season. The Los Angeles Angels jumped them to move into a Wild Card spot as a result, and the Texas Rangers subsequently saw their playoff magic number move to four games. The three-team battle for an American League West division title and the second Wild Card spot in the American League between that trio of clubs will be arguably the most exciting thing to monitor over the final week of the season. But why are they only duking it out for one of the Wild Card spots?

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The New York Yankees currently hold onto the first spot. In case you don’t remember, as I often fail to, the Yankees have quietly been one of baseball’s better teams this season.

(Statisticians are currently looking into whether it’s the first time the Yankees have ever done anything quietly, and we’ll continue to provide coverage of that investigation here on Call To The Pen as more news becomes available on that front. But I digress…)

While they may not be one of the favorites to make a World Series run, it’d be unwise for any team in the Yankees’ path to take them lightly. Alex Rodriguez has returned to have his best home run total since 2008, Masahiro Tanaka has been a steady force atop the New York rotation, and Michael Pineda has finally found some consistency and provided the Yankees the return they were looking for when they acquired him in 2012.

Many key members of the New York roster are often just discarded as overpaid members of baseball’s AARP, but several of them have been catalysts for the Yankees’ surprising 2015 season.

Brian McCann, who many forgot about after he left Atlanta, is in the midst of a 26-home run, 93-RBI season behind the dish for New York. Brett Gardner, who went to the All-Star Game this summer, has been good for 16 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances have combined to form one of baseball’s best eighth/ninth inning combos, and top pitching prospect Luis Severino has been absolute dynamite through his first 10 major-league starts.

The list goes on, but the bottom line is that the Yankees are as legitimate contender as any team out there. Even with Mark Teixeira on the shelf, 22-year-old first baseman Greg Bird has come on to provide 40-bomb-type power (10 home runs, 41 games) in Tex’s absence. “Next man up” is alive and well in New York.

Is Adam Warren the ideal four-starter for a playoff team? Perhaps not. Is CC Sabathia still the man that went for 40 wins between 2009 and 2010? No. But both will keep the team in ballgames, paving the way for a talent-laden Yankee lineup to take care of the rest.

Many teams have been dubbed “teams of destiny” this year, and the Yankees haven’t been one of them. But if New York holds on to make it to the postseason, don’t sleep on the 27-time world champs.

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