New York Yankees: Top Five Current Players

The New York Yankees have undergone a lot of changes in the past few months. Who are the top current New York Yankees?

The New York Yankees have gone with a youth movement with their team, cutting ties with older players in favor of creating roster room for prospects. So far this move has paid off and left the Yankees in a much better position than when the season began.  Before we begin, there are a few players worth mentioning that just didn’t quite make the cut.

C.C. Sabathia– The longtime starting pitcher is beginning to come to the end of his career. He has struggled to do much since putting on a Yankee uniform and looks to be a shell of the player he once was. Sabathia deserves a mention, however, for the player he was. Sabathia at one time was an ace and could be matched up against anyone any given night. Those days are over, but Sabathia has had a solid career despite his recent seasons.

Jacoby Ellsbury– Much like Sabathia, Ellsbury gains a mention because of his seasons with other teams. Oddly enough his best seasons all came with Yankees rivals the Boston Red Sox. In his prime, Ellsbury was a great hitter who could hit 25 bombs and steal 25+ bases. Sadly for the Yankees it appears those days are over. Ellsbury may soon become another older player the Yankees look to move on from.

Brian McCann– McCann is a great catcher but has been disappointing on offense since joining the Yankees. His best seasons were in a Braves uniform. A uniform that he could again be wearing soon.

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Dellin Betances

Dellin Betances has been a very good and very underrated reliever for the past three seasons. His career numbers for the Yankees are as follows:  1.89 earned run average, 386 strikeouts, 77 holds, and 16 saves. While the closer role is a new one, Betances is used to being used in high leverage situations. He appeared in over seventy games in back-to-back seasons and is on pace to do the same again.

Relievers are often overlooked outside of a team’s fan base due to limited innings. Betances is a player who is underrated because of his position and is one of the better players on the Yankees current roster. Betances will look to fill the closing role with the departure of Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. The move is one that he should have no problems making and he could very well fill the closer’s role in the seasons to come.

It is of note that with the bullpen arms they did decide to move Betances is the one they decided to keep. Both for the fact that he is a bit more affordable to keep long term and he is a player that will fit in nicely with the direction the Yankees are headed.

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Mark Teixeira

Mark Teixeira is retiring at the end of this season. Add his name to the ever-growing list of older players that the Yankees will be moving on from. That doesn’t mean Teixeira doesn’t deserve a spot on this list though as he has put up some very good numbers in a Yankees uniform.

This season has been one to forget for Teixeira and if the rankings were based on the current season alone he would not deserve consideration. Teixeira has had a good career though albeit an up-and-down one. He enjoyed a solid season last year with the Yankees hitting over .250 while hitting more than 30 homers for the first time in a while.

He is a career .269 hitter with over 400 homers and a lot of nice plays at first base. He put up some of his best seasons with the Rangers early in his career. Since then he has been a Brave, Angel, and now a Yankee.

Mark Teixeira has been in the league for fourteen seasons and is finishing up what will be his last. What will be interesting to see is how Yankees fans remember him is he remembered as the guy who hit thirty homers for three seasons with the Yankees or is his remembered as the player who in recent years has struggled to hit over .200? Only time will tell.

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Starlin Castro

Castro has found a home with the New York Yankees. He seems to be a much better fit for the team than he was with the Chicago Cubs. Though it is doubtful many players wish they were not a part of the team the Cubs have right now, Castro is part of a very good team himself. One that is headed in the right direction and he can play a role in long term.

The young second baseman has played good defense while setting a career-high in homers and working hard to get on base. While he is yet to find the form he had in his early seasons as a Chicago Cub he has looked like an above-average second baseman that the Yankees may look to keep as a part of their core going forward.

Castro has also improved his defense in New York after committing 24 errors his last season with the Cubs he has committed only nine thus far this season and has looked much better at second base.  Starlin Castro is not a flashy player who is going to hit 40 homers or steal 20 bases. He is, however. a very solid player that the Yankees could count on in the seasons to come.

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Gary Sanchez

Unless your team is the Red Sox, you have to admit watching what Gary Sanchez has done since joining the Yankees is plain fun. The young catcher has come in and exceeded what were already high expectations.

In 22 games he has hit eleven homers while hitting .405. Gary Sanchez looks to be a franchise player in every sense of the word. He has knocked veteran Brian McCann out of the starting catching role and seems to have a good ability behind the plate, though maybe he is more advanced as a hitter at this point in his career.

The one problem for Gary Sanchez is sooner or later he will come back to earth. That is not to say he isn’t going to be a star player, rather even the best players struggle from time to time and none can hit at the pace Gary Sanchez is currently maintaining.

Regardless of how soon Gary Sanchez slows down, there is little doubt that long term he is one the best players on the Yankees roster one who is going to help them for many seasons in the future. The one problem will be, once he does come back to earth a bit, will fans be disappointed due to the high expectations he is giving them?

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