Yankees Sign Stanton; Holy Smoke
Although nothing could take away from what the Yankees did last year and were likely to do next even without Stanton, there was always going to be some snickering about the Yanks losing out on the most significant off-season acquisition.
Brian Cashman might like to point out that 28 other clubs were equal in this endeavor, but he needs to understand this is just part of the Yankees’ yin and yang.
That background noise might have grown into a full-throated conversation if the Yankees had failed to win the World Series. What if they had Ohtani? Maybe they cannot draw the top talent just because they’re the Yankees?
Maybe they are not the Yankees anymore.
But when Stanton signed, he quickly flipped the script. Once again were the Yankees the Evil Empire. And once again real World Series contenders.
Now it was the rest of baseball that was shocked. Fear and paranoia spread through the MLB landscape.
Baseball teaming up with Jeter to give him a baseball team - and Jeter turning around and trading the MVP to his old team while screwing South Florida — feels like Wall Street fraud
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) December 9, 2017
"If not for the Babe Ruth of Japan, the New York Yankees‘ new version of Mantle and Maris likely never would have been formed. And…now Stanton and Aaron Judge, two outfield behemoths, are teammates, putting together potentially the most devastating home-run-hitting combination in baseball history."
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Other teams are once again not just apprehensive about the Yankees, but outright scared. And that’s the way it was always supposed to be.
Stanton Goes with the Tide
Cliff Lee once made a conscious decision to stand against the tide, the tide of baseball history. It cost him. He threw away the last few great years of his career on a dream that never came true.
Now Stanton stands with time. He stands with history and the hallowed halls of fame; with pride, power, and pinstripes. And he comes to redeem the sins of players such as Cliff Lee.
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Yankees fans will appreciate Stanton’s play and Stanton’s power. But also they will understand that he values the team as the most likely to win, perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that he changed the feeling in Yankees Universe, and the narrative around the hot stove campfire.
They hope to baptize him with victory champagne some year soon if and when he comes home to glory in the Canyon of Heroes.
If so, New York Yankees fans might wonder if Cliff Lee will be watching.