New York Yankees: the return of the ‘fully operational Death Star’
Last offseason, New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman promised he would build a ‘fully operational Death Star’. One year later, he’s done just that.
Late last night, the news came down the wire; the New York Yankees and Gerrit Cole agreed to a record-breaking 9-year, $324M deal. The richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history… by a long shot.
The deal re-establishes the Yankees as the evil villains in baseball, wielding their financial prowess around like a ‘fully operational Death Star’, thwarting anything that gets in their way. According to the Action Network, It takes them from +600 at PointsBet, third-best in the league behind the Houston Astros Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers, to the World Series favorites at +450.
What’s more, it takes their meddling starting rotation and turns it elite with one fell swoop.
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- Gerrit Cole – 7.4 fWAR
- James Paxton – 3.5 fWAR
- Luis Severino – 5.4 fWAR (2018)
- Masahiro Tanaka – 3.3 fWAR
- Domingo German – 2.0 fWAR
Pair that with a bullpen that features the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, and Zack Britton to name a few arms; a pen that finished the 2019 MLB season just 0.1 points behind the Tampa Bay Rays (7.5 fWAR) and you’re looking at one of the toughest pitching staffs, perhaps, in history.
What’s more, the Yankees are fielding an offense that will have no trouble tacking on runs, with guys like Giancarlo Stanton – the 2017 NL MVP – fully healthy and eager to bounce back in to form.
I don’t want to throw out any predictions for the 2020 MLB season, but I think it’s fair to say that now more than at any time over the last decade, the Yankees will enter a season knowing that it’s World Series or bust.
In the last three years (2017-2019), they’ve come within a game or two of a World Series appearance, a minor success considering that the team rebuilt in record time. Now, there is no success unless a 28th championship is accomplished.
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In the Star Wars films, two Death Stars were ultimately destroyed. The New York Yankees have now built a third. Maybe this time, it will be indestructible.