Bronx Bomber Ball

By: Frank Mello-Morales In part 3 of the optimist series, we take a look at the 2015 New York Yankee infield, one filled with many question marks. A combination of youthful startups with seasoned veterans leaves for little certainty as to how things will play out.

By: Frank Mello-Morales When talking about the Yankee bullpen in 2015, there may not actually be a need for optimism. On paper, it is clear that this current assemblage is among baseball’s best. In a recent ESPN article, Buster Olney ranked them as high as number two in the sport. Relative to the other facets of the roster, it is clear that the bullpen is the Yankees greatest asset heading into the season. Give New York a lead through six innings of play, and Yankee fans will have every reason to feel good about their chances. When breaking down the particular components of the ‘pen, it is easy to justify my own and many others’ high expectations.  

By: Frank Mello-Morales I want to make things clear right off the bat (no pun intended): This article is not a penetrating expose, or one of saber-metrical, analytical or statistical backing, but rather is an optimistic approach towards this year’s Yankee roster- as currently assembled- contingent solely on speculation and subjective (presumably logical) reasoning. Breaking down various aspects of the team, I attempt to offer a reason to be hopeful in 2015.

By: Frank Mello-Morales The following article will likely garner many various opinions and perhaps even complete disagreement. What we can all come to a consensus on, however, is that the Yankees, with the likely departure of Hiroki Kuroda and uncertainty surrounding other members of the rotation, could certainly use at least one more pitcher going into 2015- and preferably a good one. The two top pitching free agents this off-season are veterans Max Scherzer and Jon Lester, each of whom were All Stars in 2014. Both are hitting the open market for the first time in their careers, and will each be commanding top dollar contracts. Along with this mutual prospect, it can also be noted that both pitchers are thirty years of age, and are coming off statistically similar seasons (Lester had the edge in ERA [2.46], Scherzer in WAR [6.0], while both struck out well over 200 batters). To continue, they are both very durable as each have totaled north of 1,000 innings pitched over their las...