Bronx Bomber Ball

It felt like a shoe-in. So much so, in fact, that I advocated for what I thought was the inevitable all the way back in September, before the BBWAA even announced the nominees for American League Rookie of the Year. Photo Credit: Getty Images

On a cold, dreary day in the Bronx, the Yankees, backed by Masahiro Tanaka, beat the Angels 3-1 to take the rubber game of a three-game weekend series. It was a solid, if unspectacular, bounce back effort for the Yanks after dropping last night’s contest, 11-4. The Angels entered the series with an MLB-best 16-5 road record, so this was a quality series win for the Bombers. Photo Credit: Katherine Malone-Van Dyke

Give credit to the Yankee front office; the Yankees have arguably the best present and future out of any team in baseball. Brian Cashman and his crew turned around the farm system seemingly overnight, producing the Baby Bombers we’ve grown to love. The past three years the Yankees have trotted out Rookie of the year caliber players, Gary Sanchez was runner-up in 2016, Aaron Judge was the unanimous winner in 2017, and Gleyber Torres is making his case in 2018. USA  Today

Yankees fans, meaningful baseball is around the corner. Next week to be exact, the beloved Bronx Bombers will take the field in Toronto for the start of a new season. A new manager, the NL MVP on the roster, young-studs all across the diamond, and a hunger leftover from a team that fell a game short of the 2017 World Series are all aspects of this team that the Yankee universe are ready to take in. Constantly referred to as a “rebuilding year,” 2017 was a season in which expectations were non-existent in comparison to the Yankees normal status-quo. However, those days of being the underdog are now over. The Yankees added to an already stacked team and have players coming off career years. The month of April does not define a team’s season, but with the spotlight on the team that hails from the Bronx, April is an extremely important month. Here are five bold predictions for the first month of the season:   Photo Credit: USA Today

The Yankees went into the 2016 MLB Winter Meetings fresh off another playoff-less season - and third in the previous four season (also 2013 and 2014). The Yankees sought help both in the rotation, which remained a question mark the entire offseason, as well as offensively after having traded Brian McCann to the Houston Astros just two weeks prior. These meetings would be highlighted by two monster trades engineered by Chicago White Sox GM Rick Hahn; trading ace LHP Chris Sale to Boston for a package of prospects headlined by Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech, as well as his trade of star CF Adam Eaton to Washington for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.

In case you missed the breaking news from last night, prized Japanese free agent Shohei Ohtani released his short list of teams he will be meeting with this week.  The Yankees are not on it. It was widely presumed that New York was the frontrunner to land the 23-year-old dual threat, but Ohtani has made it clear he prefers to sign with a team on the West Coast, as well as one in a smaller market.   Photo Credit: AP

In a very surprising turn of events, news broke Sunday evening that Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani will not be signing with the New York Yankees. Photo Credit: AP

In 2017, the Yankees gave their fans a lot to be thankful for after an unexpected run, which displayed glimpses of an extremely bright future. On a holiday that is designed around the theme of being thankful, I decided to give thanks to the baseball team I spend hours and hours watching throughout the season. So, what about the Yankees am I thankful for?   Photo Credit: AP