Koji Watanabe – USA TODAY Sports
It’s not very often that baseball fans see the New York Yankees miss the postseason completely. And usually when something drastic like that happens the Bronx Bombers don’t know what to do with themselves. Well, it looks like spending money is a coping mechanism for the Yankees as they really splurged this offseason.
The winter began on a strange note as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was assertive in saying New York would not go over the $189 million mark in terms of payroll — did anyone actually believe him? Anyway, Cashman proved to be a big fat liar because New York made numerous splashes this offseason and none bigger than the one made on Wednesday that was felt from the Big Apple all the way to Japan.
Masahiro Tanaka is now a Yankee, which is probably what we should have expected all along. At 24 years old, Tanaka is now tied to New York for another four years with an opt-out clause for the fifth season. Furthermore, the Japan native will join fellow countryman Hiroki Kuroda and C.C. Sabathia in what should be a much-improved starting rotation. Now, it’s far too early to say whether Tanaka’s seven-year $155 million deal is excessive, so I won’t go there just yet. Besides, the main thing is that the Yankees needed talent and thanks to a couple of major checks, the Yankees now have talent.
Here’s the laundry list of key players that New York snatched up this offseason: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and now Tanaka. Also, the Pinstripes won’t have to worry about Alex Rodriguez for at least another year as his 211- game ban was downgraded to a 162-game ban (including playoffs). Talk about a great offseason!
Not only did the Yankees address key positions like catcher, right field, center field and starting pitcher New York was also relieved of its biggest headache since Billy Martin. The Yankees nailed it this winter, but the big-time games are not won in December or January — they are won in the fall.
See: New York Yankees: Free Agent Acquisitions Need To Perform in 2014
Devin O’Barr is the Content Commentator for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DevinOBarrRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
