The Time Is Now For New York Yankees

The New York Yankees put themselves back in contention for the World Series with a tremendous offseason. Although the team lost superstar second baseman Robinson Cano, veterans Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran were brought in to fill the void. With these signings, as well as the signing of Japanese star Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees expect to win in 2014, which is good considering the future is in question in the Bronx.

Yes, Ellsbury, McCann, Beltran and Tanaka were all brought in on multi-year deals, but the Yankees are going to lose numerous valuable pieces after this season. Hiroki Kuroda, Brett Gardner and Ivan Nova are all on one year contracts, Ichiro Suzuki only has a year left on his deal, and Derek Jeter recently announced that he is retiring after this season. Unless things change, those are five key pieces that the Yankees will be missing in 2015.

There needs to be a sense of urgency for the Yankees in 2014 because of this looming issue. Not only do the players need to produce on a nightly basis, but the front office needs to make the moves necessary to ensure there is enough depth remaining in 2015 to be able to succeed. After the remarkable offseason that Brian Cashman put together in the last couple of months, I have little doubt that New York will find a way to make up for the losses of Jeter, Kuroda and the other key players. Still, it is unsettling to look into the future and see so much uncertainty.

Hopefully the Yankees’ front office has been taking the future into account while setting up this team, or else the Yankees could be in trouble in 2015 and years to come. The time is now for the Yankees — 2014, Jeter’s last season, must be a season of success in the Bronx.

 Alex Chitty is a New York Yankees writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.