The New York Yankees season is quickly falling apart as the team has slipped back in the wold card race and even farther in the AL East division race after losing three games in a row and going 3-7 over their last 10, but there is some hope on the horizon in the form of the 2014 season.
The Yankees are teetering over .500 with a 57-55 record, but after the news came down about Alex Rodriguez and his suspension, there might be a silver lining to losing this year. While the Yankees always want to win championships, that simply is not happening this year. The team can't score after dealing with so many injuries, including to Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli and apart from Hiroki Kuroda, the pitching has not been what it was thought to be.
Andy Pettitte finally looks his age and CC Sabathia has not been the ace they have needed this year, getting battered around in four straight starts. While the playoffs are always a goal, this year the biggest issue for the Yankees will be what happens to Rodriguez and signing Robinson Cano. Rodriguez's ridiculous $275 million contract has handicapped the Yankees over the past few years and as he breaks down it will continue to be an awful reminder of what players they could have spent money on instead, including Zack Greinke, Prince Fielder and others, the team has mostly stayed pat and signed smaller names.
Now with Rodriguez's suspension on the horizon, the Yankees could somehow, one, get out of his money for next season, which will be like $30 million, and two, depending on how the arbitration and future issues go, the team might even be able to get all the money in the contract off their books. Next season the team wants to get under the $189 million threshold and while signing Cano and other players may mess with that, if they can get rid of Rodriguez's salary, they could do it.
Re-signing Cano is the biggest deal and while they may be weary of giving out another $200 million deal, as a second baseman, Cano is worth it. The team also now needs to retain Kuroda after how well he has pitched and with Curtis Granderson, Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes as well as Pettitte likely leaving next season when their contracts are up, the team will have some money to play with and some of the top names include Jacoby Ellsbury, Tim Lincecum, Brian McCann, Matt Garza and Carlos Beltran as well as Josh Johnson, Adam Wainwright and Gavin Floyd among others.
The team has plenty of options to pick from and it could be a repeat of '09 when they spent on Sabathia, Teixeira and AJ Burnett and won a World Series. Cano obviously is the first domino and if he doesn't make the Yankees pay everything for him (aka like $250 mill) they should be able to work in at least one larger sized contract. It likely will be a pitcher after everything that has happened this season, but after ranking in the bottom part of the league in runs, batting average and on base percentage, offense will be essential.
