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New York Giants are building Julian Love into a utility player

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New York Giants, Julian Love

The New York Giants’ defense needs a playmaker who they can trust at multiple positions. There is news on the DeAndre Bakers case and it does not look too good. In my mind, Baker will be kicked off the team in the next few weeks. This leaves a gaping hole on defense that needs to be filled. For this reason, Julian Love can be that guy for the Giant’s defense, he has experience at multiple positions.

What the Giants can do with Love

Although Julian Love played strong safety last season, the Giants officially switched him over to cornerback. At strong safety, Love had 30 solo tackles, five tackles for a loss, and one interception. As a utility player, Giants’ fans can expect to see Love playing multiple positions on defense. For example, slot cornerback, free safety, are positions I can see Love playing in 2020 with Patrick Graham’s new system. In general, Love is going to be all over the place this season and gaining experience and knowledge. This will be huge for his growth because who knows what will happen with the Giants defense. Also, if a miracle happens and Baker is still on the team, Love will still have experience at other positions, this will be tremendous for the Giants.

Julian Love breakdowns offseason

Due to the pandemic, the Giants’ offseason has been changed drastically. In other words, Love discussed how he’s made the best of it and what lies ahead.

“Honestly, I’m very fortunate because the situation with everything going online kind of helped me out,” Love said. “I was able to be locked in. Obviously, I was in class for a certain amount of the day and then I was in football for a certain amount of the day. All of my professors were accommodating. It sounds messed up, but my first priority was football. And they knew that. So they knew classes and finishing up the semester was second on my mind. I was really just trying to get everything down, really trying to get to know everyone. That’s important over this virtual setting.”

Overall, Julian Love will be used everywhere on defense, especially with Bakers’ situation. I have a lot of hope for Love, I see him playing a lot of outside corner and slot corner as well. If Jabrill Peppers or Xavier Mckinney get hurt, Love will be comfortable filling in at either safety role.

New York Giants: Saquon Barkley’s madden rating is a complete joke

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New York Giants, Saquon Barkley

Saquon Barkley’s Madden 21 rating is a complete joke! I’m upset, Saquon Barkley is my favorite player and deserves more respect! At first, EA Sports had Barkley ranked as an 89 overall, 89! Are you kidding me! Also, this ranks Barkley as the seventh-highest rated running back in Madden, trust me, he’s better than all of them.

The New York Giants’ star running back didn’t have the best 2019 season but, he still put up 1,000 rushing yards while missing three games. Surprisingly, Aaron Jones is ranked higher than Saquon, Jones played all 16 games and only had 80 more rushing yards than Saquon! Also, both Green Bay and Minestioa have much better offensive lines than the Giants do. Saquon creates more opportunities than any other back in the league, his offensive line has been a dumpster fire in his first two seasons.

Barkley’s skill set is unmatched

There are a lot of great running backs in the NFL but, Saquon’s game is just different. He can jump over you, juke around you, put you in a spin cycle, and lower the shoulder on defenders. Again, name a man who is 235 pounds and runs a 4.41 40-yard dash, I’ll wait. After all, Saquon is in great company with one of the best running backs of all time, Barry Sanders.

Updated rating

Finally, Saquon Barkley is getting more respect. It did not take long for EA Sports to fix the star running backs rating, a lot of Giants’ fans were furious, I was one of them. After all, Barkley’s Madden rating went up to a 91 overall, this is what I like to see. However, I think Saquon should be a 96-97 overall, he’s just that good and does it with a weak offensive line. Furthermore, if the Giants’ offensive line improves watch out, Saquon will be joining the 99 club soon.

First Take breakdown

Overall, Saquon is going to earn his respect, he doesn’t need a video game overall to prove himself. I see a big season coming for Saquon, all the haters will be silenced in 2020. Lastly, Saquon is a freak of nature, he will have a big season and he will be getting a Madden upgrade halfway through the 2020 season, trust me.

New York Yankees: Two players to watch during this season

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New York Yankees, Clarke Schmidt

It’s finally happening. The New York Yankees will take the field in 2020 and be on the quest for ring number 28. Big players such as Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, and Gary Sanchez. The Yankees already have a core group of guys that are the main reason for the team’s success, but there are some under the radar players that could have a dominant year this season.

Clark Schmidt

After just two seasons in the Minor Leagues and undergoing Tommy John surgery, Clark Schmidt has impressed many during his last two outings during the Yankee intrasquad games. Even though hitters aren’t 100% up to speed with pitchers yet, all of his pitches look MLB-ready. He commands his fastball very well and flashes a strong breaking ball.

YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay has extremely high expectations for Schmidt this season: “I’d go with Clarke Schmidt. So far, he’s shown me he can get outs in the big leagues. He’s got something to prove, he carries himself with a chip on his shoulder… and the guy looks like he has three to four big-league pitches… He has shown them a lot, not only in spring training but also in the intrasquad games here… I would give him that reward.”

I believe Schmidt will be called upon early in the season to allow the rotation an extra day of rest. He may also be utilized as an “opener,” the strategy that was used several times last season. He has proved so far that he can get outs against a power lineup so there should be no surprise if Schmidt gets quality innings this season.

Kyle Higashioka

Most people don’t know this, but Kyle Higashioka is the longest-tenured player in the Yankee organization on the roster Major League roster. The Yankees must love Higashioka’s game to keep him for so long, and it’s finally paying off this season. After letting Austin Romine walk to free agency this offseason, Higashioka will be the backup catcher for Gary Sanchez.

Higgy has only played 56 games in the Major Leagues but shows promising talent at the plate and especially behind the dish. “He’s earned this spot, this opportunity,” manager Aaron Boone said about Higashioka’s promotion. “He’s put himself in a really good position to be that guy and I have a lot of confidence in him.”

New York Yankees fans should look forward to watching Higashioka behind the plate when Sanchez has a night off. He’s proven to be an above-average defensive catcher that has a little pop in his swing.

New York Knicks Amongst Others Are Keeping Tabs On Talented Draft Prospect Deni Avdija

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New York Knicks, Deni Avdija

The New York Knicks are keeping tabs on many draft prospects. One prospect who some within the organization are high on is currently playing winning basketball overseas for the powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv team in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Deni Avdija is wowing scouts with his feel for the game, his sudden improved shooting ability, and his overall savviness on both ends of the court. The 19-year old is looking like a seasoned veteran according to some.

Avdija is currently averaging 18.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. According to an Israeli NBA reporter by the name of Eran Soroka, who has been keeping a close eye on Deni Avdija, the young prospect is relishing the big stage. This kind of player would definitely relish Madison Square Garden.

The Israeli NBA reporter Eran Soroka also went on to describe Avdija’s play recently according to SB Nation.

Soroka: “He’s playing on the big stage. The EuroLeague is the second-best in the world. He played well at a younger age, like at the Under-19, and Under-21 tournaments, and led Israel —which had never won a championship— to two straight titles. He played dominant basketball, and was amazing on both sides of the court. He played above the level of the rest, and did it so graciously. He makes things looks easy. The way he dominated reminded people of Luka Doncic, now he’s not Luka Doncic, but he showed how good he can be. When Maccabi Tel Aviv started at the beginning of the season, they had Omri Casspi, and they had a full squad with [former NBA players] Quincy Acy, Tarik Black, but as the season progressed, a lot of players went down with injuries.
Once Caspi went down, Deni started to get his minutes because of all the injuries, and started to get a lot of playing time. When he got the playing time, he got the confidence, which is all he needed. Then, he started to perform at a very good level. He made some amazing plays in a game against one of the top teams in the EuroLeague. He had some big dunks, and an in-your-face 3-pointer after making some beautiful moves over Jan Vesely, who is one of the top two-or-three players in the EuroLeague.
This game was the coming out party, he proved to the people who weren’t sure that he was able to do it. He wasn’t a dominant player, for me he’s like a Joe Ingles type player. He makes everybody better, smart passes, smart cuts, he can dominate without having the ball in his hands. When he does have the ball, he can beat you with a lot of savviness. Then they had a game against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, which is one of the best teams. They have Shane Larkin, who is the MVP of the EuroLeague.
At the end of the game, Anadolu setup a play to get Larkin the ball in isolation. Avdija was guarding him, so Anadolu kept running a pick-and-roll to get the switch, but Avdija ditched the switch, and made Larkin take a tough 3-pointer to win the game, which gave Maccabi a big win over the top-team in Europe. The maturity of guarding the best player in Europe, and making him miss was a good measurement of his growth. He’s playing with a lot of swag, he can go right, he can go left, and he can shoot from the outside. After Doncic’s rise, it made a lot of people notice Advija. When they saw at the age of 19 that he can do such things against quality opponents, and good former NBA players, it made his stock even higher.

New York Yankees: Biggest takeaways from second televised intrasquad game, Cole outing

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New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole

The New York Yankees took the field for the second night in a row for another televised intrasquad game at Yankee Stadium. The game featured every starter for the exception of DJ LeMahieu as he not partaking in Summer Camp yet after his recent positive test. It’s still early in camp that players, especially hitters, are still catching up to being game-ready, however, there are some positive things to note from the intrasquad.

Gerrit Cole looks sharp, has bulldog mentality

After allowing a home run to Miguel Andujar as the second batter of his outing, Gerrit Cole focused up and retired 15 out of the 19 total batters he faced. He allowed just one hit (the Andujar homer) while fanning six batters. Cole’s fastball looked strong and his offspeed pitches were getting swing-and-misses. He also retired the last ten batters he faced in his outing.

One thing to note about Cole is his bulldog mentality no matter what situation he’s in. “I was trying to win. Unfortunately, we lost,” Cole said after the game. Even though these intrasquad are low intensity and are mainly for hitters and pitchers to get live looks, Cole had the mentality of thinking this was a mid-season game down the stretch.

Michael King showed a flash of dominance

After appearing in just one game for the New York Yankees last season, Michael King showed a sample of dominance today. King has a deceiving motion that hides the ball well from hitters and throws across his body which makes it uncomfortable for right-handed hitters.

In two innings of work, King fanned three batters while allowing just one hit. King’s fastball looked strong as he commanded it well while flashing a good-looking slider and curveball.

King is definitely someone the Yankees are going to have to think about when deciding on what arms they are going to put on the roster. Clarke Schmidt, who was fabulous in Monday’s intrasquad game, is also another guy who will be in the run for a roster spot.

Andujar homers off Cole

In Gerrit Cole’s first inning of work, Miguel Andujar took a fastball to right-field for a home run. Definitely mixed emotions for Yankee fans, but on a positive side, Andujar’s swing is looking like it did in 2018 and showed tremendous opposite-field power.

New York Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen Needs to be Aggressive Next Offseason

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The New York Mets are going to have to try to re-sign a lot of their impact players like Marcus Stroman and Justin Wilson while determining whether to keep a lot of veterans on their squad either through club options, new deals, or letting them go. The Mets roster is relatively talented, but they don’t have much in the farm system to be ready to shed off talent for more space in the roster.

The Mets come off as a team that needs to make moves now, and I think keeping Brodie’s aggressive nature needs to continue rather than be curbed because if you think about it, before Brodie was the GM the Mets were well below .500 for two years straight, and while Diaz hasn’t panned out yet, his 2.63 SIERA (Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average) shows there is more than hope for him and that Van Wagenen probably will look better for this move this year.

Address the Starting Pitching

Yes, you have Jacob deGrom and next year Noah Syndergaard, but Marcus Stroman, Rick Porcello, and Michael Wacha? All could depart this offseason, and so you need to start designing and adding to the rotation or else you’re going to lose a key element to your success; your starting pitching

I think the Mets should consider whether they will bring back Stroman or not (remembering Syndergaard will be a free agent in 2021) and if they will add even more pitching to supplement the return of Stroman. You have to consider the Yankees’ lefty James Paxton as an option but I think he and Stroman would be too expensive as the Mets have other issues to address, so a guy like Jake Odorizzi could be an option as well as a 3rd or 4th starter.

If you want cheaper options than even that you have solid #4 or #5 pitchers like Anthony DeSclafani who is a career 4.03 SIERA pitcher and had a 3.95 DRA in 2019, DRA (Deserved Run Average) which factors the park, quality of opponent, pitch framing, and even temperature. This stat is a stat that boils down a pitcher’s pure skill and for a guy who will probably sign for 2 years $15 million? A high 3 ERA guy is a pretty good bargain to pair with Stroman to make a rotation that is still well above average, and it’d add around $27.5 million to your payroll total because Stroman probably signs for around $20 million a year, but what about the lineup?

Bring in an Outfield Power Bat

Yes, I know the New York Mets traded for the defensive stud Jake Marisnick but the issue is he’s awful offensively so he’s a liability at the plate, but if you put Nimmo in CF then yes you have a liability in the outfield defensively but you still have his offense and total value. This doesn’t mean they can’t get better in the corner outfield spot not occupied by Conforto? I think they can.

With Cespedes’ absurd $29 million off of the books after this year, we were able to spend $27.5 million on starting pitching, meaning right now we have an around $103,500,000 dollar payroll before arbitration currently. I think the New York Mets have around $40 million max. to spend on impact position players, so we have to sign realistic players and not just try to blow all of our cash on Mookie Betts. Despite the limitations, how about Marcell Ozuna?

Marcell Ozuna is an outfielder for the rival Braves but he has a ton of potential and his expected stats show that he can be a lot better than the 107 and 109 wRC+ numbers we’ve seen in his stint with St. Louis. In 2019 despite his .336 wOBA, Ozuna had a .389 xwOBA in 2019 with xSLG of .548 and an Exit Velocity (of the top 5% of his hard-hit balls) were at 111.4 MPH, one of the best marks in the league. He also is a good defensive corner outfielder at 8.6 UZR/150 in LF in his career and 24.1 UZR/150 in RF but in a smaller sample size.

You’d be getting what I think is a 4 fWAR 130 wRC+ caliber player and you could get him for $22 million a year at 30 for 6 seasons. He’d make that lineup a lot scarier and would be a great fit for the NEw York Mets.

Polishing Touches

I’ve discussed before letting Wilson Ramos walk and bringing in Jason Castro who put up a .364 xWOBA and is a much better framing catcher, who would cost around $7 million for the Mets over two seasons and allows the Mets to continue to develop catching prospect Fransico Alvarez for the next two seasons.

The Mets need to make sure they retain the likes of Dellin Betances and Justin Wilson which would cost around $25 million to do and factoring me guessing a $35 million total in arbitration and $10 million for the rest of the roster, the Mets would have a ~$195.5 million payrolls, and while yes that is pretty high, it’s still about $ 14.5 million below the luxury tax threshold for 2021 which would be set at $210 million. The next offseason they’d need to bring back Syndergaard and Conforto BUT they’d be off of Familia’s 17.6 million dollar deal and off of $17.6 million in Luxury Tax salary that they’ve bee owing to David Wright so that should help create more cap space.

Evaluating the Mets After These Moves

Assuming we are back to a 26 man roster in 2021, this is what the team would look like:

  1. Brandon Nimmo CF
  2.  Michael Conforto RF
  3. Jeff McNeil 3B
  4. Pete Alonso 1B
  5. Marcell Ozuna RF
  6. JD Davis DH
  7. Robinson Cano 2B
  8. Jason Castro C
  9. Amed Rosario SS

For the bench I decided on these 4 being the best candidates:

Dominic Smith 1B/LF/RF
Tomas Nido C
Luis Gillmore IF
Melky Cabrera OF

Now for the Mets’ rotation, new and improved:

  1. Jacob deGrom
  2. Noah Syndergaard
  3. Marcus Stroman
  4. Anthony DeSclafani
  5. Steven Matz

And then the bullpen:

Paul Sewald
Robert Gsellman
Justin Wilson
David Peterson
Jeurys Familia
Seth Lugo
Dellin Betances
Edwin Diaz

I think this team would be an easy division favorite, I mean did you see how deep that lineup was? The rotation is good and that bullpen is great, and if the Mets follow this blueprint, they’ll be hosting a World Series trophy over their head in this decade.

New York Yankees: Biggest takeaways from first televised intrasquad game

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New York Yankees, Clarke Schmidt

For the first time in months, the New York Yankees were able to be watched on television as they took the field at Yankee Stadium for an intrasquad game. As they get ready for the unorthodox season of only 60 games, pitchers and hitters need to see as many live reps as they can since they are only 16 days away from Opening Day.

This game wasn’t intense in any means, as the players are still coming off a three-month delay. With that being said, it’s expected that the players aren’t at fully game-ready. However, there were still positive things to note from the intrasquad.

Clark Schmidt looked sharp

Just two seasons in the minors, Clarke Schmidt may be called upon early to help out the Yankees. Throwing two innings in the intrasquad game, Schmidt looked great. He had great command of his fastball, and his offspeed pitches looked sharp and game-ready. In 2.1 innings pitched (seven hitters faced), he fanned three batters and only allowed one hit.

“I think that I can produce at this level, I think I can get outs at this level,” Schmidt said after his outing. “I hold myself to a high regard, I always have. I’m a very confident kid.”

Hicks and Judge’s swings look healthy

Although they had no hits between both of them, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge both looked healthy swinging the bat. Coming off two major injuries that costed them significant time, there was a concern that both of these key players wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day. It’s tough to tell from just a few at-bats if they’re 100% healthy, but their bat speed and swing looked normal—Hicks especially, who flew out to deep right field in two at-bats.

JA Happ looks promising

Throwing two innings in the intrasquad, JA Happ looked sharped through his short outing. He fanned six batters, giving up no hits and allowing just one walk. There was some concern with Happ entering the season as he struggled with keeping the ball in the park last year, but both his outings in Spring Training and Summer Camp have looked promising for the Yankees.

Thairo Estrada goes deep

Middle infielder Thairo Estrada who played just 11 games in the Major Leagues last year, took Tommy Kahnle deep to left field. For a game that didn’t have much hard contact, this was exciting to see.

Voit, Stanton, Wade, Torres all with base knocks

There wasn’t much-batted ball in play during this intrasquad, but these four sluggers found themselves with a base hit—Stanton and Voit, especially, who ripped the ball into centerfield. With no players playing the field, it’s tough to say if these hits would actually drop in a real game. However, they all had good swings on the ball.

New York Yankees: Three reasons to look forward to the 2020 season

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New York Yankees, Gerrit Cole

COVID-19 has rocked the entire world, not just sports. Shortened seasons, guidelines in place to ensure player and personnel safety and venues are all decisions that have the sports community scrambling for answers. Despite all of these challenges, Major League Baseball is going to happen in 2020. With a disappointing decade from 2010-2019, the first in franchise history with no World Series appearances, the New York Yankees look to rebound in the 2020s. Even with a shortened, 60 game season, there is so much to look forward to if you are a Yankees fan.

1. Gerrit Cole.

General Manager Brian Cashman landed his “white whale” back in December with a nine-year $324 million deal, the richest deal ever for a pitcher.  Bringing Cole to New York was the top priority heading into free agency after the Bombers lost in the ALCS to the Astro’s. Even with winning over 100 games in each of the last three seasons, the New York Yankees just couldn’t get over the hump and make it to the World Series. With injuries constantly keeping the starters off the field and forcing the Yankees to use 155 different starting lineups in 2019, the team needed a major shot of adrenaline. Adding Cole does exactly that. His 2019 season was one of the most impressive in recent years, posting a 24-6 record with a 2.39 ERA and 373 strikeouts. The acquisition of Cole instantly gives the New York Yankees one of the top rotations at least in the American League. When Luis Severino returns from recovering from Tommy John surgery, you would be hard-pressed to find a better rotation. The Yankees should certainly do major damage with a healthy Cole as their ace for the future.

2. Players coming back healthy.

The team was plagued by injuries all throughout 2019. With a Major League record of 30 players designated to the IL, the phrase “next man up” became the team’s rallying cry. With unlikely players stepping up and filling major holes such as Mike Tauchman, Mike Ford, and Chad Green the team still pulled together and won the division and won 103 games en route to another ALCS appearance. On paper, the Yankees have one of the most dominant tops to bottom rosters in baseball when healthy. Key players like Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez getting constantly caught with the injury bug especially last year are obvious roadblocks to success, but 2020 should see all of the squad returning healthy. Aaron Hicks and Judge both are scheduled to be ready for opening day, as well as prime starter James Paxton who recovered from back surgery late last year. With at least most of their players primed to come back healthy, 2020 should be an exciting year for the Bombers.

3. More motivated and hungry than ever.

Every team in a competitive sports league goes into their season with one goal in mind: Bring a championship home to their city. Looking back at the past decade without reaching a World Series, watching their storied rival Boston Red Sox bring home two World Series championships in 2013 and 2018, and watching the Houston Astros cheat their way through the league the last couple of years, the Yankees are coming back more motivated and hungry than ever to bring a championship home to the Bronx. And they have all the tools to do it. With a young, exciting core of Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar and Aaron Judge among many others to put runs on the board, Cole, Tanaka, Paxton, and Severino on the mound, and the best bullpen in the sport with Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman, the potential for this squad is through the roof.

The most die-hard Yankee fan could have a conversation with the most anti-Yankee baseball observer and would come to a mutual conclusion: The Yankees are going to be a threat in 2020. No matter the number of games, with a healthy roster the Yankees are going to be the team to beat.

 

Will James Dolan Patiently Allow Leon Rose And “World Wide Wes” to Rebuild The New York Knicks?

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New York Knicks, James Dolan

Leon Rose, Wesley Williams, Scott Perry, Walt Perrin, Alex Kline, and the New York Knicks have been occupied during the pandemic. Watching film, talking to colleagues, accessing resources, and holding virtual draft prospect interviews during this weird off-season, all in which have been an irregular, tedious, and abnormal process have been ongoing. However, many are looking at the big picture wondering if New York Knicks Owner James Dolan will patiently allow Leon Rose and Wesley Williams, also known as “World Wide Wes”, to rebuild the once prominent basketball squad in New York City during the 1990’s.

Rebuilding a winning basketball team requires the top of the rebuilding organization to have all necessary personnel in their correct and respective positions within their individual professional specialties. Combining basketball minds is crucial, however, basketball minds still need time to execute strategic rebuilding and culture plans. All personnel must be on the same page starting with the front office all the way to the organization’s G-League affiliate (Westchester Knicks). Therefore, continuity is key to a well functioning organization and the New York Knicks are thirsting for stability and overall continuity, especially within the top part of the organization.

The Knicks are near the end of their coaching search and it would be the perfect time to begin practicing stability by retaining Mike Miller and making him the next head coach. The players seem to respect Mike Miller and he has a great basketball mind due to his previous winning stint with the Westchester Knicks a few years ago along with his advanced understanding of Tex Winters beloved triangle offense which encourages ball movement. Mike Miller took over from David Fizdale and rallied the troops. Player development is also Mike Miller’s strong suit.

Once the Knicks find their coach, James Dolan must let the revamped front office work and execute. Stability must be priority. Let the basketball minds do their jobs without worrying about termination at any given moment.

Problems the New York Yankees could encounter this season

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New York Yankees, Luke Voit

The New York Yankees are one of the favorites for the World Series during this unconventional 60-game year and for good reason. They have one of the strongest and most intimidating lineups in all of Major League Baseball and with the addition of superstar Gerrit Cole to the rotation, they’re on a whole different level than last season.

Despite all the positive things to be excited about this season, there are some issues the Yankees will need to have a grip on if they want that end goal: bringing home the 28th Commissioner’s Trophy to the Bronx once again.

Injuries

This is one of the most obvious ones, as last season was a nightmare of injuries. Even though the Yankees still found success even when they have several of their key players on the Injured List, it would be extremely difficult to repeat that. It’s crucial that sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton remain healthy throughout the shortened season. Other important players such as Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, and Aaron Hicks who have had injury problems throughout their career need to stay healthy as long as the club wants another successful season.

During a normal 162-game season, going on the IL for 14 days isn’t ideal, but it wasn’t the end of the world. During these new circumstances with only 60 games, the team can’t afford to have key players sit out for two weeks.

Back end of starting rotation

The addition of Gerrit Cole made the Yankees’ pitching rotation significantly better, no doubt. However, without Luis Severino and Domingo German, the back end of the rotation is a little questionable. The projected rotation is as follows: Gerrit Cole, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, JA Happ, Jordan Montgomery, and Jonathan Loaisiga. Happ, Montgomery, and Loaisiga are all guys that can either dominate for seven innings or be pulled in the fourth.

The reason why I say these three guys are questionable is that you never know what’re you’re going to get when they take the mound. Happ looked great during the preseason games, however, struggled last season with keeping the ball in the park. Montgomery was fantastic prior to Tommy John surgery, and a pitcher could be completely different after having a big surgery like that. Loaisiga has some nasty stuff but sometimes struggles to command the zone.

The New York Yankees rotation will interesting to watch this season. I think the “opener” strategy” that was used last season will probably be used again this season, as it was deemed highly effective. The Yankee bullpen remains one of the league’s best so they can utilize that with little concern.

Can these guys repeat it?

There were several players on the Yankees last season that had what you can call their “breakout” seasons. Gio Urshela, Mike Tauchman, Mike Ford all busted onto the scene last year when they proved they were valuable to the team’s success. It’ll be fun and interesting to watch if these guys can repeat their success from last season. It’s possible that last year was just a career year for them, however, I think that’s unlikely. I believe these players are truly able to compete with some of the league’s best and Yankee fans should expect it again this year.