The Evil Empire is at it again.
By acquiring Curtis Granderson and now Javier Vazquez, the Yankees have secured their spot atop the AL East going into 2010 and are now the odds-on favorites to go all the way back to the World Series. And I wouldn’t bet against them winning it all again.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t think of a single time in the history of the game that a World Series Champion went into the off-season after winning the title and then acquired a 30-homer guy like Granderson. Playing in New York is a very different atmosphere, and Granderson can be streaky, but if you don’t think he’s going to hit another 30 at that softball field they’ve built in the Bronx, then you’re kidding yourself. The Yanks have taken an already potent offense, and made it even stronger.
And that offense takes a lot of pressure off the starting rotation, which now has Javier Vazquez filling in the four spot. This is a guy who placed fourth in the voting for the NL Cy Young this year, and he’s going to be penciled in at the back-end of the Yankee rotation. Vazquez won’t post a 2.8 ERA against the lineups he’ll be facing in the AL East, but he won’t need to with that Yankee offense behind him.
By adding both Granderson and Vazquez, the Yanks have no doubt increased the chances of polishing off their 2010 season with another parade through the Canyon of Heroes.
And who’s to say they’re done? Left field is still wide open for the Yanks, and I don’t really think that Damon is in the mix. Will they give Gardner a chance to play every day out there, or will the Yankees delve deeper into their wallets for someone like Jason Bay or Matt Holliday – the two biggest free agents still on the market.
I’ve heard the cost to acquire one of those sluggers may be too high, even for the Empire. But I don’t know if I believe that, simply because no one has ever been too expensive for the Yankees.
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