NFL
Despite winning 100 games in 2018 Yankees fans felt there was much more to be desired. They won the Wild Card game against the Athletics but then gave the Red Sox virtually no competition in the ALDS. This led Yankees fans to believe that a big offseason was on the horizon and rightfully so. They had just gone under the luxury tax and watched their rival blow past them in the ALDS and then on to win the World Series. The 2018 free agent class has been the talk of baseball offseasons for multiple years now. So far the Yankees haven’t really made any big splashes.
The moves they have made this offseason haven’t been bad, but then again nothing special. They solidified the rotation by trading for James Paxton and bringing back J.A Happ signed Troy Tulowitzki to be shortstop until Didi Gregorius returns and their latest move was to sign Zach Britton. If you look closely the only additions are Paxton and Tulowitzki from there 2018 roster. Paxton while great when healthy has never pitched more than 140 innings in a season and there is no reason to suspect that to change now. Tulowitzki while a great player in his prime had the same problem as Paxton and now at 34 his best days are behind him.
Despite being active the Yankees still should be ranked behind the Red Sox and Astros even though anything can happen during the season. There are multiple moves the Yankees could make to put them over the top. However, it would have to involve them going over the luxury tax and spending serious money. Despite being known for always throwing money at big free agents things have changed over the years. As the revenue for the team has gone up the payroll has gone down. The number was once as high as 74.7% of the revenue going towards payroll in 2005, but that number has gone down to 36.2% in 2018. Yes, their revenue is obviously higher now than in 2005 but the team doesn’t seem as willing to spend under Hal Steinbrenner as they used to be.
The team has expressed interest in Manny Machado but they don’t seem to be willing to pay as much money as they should. Even if Machado isn’t signed the team needs to at least sign Adam Ottavino and maybe another bat such as Marwin Gonzalez. Most of the moves the Yankees need to make have been done but there is still a lot more to put them ahead of the Red Sox and Astros. Zach Britton is a great signing but their needs to be more.
