THROUGH GOOD & BAD, THE YANKEES WILL REIGN AGAIN

I've been a Yankee fan for a long, long time. I am also a baseball fan. I love the game and everything about it.

As a Yankee fan, there's been some very interesting moves. I mean, yes, we did get Andrew Miller, and Chase Headley has been signed and that's good.  We signed Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones and that's a good thing, although, it will be interesting to see how Eovaldi does in the American League.  He's only been an NL pitcher.

(In Photo: Johnny Barbato)
There have also been a bunch of small moves, and some were surprising.  Manny Banuelos was once the "next best thing" in Yankeeland.  But he's gone done.  We also have been picking up alot of pitching.  And we've been giving away pitching to do it.  Shawn Kelley for Johnny Barbato for instance.  All these moves are interesting and the bottom line, we just don't know what we're getting in return.  For Barbato for instance, he might need Tommy John surgery.  That's the bad news. 

The good news is we traded away a 30 year old pitcher in Kelley for a young kid with a ton of upside.  Many question marks, but moves are happening.  Bottom line, it's going to take a while to see what we get back on our investments. I hope Yankeeland can be patient. I get it, as a Yankee fan, we want instant gratification. We want to be instantly satisfied. Well... that's not how life words... baseball is no different.

My friend Mike said to me the other day, "There hasn't been that signing that will make me say... 'You know what? I'm satisfied. We did good.'"  That's what the off season is all about if you're a Yankee fan  these days. In the past, even last year we would go out and sign whomever we wanted because we have the money to do it. But think about this for a second...  

@SportsCenter @Buster_ESPN how my A's are looking right now pic.twitter.com/3k0ykX9nsJ
— Joe Gamba (@_joegamba) December 19, 2014

As much as we feel that uncertainty and unsureness as a Yankee fan, you gotta feel for fans of the Oakland A's.  Their team will be totally different next season too.  Jon Lester took a walk. Jeff Samardzija is gone, Derek Norris went to San Diego and it just looks like everyone is leaving, hence the tweet above.

Their players are literally leaving Oakland.  At least New York players are intact, we're just adding young talent.  We just need the Yankees to figure out how to play good baseball together.  Buying players is easy. It's cutting through the egos and finding a rhythm to get wins. That's what Yankee fans really want.

A while back, Mike O'Hara wrote  STOP LOOKING FOR THAT TEAM. In it, he wrote the following:

"I’ve seen all the tweets and read the articles and blogs. 'Why didn’t we get…', 'What is Cashman doing?!', 'I can’t believe he left town!'  Well, believe it. The Yankees painted themselves into this corner. They money is locked up in has-been players and the farm is still years away from a crop. The Yankees might not just miss the playoffs in 2015, they may actually have a losing season…no, and I won’t calm down. I’m already calm…and just disappointed."

The piece was full of passion from a long time Yankee fan.  That sparked some pretty passionate comments as well. Here's one you must read.

"...Seriously, go take a look at the history of all teams in MLB and you'll see there is absolutely no reason for your doom and gloom articles. Aside from the early 90's, The Yankees have been competitive and successful. Even rebuilding, they've been well above .500. The media's (and younger fans) negative opinions hold no weight to those of us who have earned our pinstripes by backing 60 and 70 win teams year after year. Sorry, if the vent offends but... be a fan of the Royals, the Pirates or Padres etc. for the past 25 years and then a lot of fans may have some kind of qualifications to back up their whining. You have to live the REAL hard times to appreciate the actual success of this franchise. This is a blanket statement to all whining Yankee fans that have been raised spoiled, entitled, and never really knowing hard times. As a fan since the 60's, we / I have seen way worse Yankee times than most of the spoiled new fans. Now that your getting a small taste ( and I mean SMALL taste comparatively), stop whining like you're in baseball hell. 22 straight winning seasons does not give you any right to diagnose "hard times" in Yankeeland or act as if you've seen the bottom of the barrel.  

(In Photo: Celerino Sanchez)
Try counting on Bernie Allen, Pete Ward, Ron Hansen, 2 old ass Alous and a Celerino Sanchez as your team saviors and praying that you actually finish a season at .500 instead of the cellar."

Black Tiger wrote that. Black Tiger also apologized for his rant, claiming it appeared disrespectful.  I accept.

The fact of the matter is, Black Tiger is right... but so is Mike O'Hara.  In fact, any fan who has a passionate opinion about the Yankees and where they are right now is correct in some way. That's because fandom is personal and specific to that fan.  There is no right or wrong.  We write our feelings about our team, usually because it's driven with pure passion and fuel due to frustration or aggravation, sometimes even happiness.  It's a rant, kind of how Bleeding Yankee Blue was created in the first place.

Look, this Yankee off season has been interesting, but this is what we do know; The Yankees have had good runs in history. They have also had some dark days. 

I'm a Steinbrenner kid. I saw the 1970s championships. I also saw the bad teams in the 80s.  I also lived through Stick Michael and the Core Four and that run in the 90s was amazing.  Guess what else... I could see this coming a mile away.  Us not making the playoffs for 2 years in a row, while strange for the younger crowd and frustrating for me, well... it's all part of baseball.  Sometimes there are good times for your team, and sometimes there are bad... it's just the way it happens.

Here's the thing though; Since Mike O'Hara and Black Tiger wrote their posts and comments, the Yankees have gotten younger.  The Yankees aren't spending on old has-beens.  The Yankees are building for their future. 

Now you can say to me, "We have a bunch of questions marks and we gave away guys like Martin Prado, Manny Banuelos and David Phelps and we let David Robertson walk." True.

Guess what else we did?  We just gave opportunity to new young players that we acquired, not to mention opening the door for the farm. 

Things are happening ladies and gentlemen, and before you get down on your club, know this... there are good times and bad times in baseball for ALL teams.  Yes, we are spoiled Yankee fans.  We want to win 162 games and the World Series every year with top talent... ANY TALENT WE WANT AND CAN AFFORD. But... it's not always realistic.  That's the truth.

Yankeeland is changing again.  Accept it, but keep rooting.  Don't walk away from your club.  In the end, the pinstripes rule and we are a tight-knit group of hungry, passionate Yankee fans. 

We need to stick together here... We will reign again! Promise.

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