THIS IS THE END!

All things must come to an end, eventually. I wish some things could be prolonged like Christmas Day, weekends, vacations, girls night out and last but not least.....Mark Teixeira in pinstripes. It's true, I may be one of few but it's not going to happen. His time is coming to an end. This is his big finale as a Yankee and I am just going to start talking about this now so once the end of the season gets here I will slowly but surely be accepting. Maybe.

The youth movement is finally hitting the Yankees. Sure, it is happening later than it should have but better late than never, right? It's a different era for the Yankees. This is not the same leadership that went out after a very disappointing 2008 season and went on a major shopping spree that brought AJ Burnett, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira to the Bronx.

That same shopping spree brought us a World Series ring the following year in our brand new stadium. That was a different lifetime, a different ideology, and a bottomless bank account.

Here we are years later, in the Youth Movement and luxury tax age. Now, even the teams with deeper pockets are more inclined to try and build the younger more athletic team. Now the long term contracts of ten years are not only not "hip" but it is almost thought of as a bad investment made on the stock market. The days of the Albert Pujols and Robinson Cano contracts are fewer and far between. Now it is shocking, even for Yankee fans who didn't blink at those like other fans did. The cool thing to do now is to keep the prized prospects help develop them and then put them in the big leagues when they are young and exciting......and cheap. Now winning is more exciting when you can do it cheaper and you can also avoid paying that annoying luxury tax.

Mark Teixeira has had an underwhelming career as a Yankee, even I can admit that. The Tex we saw in 2009 was something of a "one hit wonder" until he magically resurfaced last season. He stayed healthy until the end of the season. I was disappointed because he was my comeback player of the year for the Yankees. I still wonder what his final stats would have been if he would have played the entire season. Sadly, this is the final year for him. At least, I will be able to start to let go when he stops by Chase Field in May. All things evolve, and sadly someone else is waiting in the wings.

If I had to pick one guy to fill his shoes in 2017 the only person I would even want to pick would be Greg Bird. It takes a lot for me to write that and say that YES I AM SINCERE. Tex is my favorite player but even I cannot deny the talent and presence that this kid has. He impressed me with his bat last season and how poised he was. He didn't look scared, and he is a smart hitter. He doesn't swing at garbage at the plate and yes, he has a good glove. It's no Tex Gold Glove but.....he will get there. He is the future, and I know this.

So I am setting myself up for the future now because this will be a process for me. No, Mark Teixeira is not coming back in 2017. He will be playing for some other American League team. Who knows, maybe he will still be a stating first basemen for some other team. Or maybe, he will be a bench player or DH for someone like the Oakland A's. I don't know.....I don't have a crystal ball. All I do know is that YES THIS IS THE END.....so if you are a Tex fan like me then enjoy every minute of it. Greg Bird and the rest of the youth movement are taking over, and that is just part of the game.


   
--Jeana Bellezza, 
BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ 
 





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