After reading Robert Casey's blog BEING A FAN WHEN YOU HAVE NO FAITH, I sought out to find positivity. I felt like I was looking for Christmas Spirit in a world where no one believes in Santa Claus. But I found some and they came in the form of three different sources. The Yankees have won new awards. And wait until you see the source of their winnings.
"The Yankees, thanks to a series of moves, have the most improved outfield group based on WAR data. They moved from No. 25 at the end of last season to a projected No. 1 ranking going into 2024. The Yankees made three moves to improve their outfield. The first was the biggest, and that was the trade to acquire Juan Soto in December," reported SI.com. Now that is an award I can get behind. The outfield upgrades include Soto, Alex Verdugo and Soto's teammate San Diego Padre Trent Grisham who will serve as a backup outfielder creating what the league is perceiving as excellent depth. That's award #1.
The next award highlights the moves around baseball, opening up a possible MVP award to the Yankees "now that Shohei Ohtani is in the NL and Mike Trout is consistently having trouble staying on the field, the AL MVP field is more open than it’s been in some time," reports MLB.com. Who would that award go to? Maybe Aaron Judge, who rebounds after a somewhat down year following setting the AL home run single season record. But how about newbie, Juan Soto, who could come into his own as he takes the field in New York this season. That would be an incredible award for the Yankees to win. Judge won it back in 2022. Time for another MVP right on the heels of Gerrit Cole's Cy Young.
The last award and the one I hold most dear is the award that fans who believe in the game despite the changes and despite the slow decline of their team, have bestowed on their beloved Yankees. That award is one of faith and belief. Even though we don't agree with leadership and don't love all of the moves they make, we stick with the team, believing that this is the Yankees year.
From the words of my mother, who is a diehard baseball and Yankee fan, "This is the Yankees year. I believe it." She is in Staten Island University hospital and watching me right now as I write this blog. She believes in the Yankees and believes they will win again. That is the kind of mindset we need, in these dark days of January. So the last award and best award is the Believe award. The Yankees have to believe in themselves too. It is not just about us, believing in them.
Have they made all of the moves they need to win? I don't know. Do we like all of the moves? No. But we have to believe that they can gel and play like a team. That the loud mouths can be dulled by the quiet winners, who are focused on what's in front of them. Soto, Verdugo, Judge, oh my. Let's go for it. And let's believe we can win.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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