Looking Back on 2017 and Forward to 2018

On October 21, 2017 the New York Yankees season ended in heartbreak with a 4-0 defeat in Game 7 of the ALCS to the Houston Astros. Yes this loss still stings and yes it will sting until Opening Day but this was not a negative experience.

The Yankees lost a 3-2 series lead with losses in Games 6 and 7 but in the process showed Major League Baseball that this is just the beginning of another Yankee dynasty. If you were to say in Spring Training that this team would have came within one game of reaching the World Series I would have jumped at that opportunity. This team is incredibly young and cost effective which means that the 2017 team will be the least talented Yankee team for a long time. This experience will only help the team as they know now what it will take to win a Pennant and eventually a World Series. Just as in 1995, 2017 can be the start of a new dynasty.

In 2018, the Yankees salary books look promising with Alex Rodriguez's albatross of a contract finally coming off the books as well as Matt Holliday, CC Sabathia, Todd Frazier, Jaime Garcia, and Michael Pineda also becoming free agents. There is a possibility of Sabathia coming back but not on a $25 million contract. Also with most of the key contributors being Pre-Arbitration eligible or Arbitration eligible, there is some wiggle room to add some free agents without going over the luxury tax. The Yankees have been heavily linked with Shohei Otani, who is a Japanese pitcher and designated hitter. He will come relatively cheap as he is leaving Japan before his age 25 season which forbids him from becoming a free agent, he will be an international signing instead. Also there is a possibility that Masahiro Tanaka opts out of his contract and there is a possibility that Jacoby Ellsbury, Chase Headley, Starlin Castro, and Dellin Betances are moved. If Ellsbury is moved that clears a good amount of money, but more importantly it opens up a roster spot for more prospects.

The 2018 Yankees will be favorites to win the AL East and to get back to where they were in 2017 or even farther. In 2018 we will possibly see Gleyber Torres, Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, and Miguel Andujar just to name a few highly touted prospects. Though 2017 ended on a sour note, 2018 might just be the year that title number 28 returns home to 161st Street and River Avenue.