The Yankees Dynasty is over, but the future looks at least a little bright

For the first time since 1990, the New York Yankees will not have a player on the field named Williams, Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte, or Posada. We were all very lucky to witness this once-in-a-lifetime dynasty and playoff run. The numbers are astounding, five World Series trophies, 17 playoff appearances in 20 seasons, two sure-fire hall of famers and a hall of fame manager. How will the next era begin? Who will be the next group of core players?

While the Yankees don’t have a core group of young homegrown players on the roster, they do have talent. On the position side, the team can build around Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann. All three of them are in their primes and should provide peak value over the next two years. The pitching staff, of course, starts with ace Masahiro Tanaka, as well as Shane Greene, Michael Pineda and Dellin Betances. Unfortunately, they will need to address the holes left at third base, shortstop, right field as well as in the rotation. Another major issue is declining performances and the albatross contracts of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and CC Sabathia. This offseason is going to be huge for this team, as they approach a crossroads. Either they need to focus on rebuilding or double-down and continue down the path of big contracts and older players. After missing the postseason for the second year, I’m betting on the latter.

Realistically, we may never see the likes of the "Core Four" and Bernie Williams all come together at one time again.  However, they do have some players in the minor leagues that may make solid contributions over the next few seasons.  For the first time in awhile, it appears that the organization has a solid, power-hitting outfielder on the way in Aaron Judge. The infield has Eric Jagielo, Rob Refsnyder, and Greg Bird looking like promising options for the Yankees. Luis Severino stormed onto the scene in 2014 and is on the fast track to be a future front-of-the-rotation arm that the team sorely needs. Ty Hensley is finally healthy, and Ian Clarkin is another name to watch as potential middle-of-the-rotation arms. Even as fickle as relievers can be, the Yankees have Jacob Lindgren and Tyler Webb headlining a deep crop of bullpen arms ready to make major league contributions.

The future is cloudy for the first time in many years and to have expectations for another dynasty just isn’t realistic. We all witnessed history during this unprecedented run and as fans we should reflect and be thankful for what we’ve seen, as no other team has given their fan base what this team and its players have. While we may never see the same success again, the Steinbrenners will always keep the Yankees in the playoff hunt. For that we should all be thankful.

This is it. The last game of the year for the Yankees. The last start of 2014 for Michael Pineda. The last game that Derek Jeter will play baseball.

Comment of the Game

Yesterday's COTG award goes to Kevin L for what LTL describes as the first meme of 2015. It's certainly going to be an interesting year, so he might be right.

Best GIF of the Recap

Matt P earns the BGOTR award with this gem. Poor doggy. Poor Yankees.

Honorable Mod Mention

Harlan takes home the HMM award with this comment. He has a point really. Again, going to be an interesting offseason.

Best Comments of the Day

We have a rare COTD award to give out. It's the weekend, so the comments are limited. Yesterday's COTD award goes to kshah90, who has a right to be excited about Shaun potentially eating New Jersey.

• In one word, describe the 2014 New York Yankees season?
• Derek Jeter's best plays have a name attached to them (The Dive, The Flip, etc). What name would you give to his walk-off on Thursday?

As always, link us your song of the day!

We have come to it at last, ladies and gentlemen of Pinstripe Alley. This is the end, beautiful friends. The final game of 2014. Perhaps it's appropriate that Michael Pineda gets the last start of the season, as he is one of the more exciting things to look forward to in 2015. Finally, this is the last day you will see Derek Jeter come up to bat until Old Timers Day. Last Thursday will always be known as his true final game, but this still hits home a bit. After today, he will officially no longer play baseball. What a career, folks. What a career.

Fare Thee Well, Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter picked up an RBI single in his last at bat, while Michael Pineda was dominant in the last game of 2014.

I think most Yankee fans' hope was that Derek Jeter's career would end with a World Series victory. Sadly that won't happen, but a victory over the Red Sox at Fenway isn't a bad second option. In his final at bat, Jeter hit an RBI single. It wasn't quite Thursday night, but it was a nice way to end his day. And as much as Jeter is the story, an excellent effort from Michael Pineda shouldn't be overlooked. Pineda was fantastic as the Yankees closed out the season with a 9-5 victory over the Red Sox.

In Jeter's first at bat in his final game, he made decent contact on a pitch, but Jemile Weeks made a nice leaping catch to rob Jeter of a hit.

In the top of the third, the Yankees opened the game's scoring. Francisco Cervelli led off the inning by drawing a walk. After Chris Young struck out, Jose Pirela singled. A wild pitch during the next at bat moved them both into scoring position. They would both score when Ichiro Suzuki ripped a triple into the Triangle in center. That brought Jeter back to the plate for his second at bat. He hit a high chopper down the third base line and made it to first without a throw as Ichiro scored. That would be the last action of his career as Brian McCann was sent in as a pinch-runner. That left the final hit count at 3,465.

Despite the outbreak of the feels that took over, the inning continued after that. Brett Gardner banged a double off the Green Monster, moving McCann to third. Mark Teixeira then flew out to center with McCann tagging up and scoring on the play. That made it 4-0 Yankees.

The Yankees tacked on a few more in the seventh inning. Cervelli and Young led off the inning with two-straight singles. Pirela then drove them both home with a double off the wall in left-center. The procession then continued with Eury Perez and John Ryan Murphy hitting two-straight singles, with Pirela scoring on the second. And then for fun, Austin Romine doubled off the Monster, scoring Perez. Teixeira hit a hard liner for the first out of the inning, but after that brief intermission, the hit parade continued. Chase Headley singled to make it 9-0.

With one out in the seventh, Allen Craig picked up a single, which would bring Pineda's day to an end. Big Mike was dominant, allowing one run on three hits and no walks, while striking out 10. Hopefully we can get a full year out of him in 2015. Esmil Rogers came in for Pineda and proceeded to walk Garin Cecchini and hit Rusney Castillo with a pitch. He struck out Bryce Brentz, but then allowed a bases-clearning double to Dan Butler, ruining Pineda's shutout. After Rogers walked Weeks, he was taken out. Adam Warren came in and proceeded to allow a double to Mookie Betts. That scored another two runs and suddenly it  was 9-5. Ryan Lavarnway then grounded out to finally end the inning. Warren would come back out for the eighth inning, which went much more smoothly.

After the Yankees went down in order in the top of the ninth, David Phelps came out to pitch the ninth. Phelps pitched an easy 1-2-3 inning to finish off a 9-5 win for the Yankees.

And with that, the 2014 New York Yankees' season is over. The Yankees finish with a 84-78 record. And that also ends the illustrious career of Derek Jeter. It's been fun, Derek. We'll miss you.

Box score.

The Yankees captain finished his career sixth all-time in hits and second in games played at shortstop.

Derek Jeter ended his illustrious career with a single in his final at-bat, a third-inning infield hit to third base against the rival Boston Red Sox on Sunday at Fenway Park.

Jeter was the designated hitter on Sunday in Boston, playing two of the three games of the final series of his career. The New York Yankees superstar played his final home game on Thursday in The Bronx, delivering a walk-off single in his final game at shortstop.

Now that Jeter is done, his statistics accumulated throughout his 20-year Hall of Fame career are finalized. Jeter ended his career hitting .310/.377/.440, and his Yankees teams won 1,627 of his 2,747 games played, a .592 winning percentage.

Here is where Jeter ranks on various baseball all-time lists:

3,465 hits - 6th all-time

2,595 singles - 5th

1,923 runs scored - 10th

1,311 RBI - tied for 104th

72 Wins Above Replacement - 58th

2,747 games played - 26th

2,674 games at shortstop - 2nd (just 35 behind Omar Vizquel)

12,602 plate appearances - 10th

11,195 at-bats - 7th

544 doubles - 30th

4,921 total bases - 21st

1,082 walks - 85th

358 stolen bases - 104th

Joe Girardi's team meeting on Thursday was ill-timed and pointless.

In case you missed it, Joe Girardi apparently held a team meeting on Thursday afternoon to address his frustrations with the team and the season. Although Girardi spoke out today and said the meeting was about expressing disappointment and laying out expectations for next year, numerous Yankees spoke anonymously to the press. They claimed that part of the meeting involved him chastising some players for being overweight and others for not being "hungry" enough. The whole thing sounds ridiculous for multiple reasons.

First of all, the timing was poor. The meeting took place the day after the Yankees were officially eliminated from playoff contention. Granted that he was talking about their chances up until the very last day, Girardi couldn't possibly have thought that this team was going to make the playoffs. He could not have been surprised that they were eliminated. The stars would have had to align for the Yankees to somehow get the second wild card. If he was going to have a meeting, it should have been held several weeks ago when the team possibly could have made some changes. Also, why do it on Derek Jeter's last day playing at Yankee Stadium? Not to mention that several of the players in attendance would have been prospects who have only been up since the roster expanded, and didn't contribute to the season.

I find it hard to believe that Girardi would call players out for being overweight. Especially because it's not like anyone pulled a Jesus Montero and showed up to spring training totally out of shape. Of course there are a few players who are carrying a bit extra, but is there anyone you can think of who realistically had a down year because they were overweight? If Girardi wanted to, he could have had private conversations with players to discuss those kinds of concerns. No need to very obviously call anyone out in front of their teammates when it was too late for the players to do anything about conditioning.

Finally, the argument that anyone on the team was not "hungry" enough is absurd. Mark Teixeira may not have played well or stayed healthy, but you can't say that he didn't want to win, or wasn't trying hard (aside from the refusing to try to beat the shift thing). The man got a THIRD cortisone shot in his wrist just to play the remaining five games of the season. Carlos Beltran got four cortisone shots to try and postpone elbow surgery for as long as possible so that he could keep playing. Were these the best decisions? Probably not. You could argue that the team might have been better with these guys not attempting to play injured, but you can't say they weren't doing everything possible to play. There were also players like Brian McCann, who publicly acknowledged that they were struggling and their frustration with themselves. Who on the team wasn't playing hard? Who didn't want to win?

The Yankees didn't make the playoffs because the offense was atrocious. Several players had the worst seasons of their careers. The lineup featured a lot of old guys, who just aren't capable of putting up the same numbers that they used to. There were quite a few injuries. The Yankees didn't miss the playoffs because Stephen Drew lacked the motivation to hit the ball, or because Beltran would have chased down more balls in right field had he been five pounds lighter, or because Shawn Kelley didn't care about winning a World Series ring.

It's incredibly scary, but we should be excited for the next era of the New York Yankees.

Derek Jeter's walk-off hit was a neat and clean close to the end of an era for Yankees baseball. The Core Four, The Dynasty, the nostalgic memories of playoff heroics; it's all gone. Those memories are no longer living entities that we can watch, day in and day out. This era is now a relic that will sit in a museum for our children to ogle at like we did for Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle; we stared at them like the ruins of an ancient city. A Golden Age.

The good thing about Golden Ages, though, is that they ebb and flow. Rome eventually fell, but new great cities and civilizations grew out of the ashes to take its place. And so it goes with the Yankees. As Yankees fans, we may feel we are staring out over the precipice of eternity, looking at a bleak future, but I am telling you, fellow fans: the future is exciting.

I won't sugarcoat this, though. There will be tough years, tougher than this one. I hope we don't have to endure what Kansas City Royals fans have had to go through, but there will be years to forget. With the increasing parity in the league, there's no way that this team can stay on top forever. I doubt they have it in them for the type of postseason run they had from 1995-2012 anytime soon. But that isn't a bad thing at all.

Lucky for all fans, the business of baseball–and of the Yankees for that matter–has changed. It's clear that this team cannot succeed on spending alone, which is why there has been an increased emphasis on player development and creative roster moves/trades in the past few years. We've seen how invigorating it has been as a fan to watch the likes of Luis Severino, Eric Jagielo, and Aaron Judge climb up through the system, and there will be many more to get excited about. Most will fail, but a few will trickle through to give us more great Yankees moments. We've seen flashes of that this year with Dellin Betances and Shane Greene, and there will obviously be more.

Although money has not given the team the clear advantage it once did, the Steinbrenner's are willing to spend to make the team better, and I doubt that will change for a long time. As long as the team has needs, they will be willing to put down large sums of money to get what they need. With many of the stars of the 2009 World Series team coming off the books in a couple of years, I'm sure they will fill those voids too, for better or worse. It may make some fans uncomfortable, but large contracts will always be present. Hopefully, though, the organization signs the deals that make the most sense.

I don't know what the future will really hold, but the future will not be devoid of an enjoyable experience. We cling to the thoughts of Derek Jeter and the Core Four because it is what is familiar, what reminds us of a time when we were younger, and because it is what we know. And when this new era finally comes into form, we can look back on the Jeter Era fondly, hopefully one of many great epochs we will see in our lifetime.

New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia can help your team next year as a draft day bargain.

How could a star player like C.C.Sabathia be a sleeper going into the 2015 season? Because most people have written him off due to age, overuse, poor performance and injury. It has been quite a while since Sabathia was a true fantasy asset. He spent most of this season on the disabled list, and when he did play he was awful. He had a 3-4 record with a 5.28 ERA in 46 innings before being shut down for the season after only 8 starts. Last year in 2013 he pitched a full season but had a poor statistical showing with a 14-13 record and woeful 4.78 ERA.

Before his recent downturn Sabathia was one of the most elite pitchers in baseball for more than a decade. He anchored many championship-caliber fantasy rotations by averaging close to 20 Wins and 200 strikeouts per season with ERAs near 3.00 when that was a rare thing. But does it really matter how good he used to be? Is there any reason to believe he can be that good again? I say yes and I will tell you why.

While Sabathia's 2014 fantasy stats look terrible, if you dig a little deeper you can see he actually pitched quite well. His 5.28 ERA was awful, but his 3.11 xFIP was really good and so was his 3.07 SIERA. We know that xFIP and SIERA are much more accurate at predicting future ERA than ERA itself is. That means C.C.'s 2015 ERA will probably be closer to 3.00 than 5.00. Sabathia struck out 9.39 batters per nine innings this year, which is by far the best ratio of his illustrious career. Not only that, his 1.96 BB/9 is also one of the best of his career. Knowing that makes it no surprise that Sabathia's critically important K%-BB% of 18.2% was much better than his career K%-BB% rate of 13.6% (major league average is 12.7%). You can see a similar effect in 2013 when his xFIP and SIERA were a full run better than his 4.78 ERA. All of these advanced metrics indicate that despite the ugly numbers Sabathia actually pitched very well before he got hurt.

The poor ERA can be traced to a very unlucky .350 BABIP and flukishly high 1.96 HR/9 home run rate, neither of which are likely to continue given that they are much worse than his career rates. In other words, his bad 2014 numbers were due to bad luck. The small sample size of 46 innings is another factor to consider. Should we really believe that Sabathia is washed up because he had a bad ERA in an 8 game sample? No, we shouldn't.

The injury that cost Sabathia the season was a knee injury, not an arm injury. That is a good sign. The knee has been healing and he is now back throwing again. Knee injuries can linger and cause problems long term, but it is a much lesser concern than an elbow or shoulder injury would be. Given an offseason to heal there is a very good chance that Sabathia will be back to full health at the beginning of next season.

Although Sabathia has been around forever he is still not truly old. He broke into the big leagues when he was 20 in 2001. He will be 34 years old next season. That is not young but it is not ancient either. There is no reason to think he won't be a quality starting pitcher for a few more years. Sabathia has been a bulldog on the mound his entire career, averaging well over 200 innings per season. This was the first year that he has missed any real time due to injury - and it was not an arm injury. The odds say that Sabathia will likely throw 200 innings again next year.

This presents the savvy fantasy baseball player a real opportunity in drafts next Spring. Due to Sabathia's artificially poor stats the last couple years along with his injury he is likely to be severely underrated on most rankings lists and will make a very enticing sleeper pick in the later rounds of drafts. Fantasy drafts are not won in the early rounds. Anyone can make good picks in the early rounds. The later rounds are where smart team owners make the picks that win their leagues. If you can get 10^th round quality in the 18^th round it makes a much bigger difference than snagging 1^st round value in the 2^nd round. I don't think Sabathia will be a Cy Young contender who will win your league by himself, but he will be a strong contributor to your rotation and can be obtained for practically nothing. When your leaguemates are drafting low-upside rotation filler like Alfredo Simon, Dillon Gee, Edinson Volquez and Kyle Lohse you should take potential Comeback Player of the Year CC Sabathia instead.

Nick Markakis, Chris Tillman, and Zach Britton help make the last week of the 2014 season memorable.

Results

The Orioles went 3-4 against New York, Boston, and Toronto. That's not a surprise considering they scored 24 runs and allowed 28.

Standings

The Orioles finish the regular season at 96-66, first place in the AL East by 12 games over the Yankees.

Best Hitter / Worst Hitter

Only three hitters played enough to qualify this week, but Nick Markakis dominated them all. He hit .381/.500/.714 with two bombs for an eye-popping wRC+ of 236.  Talk about finishing the season on a strong note! Adam Jones also two dingers, but otherwise he hit .192/.192/.432 to notch a 66 wRC+.

Best Start / Worst Start

Chris Tillman looked good in his final outing of the year. He pitched six innings in Toronto, struck out five, and didn't walk a batter or give up a home run. Tillman has really turned it around from the beginning of the year; in particular his walk rate dropped from 9.3% in the first half to 5.1% in the second half. His strikeout rate also jumped from 14.3% to 21.5%. That'll do. But this week's worst starter was once again Ubaldo Jimenez. I'm geting tired of writing his name in here! Thankfully I won't have to anymore this year. In five innings against New York, he walked three and struck out three. He didn't give up any home runs, thankfully.

Clutch PA of the Week

You probably remember this one. On September 25th, the Orioles were in Yankee stadium, down 5-4 in the top of the 9th and facing David Robertston. Adam Jones had just injected some life back into the game with a two-run shot. That's when the man, the myth, the legend, Steve Pearce strode to the plate and whacked the first pitch he saw to deep left field. Watching the MASN broadcast, I didn't initially think it was going to leave the field. But it did, and all of a sudden it was a tie game at 5. The Orioles would lose the game on a walkoff hit by Calm Eyes Jeter, but he only got that opportunity because Pearce played hero.

Clutch Relief Appearance of the Week

This week's clutch relief appearance was a regular ol' one-run save by Zach Britton. It happened yesterday, the last day of the season, in Toronto when the Orioles entered the bottom of the 9th leading 1-0. Edwin Encarnacion singled to start the inning and was replaced by Juan Francisco. It didn't matter, as Danny Valencia lined out to Steve Pearce, who then slapped the tag on Francisco who was trying to return to first. After that, all it took was a Dalton Pompey strikeout to end the game and the 2014 regular season.

Upcoming Week

The Orioles host the Detroit Tigers in the AL Division Series that starts on Thursday. Chris Tillman takes the ball for the Orioles; the Tigers' starter has not been announced yet. I'm guessing it will be Max Scherzer, as David Price pitched on Sunday.

Your Moment of Zen

The day of reckoning has arrived. Test your knowledge of this record-breaking team!

Last year, I decided to tackle the masochistic task of creating the 2013 Yankees Sporcle Quiz. They had set a record with 56 players used, and the names littered across the roster could only cause pain with each entry.

Reid Brignac. /smack to the face/

Mike Zagurski. /gut-punch/

Travis Hafner. /Humbler-fired baseball to the head/

Most of those names are fortunately gone, but that did not stop the Yankees from defying the odds and breaking the very record they just set last season. This year, the Yankees went through 58 players, which while not quite as ludicrous as the injury-ravaged Rangers' mark of 64 was still pretty brutal to handle. There were 26 position players and 32 pitchers to take the field for the 2014 Yankees and join the ranks of Chicken Hawks and Colter Bean in Yankee lore.

If you can name them, you will be both impressive and alarming. Regardless, take the challenge and share your results in the comments afterwards! We made it through a season of these guys; now, let's bond over the obscurity of the Lance Pendletons of the world.

Come with us as we discover that in the infinite medium of the internet, some people have found a way to waste space.

Derek Jeter had an awful 2014 season; so awful that his announced exit from the game was celebrated by one and all.

Writing about Derek Jeter this season became not a cliche, but its own sub genre of sports writing. Flowery prose and childlike awe flowed from the keyboards of old white men who, on other days, would come down on players like Yasiel Puig or Bryce Harper for playing with too much brashness.

Whatever the intersection is of qualities in a baseball player that would make an analyst want to buy and wear matching jackets with him, Jeter found it. No one else has. No one else in the history of the sport in its modern age - other than Mariano Rivera - has received such ludicrous universal appeal and lavish, juvenile praise from "objective" industry professionals.

Let's just look at the quintessential example of Jeter-love from this season: Rick Reilly's bizarre, poorly written letter to Jeter's unborn children*. There is no better evidence that this had branched into its own area. A trend emerged, Rick Reilly saw it, and, as is his formula, decided he was going to out-crazy everybody. And he did, with gusto:

"He was a kind of prince in baseball cleats, George Clooney in pinstripes, the guy every woman wanted to bring home to mom, and very few did. He was humble and handsome and yet hard to hate."

Let's ignore how little this legendary column has to do with baseball - More people probably now hate Derek Jeter because of this column specifically. It did the complete opposite of what Reilly intended, which was, presumably, to lodge himself so deep into Jeter's colon that he could become part of his posse by proxy.

I mean, it's not sports writing. It's not good writing. It's just stupid... dumb... crap. Who would read this, let alone enjoy it? It isn't even a column about a man's sperm - it is a column to a man's sperm, about the man whose sperm it is. Think about that. Think about Rick Reilly leaning down and speaking to Derek Jeter's balls about Derek Jeter while Jeter reads a magazine.

Jeter's impending retirement stretched the baseball writing industry so far out of baseball, people lost what loose grip they had on reality, and it made for a season of some of the best terrible writing we've ever seen.

*Think about reading that sentence as someone just learning of this phenomenon decades from now. Think about then discovering that it is in no way an exaggeration. This happened to us. Rick Reilly's Love Letter to Derek Jeter's Sperm HAPPENED TO US.

Jon Morosi, February 12:

The only way Jon Morosi could have been more gleeful in his celebrations of Jeter was if Jeter had been a Detroit Tiger.

Once Ken Griffey Jr. began to age, Jeter became the closest thing baseball had to Michael Jordan or LeBron James - a bona-fide celebrity, recognizable to people who did not follow the sport. Yes, part of it was that the Yankees drafted him.

In Jeter columns, you get paid by the noun. But this isn't some greenhorn's scrawl on how Jeter's talent is eclipsed only by his respect for the game. This is Jon Freaking Morosi, and he's going to ball up all the traditional terms reserved for Jeter and roll it through this column - talent! Integrity! Leadership! Charisma! Durability!

But that was where the luck stopped and talent, integrity, leadership, charisma and durability took over. Some 1,000 young men since Jeter in 1992 have had the same privilege of calling themselves a Yankees draft pick. Not one has outshone The Captain.

"In closing please, please can I come to your birthday party Derek? Please."

Ken Rosenthal, February 13:

Once Jeter decided to retire after the 2014 season, it would be one form of distraction or another. And rather than live a lie, continually telling reporters that he had not made a decision, Jeter chose to embrace the concept of a grand finale and all that it entailed.

Goodness me, poor Jeter, having to spend an entire baseball season living with the information that come the year's end, he'd be off to enjoy a life of unlimited money and free time. The burden. No, better play it safe and get peons to bow at his feet for eight months.

That, however, is a concern for another day; Jeter, more than ever, will live in the moment. Some will note that his send-off will dovetail nicely with Alex Rodriguez's season-long suspension; never again will Jeter need to face that distraction.

Bad, A-Rod! How dare you try to take this from Jeter! Terrorist!

Jeter never was one for hypotheticals, never one to focus on anything but the next game. Now, at times, he will take a deep breath, reflect upon his Hall of Fame career, even expose his softer side. But as long as he is healthy -- a big assumption, to be sure -- does anyone seriously expect he will be a lesser Derek Jeter?

One thing that did eventually die off during the season were the A-Rod references, even from noted A-rod shamer Jon Heyman, who we'll get to soon. But it was honestly kind of a bummer.

What's also interesting is that the answer to Rosenthal's rhetorical question here is "yes." Ken Rosenthal considered Jeter might be "a lesser Jeter," just a week later:

Ken Rosenthal, February 20:

I could think of only one thing Wednesday as Derek Jeter displayed the playful edge that he rarely shows publicly, but that his teammates adore:

Man, I hope he can still play.

Jon Heyman, February 12 and February 19:

Heyman is interesting because he can't talk about Jeter without also talking about Alex Rodriguez. Heyman adopted a bizarre, "shaming father" dynamic with A-Rod that needs very little to be triggered.

This was going to be a long year of Jeter-stroking from the outset, we knew that. But some writers felt like our preparedness was a challenge; that no matter how braced we were, they would find a way to get our eyes to roll so hard we'd all get migraines.

Heyman was the early leader, citing Jeter not for his talent or heroism or sexiness, but for the fact that he always managed to keep a low profile - a profile impregnated by the very media reporting on him nonstop, every day. His headline here even has the phrase "without a fuss," as if Heyman and the gang would ever miss a chance to make a fuss over Derek Jeter.

"Yankees great goes out his way - without a fuss."

Yankees great Derek Jeter

‘Derek Jeter is on the Yankees and great... I must figure out a way to convey this to the people,' Jon Heyman thought as the barista sighed and shook her head at the huge line forming behind him.

"held his retirement press conference in the free standing hall adjacent to George M. Steinbrenner Field that will likely forever be known, at least to the writers, as "The A-Rod Pavilion." It's where the great Jeter's frenemy Alex Rodriguez first told us about "Boli," the "loosey goosey days" of Texas and his cousin the culprit.

...

The Yankee employee who whispered to me afterward, "Man, wasn't that boring?" misses the point. That is practically the goal!"

"Hey Derek, that one guy said you were boring, but not me! Look I wrote a column all about how little you want attention! Derek! DEREK!! DEREK YOU CAN BE MY SURROGATE SON OR FATHER I DON'T CARE WHICH."

In keeping with secondary goal to winning of not creating a fuss, he staged a press conference to upstage no one, including A-Rod, who, by the way, couldn't make it this time.

"Because he's grounded."

MLB.com, April 2:

The meaning of this was not lost on Bo Porter's Astros, most of whom popped out of the dugout -- and the bullpen, all the way down in center field -- to stand and applaud the iconic shortstop. Appreciative fans added to the moment, prompting Jeter to tip his helmet in acknowledgement, a nice gesture for No. 2, poetically, on Game No. 2 of the season.

Clearly, all along, Jeter planned to play in the second game of the season, since it corresponds with his number. What a brilliant, perfect man.

New York Daily News, April 2:

Jeter finished the night 1-for-3 with a run scored. He clocked a trademark opposite-field single in the eighth inning, sparking a late rally that came up well short.

In these two lines, Jeter is credited with starting a rally brought the Yankees within five runs of victory. Five! That's a helluva spark!

Richard Justice, April 7:

For Jeter, though, it has been a 20-year love affair. He's the guy who did every single thing right from the beginning, representing the franchise better than arguably anyone ever.

"...better than arguably anyone ever," the adult man wrote, finishing his third grade book report.

MLB.com, April 7:

Derek Jeter took a few loping steps out of the batter's box, seeming to allow himself a little extra time to take in his final home opener at Yankee Stadium. Why not? The sweet crack of barrel meeting ball had provided the captain with that luxury.

For me, this is it. This is the most awful, obnoxious form of Jetery to come out of the season. I thought so at the time it, then remembered it was not only April, but early April. But here we are at the end of September and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com has not been topped.

• "Derek Jeter took a few loping steps out of the batter's box, seeming to allow himself a little extra time to take in his final home opener at Yankee Stadium"
• "Why not?"
• "the sweet crack of barrel meeting ball"

This one really sticks out as it was written within days of Yasiel Puig getting chastised by every insulted old man for not hustling out of the box on what Puig had believed to be a home run ball that bounced off the fence instead of going over it. Oh, how they blistering hot takes flowed - Puig was everything that was wrong with the game. All he needed was a sabermetrics reference to be Baseball Satan.

Then, Jeter does it, and waddya know, the guy was just giving himself another memory to have as he sunbathed on a private yacht floating on a sea of Gatorade. What a talented, integral, charismatic, durable man.

CBS New York, April 7:

Derek Jeter will be reunited with the other three members of the iconic "Core Four" - Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera - when he opens up Yankee Stadium for the final time in his career on Monday.

In other words, get the tissues ready.

Eww.

Business Week, April 18:

Jeter's longevity is remarkable in the world of pro sports, but his loyalty to a single franchise is even more unusual in the modern era. As far as active Major League Baseball players go, nobody comes close to Jeter in his tenure with a single team.

You can't imagine the challenge that comes with not leaving the richest team in the league while it throws infinite money at you from a bottomless purse.

"I think I'll test the waters of free agency," said many free agents during Jeter's career, in hopes that the Yankees will sign them.

Jeter was old in 2014, his actual baseball play wasn't good, he couldn't get to the ball, etc. So somebody found a way to make not moving into a stunning personal trait. Well done.

NJ.com, April 25:

Jeter said he was in the dark through most of the process before Pineda was thrown out. He didn't know why Red Sox manager John Farrell was conferring with umpire Gerry Davis. Didn't know why Davis began to approach the mound.

"I didn't know what was happening at first," said Jeter, who went 2-for-5 as the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 14-5, Thursday night. "I was at (shortstop). I couldn't see anything. When the umpires started to come out, I thought they were checking the count or something. I really had no clue."

But after walking to the mound and seeing Pineda's pine-tar stained neck up close, it all started to make sense, Jeter said.

Imagine the chaos in the Yankees dugout as Jeter raced from coach to coach, tugging on their sleeves, tears streaming down his face. "Coach, coach! What's goin' on?! Is Michael okay?!"

The world had turned upside down. One minute, Michael Pineda was just a normal pitcher with a weird splotch on his arm. The next, he was calmly walking off the field for having pine tar on his arm. And all Derek Jeter could do was watch.

What if I told you... a Hall of Fame career doesn't always get you answers.

ESPN presents... 30 for 30: Derek Jeter Didn't Know Why Michael Pineda was Getting Thrown Out of a Game at First, but Then Figured it Out Like Everyone Else.

Richard Justice, April 25:

As we focused on Jeter, Beltran, McCann, etc., we are allowed to fit into the clubhouse and get comfortable in their new setting.

...

Jeter reminded reporters that there's a long way to go and that there might be some more strange stuff happen.

"But don't worry, I'll protect you every step of the way. No strange stuff is going to hurt my beat wri-no. My friends."

The Seattle Times, June 10:

"The last thing Derek Jeter needs is another flowery tribute from me, or anyone else.

...

...

...

...

Buuuuuuuuuuttttt...

But that doesn't mean he's not worthy of bountiful respect, admiration and, heck, even a little gushing as he takes his farewell tour around the majors. Because Jeter was indeed a spectacular ballplayer even without embellishment. And he has been a towering figure of grace and dignity for 20 years.

Aaaaaahhh

Wall Street Journal, June 26

This didn't need to exist, and you know that, photo editor of the Wall Street Journal. You know that.

via si.wsj.net

FOX Sports, July 9

"It might be his final Major-League season, but as 40-year-old Derek Jeter continues his retirement tour, the cagey captain wants everyone to know that he's still got a few tricks up his sleeve.

Unfortunately for Jason Kipnis, Monday night's Indians-Yankees game provided the perfect opportunity for Jeter to school the young Tribe second baseman."

Hey, young rapscallion, how dare you have the audacity to think you can outrun Derek Jeter's highly touted defense, which is never cited as one of his oft-ignored or excused glaring weaknesses!

Truly, this was another example of the veteran Jeter, using that crafty, wily side that only he, in his final season, has.

MLB.com, September 6

Finally, on the sixth of September the day arrived on which he could finally honor Derek Jeter. The Yankees scheduled Derek Jeter Day on a Sunday in September, weeks away from his final home game at Yankee Stadium and his final game ever at Fenway Park, probably so those could be turned into two different national holidays as well.

But wait! What if Jeter, a man who would never do so, chose to take himself out of his final games?!?

Jeter plans to play in final games at Fenway Park

Sitting out after conclusion of home schedule goes against captain's persona

Oh, thank goodness.

Headline in an alternate dimension:

Jeter to sit out final games at Fenway Park

Fans agree, best shortstop ever has earned a break, also has a nice smile

Jamal Collier, MLB.com, September 5:

Jeter said he will likely not allow himself to think about the ceremony until he is driving toward the stadium on Sunday. He does not plan to speak to any of his old teammates or manager Joe Torre, who was honored a few weeks ago at Yankee Stadium, about what to expect.

Jeter hasn't been answering his phone, just in case greatness is calling. Jeter is so humble that he refuses to look his family and friends in the eye when he talks to them on the off chance that they are trying to honor him in some way. Jeter doesn't check his email because there's far too great a risk that his inbox will be full of a few new chapter of Rick Reilly-penned fan fiction about two best friends going on an adventure. Jeter has been living up in the mountains, living on squirreled-away dry goods and whatever meat he can catch with his hands, driving an eight-hour nightly commute to Yankee Stadium.

Lindsay Berra, Sports on Earth, September 6:

I don't know much of Berra's work, but I do know that she insinuated that baseball writers don't love Derek Jeter, a thought so incorrect that it probably brought Jon Heyman to tears - after all this time, what if Jeter doesn't know that they love him?

Writers like players who are accessible, who open their lives to them and become their pals. But Jeter has stayed above the fray by keeping to himself.

I know this is a little "risque" to suggest, but I think that writers like Derek Jeter just fine. How dare you suggest otherwise. This is a very sensitive time for everyone - We're about to lose Derek Jeter forever. It's like a family member dying, but worse.

NJ.com, August 5:

Derek Jeter had a facial reaction to Ezequiel Carrera's catch on a Jacoby Ellsbury fly ball.

The cameras, as they hadn't left him all year, were on Jeter. Actually, we're lucky one of them was on Carrera because it was a spectacular catch.

New York Post, August 10:

And we're just going off the rails here. The Post made a story out of Jeter doing what he - and countless players, better and worse than him - have done probably since baseball's inception. But Jeter is Jeter. So instead of just "hey, that was nice," we get a story about a baby receiving a baseball from Jeter and becoming the chosen one, with a weird left turn into a narrative of a young boy's heart being broken.

The captain spotted a baby clad in a Yankees T-shirt, and much to the dismay of a young boy who believed the intangibles-made-sentient legend was angling in his direction, Jeter handed the ball to the slighty confused but happy tot.

You have to feel for the young fella, whose mood must have taken the same course as a 12-to-six curve - from sheer ecstasy as his hero approaches to utter heartbreak as Jeter never meets his gaze.

Seriously this article exists on the off chance that that baby grows up and one day does a stupid little flip move to nail somebody at the plate in the MLB playoffs and they can link back to this post and use the phrase "touched by greatness."

KISS, the band, September 12:

Things were obviously going to intensify as those put off by Reilly's centerpoint of the Jeter-bating universe began penning their own offerings to orbit it. As they did, Jeter got a message from a '70s rock band that hasn't been a relevant rock band during Jeter's career, at all.

"Hey, Derek, congratulations on 20 great years in pinstripes. You're a powerful and attractive man!"

MLB.com, September 22:

This

MLB.com, September 23:

John Sterling has called some of Jeter's most amazing moments, and you know how he feels about it? Miserable, bitter, and unfullfilled. He stares up at the ceiling at night, clenching his fists and worrying his wife. He fantasizes about the earth opening up at shortstop in Yankee Stadium and the baseball icon being swallowed by demon hands. Ha ha ha - yes, that would be splendid. Then Joe Girardi would scratch his head.

"Well now I need a gosh dang shortstop!" he'd exclaim. Slowly, he'd crane his head up to the booth to a waiting John Sterling.

"And I think I know just where to look," Girardi would finish in a rascal's whisper.

Sterling would reach down for the glove he kept under his desk for just this occasion. "I won't let you down, skip!"

"No more than Jeter did by getting taken by underworldlings!" Giradi would say, and they'd share a laugh.

Just kidding. Sterling feels "fortunate."

Bill Madden, New York Daily News, September 27:

"HOW DARE," this headline actually begins, "THE SABERMETRICS CROWD," it hilariously continues, "AND OTHERS," it goes on, insinuating that people in the sabermetrics crowd have friends, which is the highest compliment a stats-decryer has ever accidentally given the SABR crowd, "TRY TO DIMINISH YANKEES CAPTAIN DEREK JETER'S GREATNESS."

"There are always going to be the contrarians eager to tear down and diminish our sports icons because that's what these people love to do..."

Just as there will always be grumpy-puss sports writers to act like there is some kind of secret war going on that poses an actual threat to anything that really matters. Because some people look at a different set of numbers than others when talking about baseball, a game that children play.

Jon Morosi, September 28:

Guys, I forgot I had Morosi blocked and muted on Twitter until this somehow came across my path. I don't know how it did. We're complete strangers and I have a barrier between us in the only forum in which we could interact.

And yet, when Morosi feels like he has a thought like this too good for his own brain, it still finds a way to get to me.

For Derek Jeter's final at-bat, the catcher wore #3. After, he shook hands with a first baseman wearing #5. Numbers of Ruth and DiMaggio.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) September 28, 2014

And as the ewoks danced, Jeter looked to his right and saw the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio and Hayden Christensen all nodding in silent approval.

CHILLS.

Epilogue

Look, there were more entries. Worse ones. I may have missed a few. This was an exhausting, completely thankless, purposeless field study. I may add a few. But the point is this: With Jeter retiring, the next great player to announce his final season and then go on a season-long orgy across our great nation won't likely be a Yankee, or at least not a Yankee lifer.

Maybe if they steal Trout in free agency, and we'll get to see all these same writers finally giving him MVP votes and swearing that it wasn't until the Yankees saved him from the Angels that his career really started. I can honestly see that.

Enjoy your offseason. Unlike Jeter's, it won't last forever.

What's that? Oh it's Derek Jeter to coach the 2015 Minnesota Twins! This is why he retired!

— Zak (@Fleetwoodzak) September 29, 2014

In the first edition of a new series, we find out what the PSA staff (and you) would have done differently in 2014.

The 2014 New York Yankees weren't exactly what everyone was hoping they'd be. They wound up performing right around where the projections had them, but many were hoping the additions they made in the off-season would help the Yankees get back into the playoffs. But here were are with the playoffs set and the Yankees not in them. While some things that went wrong were out of the Yankees' control, there are things they could've done differently. Some that, at the very least, might've helped get the Yankees a little closer. I thought I'd ask the PSA staff what their suggestions to improve the 2014 Yankees would've been.

Aside from the obvious (ie: Move Derek Jeter down in the lineup, dump Brian Roberts for Rob Refsnyder, win more), what would you have liked the Yankees to do in 2014 that they didn't?

Arun: I assume keep Robinson Cano in the off-season counts as absurdly obvious? I would have liked to have seen the Yankees extend David Robertson by now. The team is running out of homegrown stars, and aside from Brett Gardner, D-Rob is all the Yankees have. Plus it would keep the bullpen as an area of strength even before reinforcements like the Strikeout Factory get to the big-leagues.

Winning in 2014 was always going to be a long-shot with the current roster but it's not going to help the 2015 roster if Robertson is allowed to walk. Even if the qualifying offer will allow the Yankees to mitigate the damage with a draft pick.

Greg: I would have loved for them to announce that they were going to demolish the Mohegan Sun Sports Zone and instead make that entire area a much more beautiful Monument Park. As for what the team could've done to improve? Fire Rob Thomson.

John: I think the Yankees did all they could to win with the talent they had. It didn't work out, and that sucks, and it sucks that they were in a position without more talent, but that's what happens when you spend several years not adding the most expensive, potentially major league ready talent (Puig, Cepedes, Darvish, Abreu, Soler, etc.). What if the Yankees had signed Nelson Cruz instead of Carlos Beltran this off-season? Replace Beltran's 109 games of .233/.301/.402 with Cruz's 157 games of .273/.336/.527, would that have been enough to win the balance in the Yankees five 1-run losses to the Orioles this season? How many more wins might the Yankees have improved on their 27-24 record in 1-run games?

Doug: I would've liked to have seen them acquire a right handed OF with power.

Andrew: They really should have gone into 2014 with a better plan for infield backup than "Kelly Johnson and a cast of characters." With the injury questions surrounding Mark Teixeira's wrist, a better reserve first baseman was needed, and counting on Kelly Johnson to cover third base was a shaky plan, too. They lucked out by having Yangervis Solarte play out of his mind for a couple months, but once that faded, it was pretty ugly until they got Chase Headley.

Shaun: There are a lot of things I would have liked this year's squad to do, but keeping Rob Thomson chained up like Hannibal Lecter would be priority number one. In a year full of frustrations, the base-running ranked among worst offenders. The 2014 Yankee team has had a hard enough time scoring runs, they did not need Thomson helping that effort by getting men thrown out home. The other thing I would have done differently is cut down on the shifting. I have no problem the principle behind it, but the Yankees do it entirely too much and seemingly without much thought beyond handedness. This may be my subjective view, but the team seems to only shift to the pull side, regardless as to whether or not the opposing batter is a pull hitter, or opposite field/up-the-middle hitter. I am also not a fan of shifting when there are men on base, which is something the Yankees have done far too often this year, in my opinion.

Harlan: The Yankees pretty much made their bed this year with their scattershot off-season, so once things got underway there wasn't much they could have done differently. When it was clear the playoffs weren't going to happen though, they could have tried a little harder to get some significant MLB game experience for guys like Jose Pirela and Refsnyder, Tyler Webb, Bryan Mitchell...maybe Ramon Flores. There was no reason for Stephen Drew and Ichiro Suzuki to start 20 and 19 games in September respectively, or for Chris Capuano to get five starts.

Chris: I think the Yankees really shot themselves in the foot this year by not having a legitimate backup first baseman on the roster. Coming off of wrist surgery, Mark Teixeira was an obvious injury risk heading into the year, and unsurprisingly, he ended up missing 39 games with various ailments. Far too much of that missed playing time fell to guys like Kelly Johnson, Brian McCann, and Francisco Cervelli, who were decidedly awful on both sides of the ball. That trio hit a paltry .144/.302/.317 across 153 PA's at 1B, and made some questionable defense as well. The Yankees probably could have added another win or two their ledger simply by carrying a capable 1B on their bench.

Bryan: I believe the Yankees should have of course tried out some of their younger players earlier in the year. Perhaps in August, the Yankees should have brought up some guys if only to simply jump start this team and inject some youth into this team. Joe Girardi reportedly held a team meeting a few days before the season was to end and he sent a message that some players weren't "hungry enough." That speaks volumes and calling up some eager young players might have helped this team in the remaining few months.

Tanya: I thought the Yankees could have given some prospects they might be interested in using next year a shot at the end of the season instead of continuing to play Stephen Drew and the like. It might have been a good chance to see what they have and what they need instead of going into the off-season blind.

Michael: I would have liked to see John Ryan Murphy traded. I think he's at least a MLB-caliber backup as is, and keeping him at AAA for much of the year seems kind of pointless at this juncture. When a deal wasn't made regarding their catching depth in the off-season, I assumed a trade would come about during the season. But the season's over and the team's catching depth remains in a holding pattern.

Matt P.: To be honest, there wasn't much Brian Cashman could have done to make this team better, and he did everything in his power to not have the team look like a total disgrace. If you consider the fact they were outscored via run differential and they made some amazing trade deadline deals, the Opening Day roster was almost a 72-75 win team. The one thing that really bugged me, though, was having Mark Teixeira go solo at first base. He was coming off of major wrist surgery and he had made it clear that he wasn't going to be at full strength, so there was no reason to try to cart him out there. The improvement would have been modest (or even zero-sum or negative), but the Yankees should have gone into Opening Day with a backup option. Even if it was some flurry of minor league signings, that would have been better than hoping Teixeira would be good, because he was not.

Matt F.: Since everyone else has mentioned sensible answers, I thought I'd go for some suggestions that probably wouldn't have helped. But they would've amused you. I think when it started to be clear near the end the season that the Yankees were going to miss the playoffs, they should've experimented more. And not just "play the kids experiment", actually experiment. Send Stephen Drew out to play second base on bath salts. Play a live goat in right field. Have Mark Teixeira play an entire game in a full chicken suit. Other than Derek Jeter, this team wasn't particularly fun to watch down the stretch. A giant, yellow, feathered Tex fighting off a goat for a ground ball that went into short right field while Drew tries to bite both their faces off would've been interesting at the very least.

Now that you've heard our answers, it's your turn. What do you think the Yankees should've done differently in 2014?

Marvin Lewis used the pregame speech Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter gave to the AL ALl-Stars this summer prior to the MLB All-Star Game.

Marvin Lewis knows a thing or two when it comes to motivational speeches. The Bengals head coach has given plenty of them over his 12 years in Cincinnati, but he also knows sometimes it's good to hear someone else's voice to motivate his players.

That was the case this summer while the Bengals were getting prepared for the upcoming season. Peter King wrote in his MMQB column that Lewis used the pregame speech Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter gave to the AL All-Stars this summer prior to the MLB All-Star Game.

"I played his talk to the team prior to the All-Star Game for our guys this summer. A great message: ‘Never take anything for granted.’ "

Here's the actual speech Jeter gave.

"It's an honor and a privilege to be here," Jeter said. "To the guys and the younger guys who are getting the opportunity to come to their first, enjoy it. Because I can tell you firsthand, this is a fun experience. You should share it with your families, your friends -- remember it. You don't know how many of these you're going to get an opportunity to play in. And, more importantly, remember that every time you put your uniform on because, trust me, it goes by quickly."

Reviewing Alex Kantecki's bold predictions for 2014. Warning: They are not good.

It's in the fantasy baseball writer's unwritten rules that if you write 10 bold predictions, you must review your horrible, no good picks after the season concludes. I couldn't resist the temptation to make foolish predictions, too, so here I am to review just how stupid I am or was.

1. Ian Kinsler finishes as the No. 1 second baseman.

Not a bad start. Even though Kinsler finished fourth at the keystone, according to the ESPN Player Rater, he made good in a bounce-back season, while also making the Rangers look even dumber for taking on Prince Fielder's contract. It took him until Game 162, but Kinsler hit the 100-run plateau while adding 17 home runs, 92 RBIs and 15 steals -- all with a solid .275 BA.  I bought into Robinson Cano's fantasy decline in Seattle, and I stayed far away from Jason Kipnis. Of course, I didn't see Jose Altuve coming. But he's just so gosh darn small, can you blame me?

My preseason prediction for Kinsler:

Batting leadoff in a strong Tigers' lineup, 100-plus runs are attainable. He's only three years removed from 32 long balls, and I wouldn't put it past Detroit's new keystone to approach 25 home runs with 15-20 steals.

So, yeah, I was well off on the home runs, but everything else was pretty close.

Yay or Nay? Nay (0 for 1)

2. Junior Lake outperforms Khris Davis.

Hey, look! It's another stupid Cubs prediction. This was more about me not believing in Krush than being a fan of Lake. Still, Davis clearly was the superior fantasy play.  The Brewers outfielder finished as a top-100 bat (and top-50 OF), but was inconsistent and finished with a .244 BA and 22 home runs. He hit only .239 against right-handed pitchers, however, and was pretty much what I thought he would be: a player who strikes out often and hits the occasional home run. Davis really tailed off in the second half, hitting .229 with seven home runs in 56 games. I'm not any more optimistic on Davis after seeing a full season.

Yay or Nay? Nay (0 for 2)

3. Fernando Rodney and John Axford combine for 70 saves.

I bought into Axford's strong finish to 2013, but once he left St. Louis I guess his throwing ability did, too. Never again. Rodney was just fine, however, never coming close to losing his gig in Seattle. He finished with a league-leading 48 saves and a sub-3.00 ERA, but his 1.34 WHIP dragged him down among the ranks of closers. Axford finished with 10 handshakes, so I was only 12 saves away.

Yay or Nay? Nay (0 for 3)

4. Wilson Ramos hits more home runs than Brian McCann.

When McCann signed with the Yankees, the love for the former Brave was deafening. The short porch made people say crazy things, like how McCann would absolutely hit 30 bombs in pinstripes. Well, he finished with 23 home runs -- one short of his career high -- in 140 games while hitting a career-worst .231. Ramos, however, only hit 11 taters and couldn't stay on the field (88 games). I remain confident that a full season of Ramos would bring 25ish home runs, but it's becoming harder and harder to see it happening. A strong showing in the postseason could really balloon his 2015 stock.

Yay or Nay? Nay (0 for 4)

5. Justin Morneau outperforms Brandon Belt.

This was perhaps the bold prediction I felt most confident in, and Morneau came through. Yes, Brandon Belt was injured most of the year, but I don't think he would have caught up to Morneau's fantastic year in Coors. He finished just outside the top-12 at first base with a .319 BA, 17 home runs, 62 runs and 82 RBIs. Belt, meanwhile, labored his way to .243 and 12 homers. Belt was overhyped, but he'll at least be a good value pick for next year.

Yay or Nay? Yay! (1 for 5)

6. Carlos Gomez goes 25/40 and scores 100 runs.

Gomez was a constant on my fake teams, but fell just short of my lofty expectations. The Brewers outfielder belted 23 home runs and added 34 steals and 95 runs while matching last year's total of 73 RBIs. It was another awesome year from Gomez, who finished No. 4 in the outfield. I think it's safe to say now: Gomez is for real.

Yay or Nay? Almost yay, but a nay (1 for 6)

7. Mike Olt outperforms Nick Castellanos.

Ha! A Cubs fan can dream, can't he? Next year, I'll have real Cubs prospects to make bold predictions on. As far as Castellanos goes, I was mildly disappointed. I expected much more in the batting average department (.259 BA), and his plate discipline in his rookie year wasn't encouraging (140 strikeouts and 36 walks in 148 games).  Still, he's a rookie, and I have high hopes for him going forward. He'll never mash it like Miggy, but Castellanos still has appeal in long-term formats.

Yay or Nay? So much nay (1 for 7)

8. Homer Bailey is the NL Central's best starting pitcher.

Ugh. I jumped on the Bailey train a year too late. He just couldn't find any consistency, finishing with a 3.71 ERA across 23 starts. That doesn't mean I won't take a chance on a discounted Bailey in 2015. His control wasn't as sharp and his strikeouts were down, but it's not like he was horrible. Bailey finished with a 3.53 xFIP and 3.60 SIERA. Next year, look for Bailey to find a middle ground between his 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Yay or Nay? Nay (1 for 8)

9. Alexei Ramirez finishes outside the top-20 shortstops.

ALEXEI!!! finished the year as the No. 4 shortstop, doing it all with a .273 BA, 82 runs, 15 home runs, 74 RBIs and 21 steals. I didn't expect the 33-year-old to keep running, nor did I his power returning to the mid-teens level. I was just flat out wrong on this one and didn't give Ramirez enough respect.

Yay or Nay? Nay (1 for 9)

10. Matt Adams outperforms Matt Holliday.

I really thought this one would come true, but a strong second-half push from Holliday put him over the top. The veteran outfielder finished with 20 home runs for the ninth straight season, belting 14 in the second half. He also added 83 runs and 90 RBIs. Adams finished with a batter batting average (.288 to .272), but that was about it. With Allen Craig struggling, Adams found 563 plate appearances, but simply didn't do enough with them. He hit 15 long balls (compared to 17 in 34 fewer games in 2013), and struggled down the stretch. After hitting .329 and 11 home runs in the first half, the husky first baseman batted .235 with four home runs after the All-Star break. It will be interesting to see how Mike Matheny uses Adams next year, considering he only hit .190 against southpaws.

Yay or Nay? Nay (1 for 10)

So there you have it. I converted one bold prediction out of 10, which is one worse than my showing in 2013. But you better believe I'll be back next year, foot in mouth.

Seriously, it's enough already.

Joe Girardi expects Alex Rodriguez to be back for the Yankees at third base in 2015 after a year-long suspension stemming from the Biogenesis scandal.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi "absolutely" expects Alex Rodriguez to play for the club in 2015, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. Major League Baseball suspended Rodriguez for the entire 2014 season following his involvement with the Biogenesis drug scandal.

Speaking at an end-of-the-season press conference Monday, Girardi said, "Do we expect him to be a player on our team? Absolutely. Do we expect him to play third base? Yes, [but] in fairness, we have to see where he is at."

Rodriguez will be removed from the restricted list once the World Series ends and will have three years and $61 million remaining on his contract. By mutual agreement, he kept a distance from the Yankees all season after the controversial legal battle a year ago. A three-time MVP winner, Rodriguez will turn 40 next July.

Asked if Rodriguez will be the team's starting third baseman, Girardi didn't commit to an answer, but did add that he "expects him to be our third baseman."

Without Rodriguez, the Yankees offense struggled throughout 2014, finishing 13th in the AL in runs scored, 14th in on-base percentage and 10th in slugging percentage. The Yankees scored fewer runs this year than they have in a single season since 1990.

Rodriguez hasn't played a full season since 2012, when he hit .272/.353/.430 with 18 home runs in 122 games. He did appear in 44 contests for the Yankees in 2013, batting .244/.348/.423 with seven homers in 181 plate appearances. The 20-year veteran sits just six home runs behind Willie Mays for fourth all-time on MLB's career list. Passing Mays would reportedly trigger a $6 million bonus in Rodriguez's contract.

Given his absence from the Yankees and baseball for a year, Rodriguez's return will surely be one of the game's biggest story lines next spring.

Jeter leaving a void, A-Rod's return, and off-season uncertainty

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: For the first time since 2003, the Yankees are likely to begin their season without an official captain.

NY Daily News | Anthony McCarron: Asked if returning to the Yankees was his first choice, David Robertson replied, "I’m not going to discuss that at all."

LoHud Yankees Blog | Chad Jennings: There are plenty of questions about the Yankees' future that need answers.

SI.com | Chris Mascaro: The Yankees are losing one superstar, but another will return in 2015.

CBSSports.com | Jon Heyman: Is Derek Jeter the greatest Yankee of all-time? No. Is Derek Jeter overrated? Heck no.

ESPNNewYork.com | Andrew Marchand: Brian Cashman's plan to map out Alex Rodriguez's 2015 return.

The Yankees are sending the wrong message to Chase Headley by saying that Alex Rodriguez will be their third baseman

Reuniting with Chase Headley next year makes a lot of sense. He won't be the best option out there with Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez hitting the free agent market at the same time, but he'll be more reasonable. The team is already constrained by massive contracts for declining veterans like CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, but Headley might be the right fit for the Yankees in 2015. It makes perfect sense to bring Headley back; the only complication is Alex Rodriguez. (of course!)

While Headley and the Yankees have yet to officially discuss a possible reunion, it seems that the third baseman is open to coming back. As long as the terms are favorable:

3B Chase Headley reiterated that he loved his time in NY, but wants to play every day, somewhere (1st/3rd/DH). W/ Arod back, could be tough.

— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) September 28, 2014

Despite having a lousy first half, he ended up hitting .262/.371/.398 with great defense at the hot corner and adding 2.7 WAR for the Yankees. It's definitely earned him the right to start naming his own terms. The problem is that it appears, maybe only in public, that they're welcoming Alex Rodriguez back with open arms and, worst of all, giving him the run of the yard:

Girardi expects A-Rod to be the Yankees' third baseman next season.

— Mark Feinsand (@FeinsandNYDN) September 29, 2014

Whether this is the organization's actual thoughts on the matter or just something to say publicly to downplay the drama, it's still the wrong thing to say. By essentially telling the world that A-Rod already has his spot locked up, it's going to discourage players from wanting to come to the Bronx. While Girardi did also say that they'd have to see how he does in spring training, that's still also far too late to be signing anyone anyway, so that part of the statement really doesn't matter. Declaring A-Rod the starting third baseman right now is only going to push Chase Headley, and any other free agents that could possibly fit the 3B/1B/DH niche, away because their playing time is going to be put at risk by a player that is making a lot more money than them. That will leave the Yankees in another situation where they'll have to rely on someone like Eric Chavez or Kevin Youkilis if they don't just go with Brendan Ryan as the backup third baseman.

The Yankees need Headley, they don't need a 39-year-old Alex Rodriguez who hasn't played a full season in years and didn't play over the last year. They should open their arms for potential additions and make Rodriguez an afterthought. Instead, it feels like the Yankees have already gotten off to a poor start in the 2014-2015 offseason, and while those comments might end up being meaningless in a few months, right now they speak volumes upon volumes to someone like Chase Headley.

Test your might. Kansas City Royals vs. Oakland Athletics. FIGHT!

Comments of the Day

I said people would get bonus points for Haiku responses. Elcruzter55 put in the extra credit effort, and thus wins himself a COTD award.

GIF of the Day

This GIF from yours truly wins the GOTD award. It's the proper response to how we should respond to the haters.

Honorable Mod Mention

Oh there's no doubt that Andrew has earned himself an HMM award with this. Bravo Andrew. Bravo

• Choose some other silly, hilarious way to determine which of the two wild card teams goes on to the division series
• Procrastination: On a scale or 1 to 10, how much do you procrastinate? (1 being lowest, 10 being highest)

As always, link us your song of the day!

The Yankees season is over with, but there's still baseball on. Tonight at 8PM EST, the Oakland Athletics will travel to Kaufmann Stadium to face the Kansas City Royals in a one game elimination match. The winner of this display of Mortal Kombat will go on to face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Outworld on Thursday. Do or die time. Who are you pulling for in this matchup tonight?

ROUND 1. FIGHT!

Still linking links. Hotly, of course.

The season is dead.

Long live the season.

John Fay kicked his keyboard into offseason mode this morning, turning in an entry for his groundbreaking new Enquirer blog Fay Blog that focused on Bryan Price and his first year as the manager of any club, let alone the Cincinnati Reds. Fay got some solid insight from Price, particularly about things he did in the second half that were different than at the start of the season.  It's difficult to pull the specifics of the season out and pair them with that statement, though, as it implies that he either used a player in a different role or even benched someone that didn't think they deserved it.  Who really got benched in the second half?  Ryan Ludwick?  Is he talking about moving Jay Bruce down in the order?  Skip's injury finally knocked him out of the lineup, so that wasn't a managerial feeling-hurting decision.  See if you can figure out what Price is speaking of, and hash it out in the comments.

Fay also chimed in yesterday with quotes from Price and GM Walt Jocketty about the failures of the 2014 team and what changes will be needed prior to the start of 2015. The biggest takeaway here, I think, is that Walt understands that the team needs upgrades and isn't willing to just sit back and let the injured players get healthy.  Sure, he's banking on that, too, but it doesn't appear to be the sole ingredient to his winter of GMing.  I think that got lost a bit on a lot of people when Walt was extended as the club's GM.  He's well aware of the failures of this season and keenly aware that a roster overhaul of some degree needs to happen; he wasn't brought back with the mindset that nothing was wrong and that a healthy status quo has 2015 primed for success.

Speaking of that roster, here's a handy listing of the current roster with each players' contract situation.

Have we been completely spoiled by having Aroldis Chapman around for a few years?  As Manny Randhawa noted for MLB.com, Chapman just turned in the most ridiculous season ever by a reliever, shattering record after record while striking out everyone he saw. Looking back on things, a bigger deal should've been made about that than has been, especially with the context of Chapman's horrific injury in Spring Training.  The Let Him Start campaign has long since faded, and while it will be one of the greatest mysteries of my life wondering what he could have been capable going every five days, it's worth noting that the way he's been handled by the Reds front office really should really be commended, too.  He's been ridiculous and ridiculously successful at what he's been asked to do, and it's going to make it really difficult to see him making $20 million a year as the Yankees closer in a few seasons.

In fact, Chapman faced 37 batters at least twice this season and struck out 31 of them at least once and 15 of them at least twice.Jordy Mercer went 0 for 6 with 6 Ks against Chapman, and Freddie Freeman, Gaby Sanchez, Justin Upton, Mike Morse, Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Jason Heyward, Justin Morneau, Anthony Rendon, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, and Andrew McCutchen combined to go 0 for 23 with 23 Ks.  It's all just deliciously ridiculous.

In other news, Ichiro has no plans to retire this offseason. Ichiro for LF/leadoff!

The MLB Playoffs Playoff plays off beginning tonight, as the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics will play each other after the season to determine who gets to actually play in what's actually called the postseason.  I think.  Big Game James Shields will take the hill for the Royals in their first after-the-season game since 1985, and he'll be opposed by Jon Lester of Oakland, which still seems weird to type.  Post-season-pre-postseason baseball that doesn't include the Reds is tough for some, but cathartic for others, and I'll certainly be watching.  I'm sure we'll have a thread up for the games at some point, too (/looks around, /shrugs shoulders).

Oh, look.  A-Rod isn't suspended anymore. I'm sure we won't hear much about that circus for the next godawful number of months.

Finally, this seems like something that could have happened to the Reds in 2014.

According to a team release, Carlos Beltran has finally undergone the elbow surgery he has needed for a majority of the season:

Earlier today at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Carlos Beltran underwent surgery to remove loose pieces and a bone spur from his right elbow. The surgery was performed by Yankees Head Team Physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad. Beltran can begin throwing and hitting in approximately six weeks and can begin playing in approximately 12 weeks.

This means that Beltran can begin baseball activities in the middle of November, and will be ready to return to the field sometime around Christmas. He'll then have over a month before he reports to spring training. It sounds like he'll have enough time to be ready for next season, but he's definitely cutting it close. If it were up to me, I probably would have had him get the surgery sometime earlier in September, just to ensure that he had enough time. Mark Teixeira said he had trouble staying healthy because he didn't have a full offseason to prepare after his wrist surgery. We can only hope that Beltran will be different.

Either way, it's nice to know that this has finally be taken care of and hopefully is behind him. The injury didn't seem to hurt his swing, but it did limit his value since he was incapable of playing right field for much of the season. It would be nice to see him rebound in 2015 because the Yankees will certainly need him to be healthy and effective over his last two years under contract if they want the signing to look like anything other than a disaster. A better Carlos Beltran could be essential if the team wants to make the playoffs again.