Have a little faith.
To keep it short; 2014 was a mess. There's no question about it, but at least there were some bright spots. And now with the 2015 baseball season on the horizon, how optimistic are you about it, if at all? Even with the current roster as it stands now, it is tough to see any huge, notable changes being made unless the Yankees want to spend big once again.The front office is banking on a lot of players bouncing back from below-average seasons, but these are the same players who will be another year older, and they will also be looking to return from injuries (Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, etc). It's possible that these three have a huge rebound season, but it's more likely that they don't. That doesn't exactly make us feel too fuzzy about 2015.
Next year is, of course, the return of Alex Rodriguez/A-Rod/The Centaur, and he will, without a doubt, get the majority of the media's attention. Don't look for this to be a distraction because this team is filled with veterans who have been through it all before. While a lot of people have their opinions, no one honestly has a clue what A-Rod will bring, if anything at all. A-Rod could be a liability with the glove and the bat and be a useless player clogging up a roster spot, or he could surprise us with a really solid season and not break apart. No one will know until he takes the field. Regardless, A-Rod will once again be a fascinating topic of discussion in 2015 which is reason enough to at least tune in.
Aside from a few moves that the Yankees will be sure to make this offseason, the 2015 ball club will mainly be the same faces and names so that might not be something to get too excited over. Of course, when the calendar turns to April it brings hope to every Major League team that anything is possible. I mean, look at what the Royals have accomplished. A lot of people have said that 2015 might be just as bad as 2014, or even worst, but I would advise Yankee fans to at least see the bright side of things and perhaps try to latch on to something more positive. A few weeks ago, Hal Steinbrenner did hint that the Yankees need to continue to improve player development, and he believes that players like Jacob Lindgren, Luis Severino, and Rob Refsnyder will be able to contribute next season. So at least a little bit of a youth movement is something to look forward to.
Even with massive injuries to their pitching staff and an awful offense, the Yankees did manage to stay in the thick of things until the last week of the season, so there is no reason to believe this team can't contend next year. The rest of the division will obviously aim to improve, but with such a long season, we should always be hopeful. We can also hope that perhaps this team is starting to stray away from big-time, risky contracts, and perhaps feel more confident in looking within their own system to fill some roles. Maybe we will see a Jose Pirela or a Tyler Austin playing a part on this team in 2015.
I've read multiple comments on plenty of sports websites that state "if the Yankees do this or don't do that, I am done being a Yankee fan." Real fans should support their team no matter what the Yankees do next season and we should always be excited and hopeful that things will go well.
What are your thoughts on the 2015 season? Are you optimistic about it? Not feeling great about it?