New York Yankees Owner Predicts World Series Championship

The New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made a bold and irrational prediction recently. He prophesied that his club would again hold the prestigious title of World Champions. Any of us that have taken even the quickest of peeks at the Yankees depth chart could tell you that Mr. Steinbrenner is having delusions of grandeur.

In an off-season that saw the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox fortify their clubs in a myriad of trades and free agent acquisitions, the Yankees did surprisingly little. They retained the services of left fielder and Japanese heart throb Hideki Matsui, signed relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth and outbid their rival Red Sox for rock star center fielder and lead off man, Johnny Damon. A trio of excellent moves? Yes. Enough to turn last year’s 95-67 record and disappointing playoff performance into a World Series contender? Not a snowman’s chance in hell.

Since the Yankees last World Series title (2000) they have ceased to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents with any frequency. While the seemingly inexhaustible supply of dead presidents remains, the New York Yankees uncanny ability to win baseball games finally appears to be dwindling. If healthy, their offense can be as potent as any in the bigs but beyond the starting 9 there is little depth to speak of. The starting pitchers consist of 2 AARP applicants in Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina followed by a watered down troupe of slightly above average arms that only managed a combined 430.4 innings pitched last year. Not the characteristics of a championship caliber rotation.

Despite their own internal struggles, the Yankees face off against some of the toughest MLB competition right in their own division. The Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox made vast improvements this winter and let’s not forget that Baltimore had a firm grip on 1st place for a spell last year too. If they hadn’t lost a couple of arms to injury there’s no telling how long they may have sat atop the AL East.