With the 2023 season a lost one for the club, perhaps the winter will provide an opportunity to right some wrongs.
The team modernly known as the “Bronx Bombers” is the most civil regarding any bombs and victory. The New York Yankees are facing one of the worst seasons they’ve ever fielded, and questions surrounding the club are spiraling. Although it may seem all bad, there are a few positives as the team looks forward to an offseason reconstruction.
The Yankees set up base in the basement of the American League East, laying 11 games back of the top seed in the division while four games below .500 with a 64-68 record. As of Wednesday, August 30, the club had announced some major discharges. Struggling third baseman Josh Donaldson was released after failing to serve a full two seasons. The 37-year-old battled a calf injury and a few other bang-ups which led to him only seeing 33 games this season while posting a horrific .142 batting average and a .225 on-base percentage.
Hours later, the team quietly slipped fan-favorite Harrison Bader on waivers. The Bronxville native started the year with grit but ended up silencing himself at the plate. He’s put up a .239 batting average, a .275 on-base percentage, and .640 OPS. His walk-to-strikeout ratio was awful, sitting at 13-55. Both Donaldson and Bader were set to be free agents at the end of the season; the Yankees got a head start on the fall-winter movements. What else will the Yankees get a head start on?
Yankees speeding up the arrival of Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells to start September
The wait is finally over: the Yankees will reportedly call up No. 2 prospect Jasson Domínguez on Friday, September 1, the same day the active rosters expand. The anticipated arrival of "The Martian" brings hope to Yankees' nation, providing the fan base with hope for the following season alongside strong prospective interest. Domínguez is scheduled to make his Major League debut during the club's weekend series in Houston against their former postseason rival, the Astros.
Joining Domínguez is the Yankees' No. 8 prospect in catcher Austin Wells. The 24-year-old left-handed batter began the season in Class-A Tampa of the Florida State League before working all the way up to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in AAA. He was selected in the first round by the team during the 2020 MLB Draft.
While 2023 can be labeled as "abysmal" for the Yankees, the house-cleaning and prospect promoting give the organization and their supporters hope for the future. A significant winter is upon them, possibly one of the most important in franchise history. With decisions to make in the front office and on the field, and with a payroll matched only by the elite of the elite in professional sports, the pinstripes may very well find themselves in the driver seat sooner rather than later.
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