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It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? Baseball season comes to a screeching halt in the fall and the Yankees-less winter feels like it’ll never end, and then suddenly it’s spring training in Tampa. Pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday and there will be others trickling in too.
I wish I could feel more hopeful about the 2013 Yankees. We have some truly great players that other teams can only dream about. We also have promising farmhands who could make a difference this year. And we have our usual cast of new guys who are past their prime but hoping a change of scenery will give their careers a boost. Not a bad collection by any means.
Still, I’m wondering where the power will come from. I’m wondering who’ll be our righty outfielder. I’m wondering who’ll be our catcher. I’m wondering what our rotation will look like. I’m wondering if Mo will have the stamina to close for the entire season (I don’t worry about his ability as a closer; I never worry about that). I’m wondering if all the jokes about how old the team is will prove to be true. (See Tyler Kepner’s reference to the early-bird special in today’s NYT.) I’m wondering who’ll be the backup infielder since Cashman has said Nunez will stick to shortstop. I’m wondering if Girardi will be managing for the last time in pinstripes. I’m wondering when the next steroids revelation will appear and whether there will be any suspensions.
All that being said, hope springs eternal and maybe the Yankees will surprise me. I always remind myself that no team is perfect and that the teams everybody anoints to win it all hardly ever do. So who knows.
The good news is we’ll have baseball again. I’m busy with lots of projects these days, so I may not post on this blog as often as I’ve done in the past. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’m anticipating the first look at our guys in their nice clean uniforms and will probably let out a girly squeal when that happens.
