The Plan to get "younger and more athletic" primarily concerns the new crop of prospects with the ETA pretty much accepted as being 2016 and everyone knows it.
I'm also curious- where exactly were the Yanks supposed to get younger and more athletic going into the season in positions which weren't expected to be taken by veteran players under contract?
From what I can see - the Yanks DID get younger and more "athletic" at SS with Didi which had been open after Jeter retired.
CC ? Yes of course the Yanks could've released him prior to the season and certainly should remove him from the rotation but we should've been savy enough to realize unfortunately there was/still is salary politics involved and the Yanks- imo - were reasonable in expecting or giving him the chance to become an effective "finesse" pitcher.....and regardless, he ISN'T an everyday player/regular.
The rest of the SP? Yanks DID get younger with the Eovaldi trade and despite CC, they DO have a relatively young SP staff and match up surprisingly well when compared to the average age of some other "competitive" teams in the league.
By the way, Severino 21 yrs old and Mitchell 24 yrs old are currently in the rotation....don't know how "athletic" they are....but I know how YOUNG they are.
2b/3b? From what I can tell, it was a question of re-signing Headley and/or keeping Prado which STILL would've left 2b or 3b open and on this matter, from ST through the first couple of months I don't care who the GM is, Refsnyder was NOT ready defensively to be the everyday 2b....he was given a couple of games and I NOW agree he could/should be getting more playing time but - IMO - the 2b position is not preventing the Yanks from doing well enough to be in a pretty good situation in the standings.
Catcher? McCann - and the Yanks have a 24 year old backup catcher who can handle the bat and get his share of hits.
RF? Last time I checked it was a question of signing Beltran for three years or Grandy for four years.....and there was NO mention of Judge at the time...lol
Anyone on the board really believe the Yanks should've went with Judge in RF to start the season? Beltran can still hit when he's healthy and is currently proving it...and when the Yanks signed him, he was coming off a year with the Cards -
296BA, .830 OPS, 24 HRs , 84 RBI.
LF, CF? Shall we move on? lol
And when Ellsbury got injured, the Yanks DID dip into their farm system and called up TWO young AND very athletic players Heathcott and Williams....
1b? Tex was going to be THE first baseman and remain there even if he was having a mediocre year.....and I agree with the GM not choosing to use Bird early and NOW as a backup....he's better served getting playing time at AAA which he was promoted to only a couple of weeks ago. The Yanks chose to go with a 34 year old backup in Jones ...part time back up 1b aren't usually the "young athletic" type.
And remember how upset a few people were after the Yanks traded Cervelli?
John Ryan Murphy must've been a little piece of "the plan" which some of us must've missed as we weren't invited to the "planning" meetings.
Young is one of the backup outfielder....I think this relatively "inexpensive" little piece of the "the plan" was also one that flew under our radar screens.....but some of us aren't lucky enough to have a seat at the table when some little pieces of "the plan" are put in place.
Jones was part of "the plan" lol, but he was required to help acquire Eovaldi and the Yanks/Cashman are very much entitled to make adjustments and a little "REBOOTING" like some other GMs......and the ultimate "PLAN" is winning.
Go Yanks!
