2016 Pre-Season Profile: New York Yankees

In the last couple days, pitchers and catchers have started to report to Spring Training.  This means baseball season is just around the corner.  Every year, the baseball offseason is one of the most interesting in all of sports as teams work to remake and revamp their teams through trades, free agents, or their farm system.  No sport has rosters as fluid in the offseason as baseball.  This makes Spring Training an exciting time for all baseball fans as we get our first look at what each team looks like this year.  Last year, I attempted to write a prediction article for every team in the league.  I came up a little short when the season started.  This season, I am starting with the teams I didn't get to last season, starting with the Yankees.

Last Season

My 2015 Prediction: 4th in AL East

2015 Results: 87-75, 2nd in AL East, WILD CARD, lost to Astros in Wild Card Game

The Yankees really overachieved last year with an aging roster.  The resurgence of players like Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez led to an unexpected playoff birth for the Pinstripes in 2015.  However, a quick exit also came for them when they ran into the young upstart Astros.

2016 Additions / Subtractions

These are not the Yankees we are used to seeing in the offseason.  They came out early on in the winter to say they were not going to sign any of the big ticket free agents.  High price tags still placed on aging stars like Teixeira, A-Rod, Carlos Beltran, and CC Sabathia can even scare off the deepest of pocketbooks from spending.  However, it didn't stop them completely from making improvements to their roster.  They pulled off a trade for Starlin Castro as they continue to look for a replacement for Robinson Cano at second base.  The big move everyone has been talking about though is Aroldis Chapman coming in to give the Yankees a "super bullpen" that rivals the Royals of the past couple years.

Most Important Hitter

Mark Teixeira

For the Yankees to have another great season this year, all of their aging stars need to repeat their performance from the year before.  The most important of these is Mark Teixeira, mainly because of his insurance policy is no longer available.  Greg Bird, who had a really solid 2015 season, was meant to split time with Tex at first to keep him fresh.  However, shoulder surgery has knocked him out for the year, putting all the pressure back on the veteran.  Now, if nothing changes, the Yankees' option at first base if Tex gets hurt is Dustin Ackley.  I know from experience as a Mariners fan that that is not a strong option.  Teixeira has to be great.

Most Important Pitcher

Masahiro Tanaka

Tanaka is being counted on as the ace of the Yankees' staff, however since an elbow injury halfway through his first season, Tanaka has been much less than that.  Since then, his elbow has been a ticking time bomb waiting for if and/or when that ligament will tear the rest of the way and he will need Tommy John.  The Yankees can't have that happen this season.  Not only that, but he needs to be the ace of the staff again.  He needs to pitch more than his 2015 total of 150 innings and get his ERA back down under 3.00 (3.51 in 2015).  If that happens, he will once again anchor that starting rotation.

Player to Watch

Robert Refsnyder

This spot is reserved for a player that could have a breakout rookie season in 2016.  I would say Luis Severino for this spot, but he played too much in 2015 to still qualify as a rookie.  The Yankees have higher profile prospects (Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo), but Refsnyder has the biggest opportunity to make an impact on this year's season.  He is listed as a second baseman, but the Yankees are hoping he can become their "super utility" along the lines of guys like Ben Zobrist and Josh Harrison.  After being a star for Arizona's CWS 2012 championship, he is no stranger to the pressures he will face playing in New York.  He has a good chance of making the Opening Day roster and having a big impact all around the field.

2016 Prediction

5th in AL East

I do not have much faith in the Yankees this year.  There are way too many question marks for this team.  Can Mark Teixeira stay healthy? Can Alex Rodriguez repeat his bounce back season?  Does Carlos Beltran have one more stellar season in him?  Can CC Sabathia return to former glory?  Will Masahiro Tanaka's elbow hold up another season?  How long will Aroldis Chapman be suspended for his off-the-field problems this offseason?  They have a roster that can win, but I don't see every one of these scenarios working out in the Yankees' favor in 2016, which is what has to happen for them to compete in the highly-competitive AL East.

Fearless Prediction

Aroldis Chapman will not end the season as a Yankee.

Aroldis Chapman was brought in by the Yankees with just one year left on his contract to bolster what was already one of the best bullpens in baseball.  If the team has the type of season I am predicting they have, don't be surprised if the Yankees turn around and unload the flame-throwing closer at the Trade Deadline for a haul of prospects and hit the reset button on that whole experiment.

SNL 39.11 Review - Drake

It's the first episode of 2014 after Saturday Night Live took their Christmas break, and there are many things of note here.  Coming off what is as close to a perfect episode as you can get, this episode was going to feel slightly anticlimactic no matter what it held.  Some automatic excitement around this episode surrounded the newest cast member Shasheer Zamata who was hired to fill the "minority female" role on the cast.  Drake brought some excitement too, serving as the third host this season to serve double duty as host and musical guest (3.5 if you consider Timberlake's role in the Fallon episode).  I was wondering how well a guy like Drake could do in this setting.  Although the episode turned out to be pretty vanilla, Drake proved that he was worthy of the honor.

Cold Opening

With a month between episodes, they had to do something that allowed for a crash course in current events to start the show.  Enter Piers Morgan via Taran Killam.  They were able to cover Chris Christie's Bridge-Gate scandal, the A-Rod circus (which allowed for the rare appearance of the host in the Cold Open), and Justin Bieber.  It was quite a fun way to start the show immediately allowed for the audience to see some of the things that Drake was going to bring to the table.

Monologue

This was one of the best monologues of the season so far.  Drake explored the fact that he is a Black Jewish Canadian and flashed back to his Bar-Mitzvah.  All of a sudden, his Bar-Mitzvah recitations turned into a self-deprecating rap.  This was definitely the highlight of the show.  It also showed the first appearance of Zamata who instantly just became part of the gang.

Weekend Update

Seth Meyers only has a couple episodes left, and this episode continued the tour of his favorite Weekend Update guests with Nasim Pedrad's Arianna Huffington (one of her few characters that doesn't annoy me).  She was solid as usual, but the best part of this week's Weekend Update was their commentary on this year's Golden Globes featuring a silly and delirious Jacqueline Bisset brought to us by Vanessa Bayer.  It was a dead on impression of a very awkward moment during the yearly broadcast.

Best Sketch

Drake was great all night.  His monologue was outstanding.  He gave it 100% every time he was out there.  However, the material just wasn't there.  It was hard to pick a best sketch from all the very average sketches there were.  However, the one that had the best moments was probably the sleep over.  Having Zamata in the cast allowed for this sketch to be possible as Drake plays her dorky dad hosting the sleepover.  Every time the dad popped into the room of girls, one of the guests (Aidy Bryant) became more and more attracted to her friend's dad.  What starts as a slightly awkwardly funny sketch goes completely haywire by the end with Bryant showing why she is one of the most naturally funny cast members on the show right now.

Worst Sketch

This decision was easy, however it had nothing to do with the host.  As has been the case for several of my least favorite sketches this season, this sketch revolves around Nasim Pedrad producing yet another quirky Middle Eastern character that is supposed to be funny and really isn't.  This scenario puts her in Disney World experiencing what it was like to be Indiana Jones.  Drake was great trying to hold Rahat's attention and in turn, trying to hold the sketch together, but it ultimately failed.

Dark Horse Sketch

There really wasn't a dark horse sketch this episode.  None of the sketches after the Weekend Update halftime marker were really any good.  So instead I am going to talk about another one of my favorite sketches from earlier in the episode.  One of the interesting bits of trivia surrounding Drake was that he used to star on the TV show Degrassi.  This sketch explores other possibilities of rappers appearing in classic TV shows.  The highlight was Drake impersonating Lil' Wayne impersonating Urkel.  Pretty surreal.  Here is another highlight.  How are you doing on your New Year's Resolutions?  Hopefully better than these people...

Grade

This was a successful episode in the sense that it showcased a star in Drake displaying his comedic talent in a very effective way.  He really surprised me here.  I had a lot of fun watching his natural ability for entertaining in more ways than one.  However, it is starting to become a trend that the creative team of Saturday Night Live is not consistently producing material worth the talent the show is showcasing.  With head writer Colin Jost moving into the Update desk to replace Seth Meyers in a couple weeks, hopefully it will jump start the creative juices.  Either way, the show is still so much fun to watch because of the immense talent that is brought every week by the cast and the great run of hosts they have had.

***C+***

Watch the full episode here: