Panic in The Bronx? Twitter Photo Hints at Daunting New York Yankees’ Offseason
Sunday, November 6th was an important day in Major League Baseball, and for fans of the New York Yankees, it was considered to be the team's Doomsday.
Before we tackle Sunday, let's rewind to Saturday, the day when the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series. The Astros winning the Fall Classic also signified the end of the MLB season, which also means the start of the offseason.
The MLB offseason means Free Agency for all 30 teams. When November 5th became the 6th, a very daunting offseason began for the New York Yankees.
Yankees' Fans React to Reality of Multiple Players Leaving for Free Agency
It all started with a tweet from Talkin' Yanks, the New York-specific wing of media company Jomboy, that stirred fans in The Bronx up into a frenzy. On Sunday, the Yankees' website's Transactions page began to populate with the names of players, signifying that players were moving onto, or off of, the team's roster.
Oddly enough, all of the players were "doing" the exact same thing. They were electing free agency, and here's what the webpage looked like after all was said and done:
Now, that right there is some serious carnage. Yes, some of the players who chose to pursue free agency weren't going to be impact players on next year's team. Others, however, would be welcomed back with open arms.
Naturally, Yankees' fans reacted in a calm and rational manner:
I completely understand the tension and the anxiety that New York Yankees' fans are harboring right now. The team is coming off of a season in which they sprinted out of the gate to a historic start, then faltered in the second half of the season, and ultimately bowed out to the Houston Astros...again.
All the while, the team's franchise cornerstone was setting home run records left-and-right, while not having a contract for next season in-hand. As more home runs left Yankee Stadium, more dollars entered his pocket.
And, there was no guarantee the Yankees would be the team handing him the check.
So, between the lackluster playoff performance this season and in recent years, and the impending negotiation with their star player, the collective anxiety among Yankees' fans is very understandable.
This offseason for the New York Yankees will all hinge on Judge's contract, and will change drastically from there. Should they sign him, that will eat up a large portion of the team's payroll, and they'll likely choose to spend money on more affordable depth pieces to complete the roster.
Should Judge choose to leave, however, that opens up a lot of money this season, and in future seasons, to spend on different players. Starting pitchers like Carlos Rodon, on-base machines like Andrew Benintendi, or established closers like Kenley Jansen could all be headed to The Bronx for a fraction of Judge's contract.
What will ultimately happen is still anyone's guess, but based on what happened internally in New York on November 6th, whatever "it" is will be pretty huge.
And all of this was started because of a singular screenshot that was posted on Twitter. What a world we live in.