Yankees Have Makings of Championship Team

Ever since the year 2000, the New York Yankees have struggled in the postseason.

Lately, the Yanks have not been able to perform in the divisional round of the playoffs and have not been to a championship series since 2004.

Last season, the Yankees could not even win the American League East, something that Yankees fans have been accustomed to. The offseason had a large amount of suspense and controversy. It started with the Yankees losing manager Joe Torre.

Torre had underperformed in the playoffs recently, and management brought in 2006 NL Manager of the Year Joe Girardi. Girardi has a different style of managing, saying that he will "lean on everyone" and has placed an emphasis on conditioning—the yankees have done more running than usual in spring training. This should help the Yankees in the latter part of the season.

The Yankees kept Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. They did not trade any of their young talent away. This means a mix of young talent and aging veterans who have already proven themselves as great players.

The young talent will obviously go through their ups and downs throughout the course of a 162 game season.

But they add a certain excitement to the team that has not been there in years past as the Yankees had a history of letting go of marquee players in their farm system.

The youngsters can continue to learn from the veterans, not only at their respective postitions, but also in how to win championships. They will add much needed energy to the team, especially with guys like Shelley Duncan, Robinson Cano, and Melky Cabrera. All in all, I am looking forward to the season because I think the Yankees have all the makings of a World Series team.

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