New York Yankees' Possible Season Outcomes

As you can see from the picture above, Joe Girardi has as much interest in seeing the possible outcomes to his season as you do.

So let's all face it: The Yankees, as we have come to know them, are not playing "up to par"—and that may be putting it very nicely. Blame whom and what you want—injuries, not making the right moves, underperforming by players, etc.

We can all sit and blame whom and what we want, but ultimately, that is not going to help the Yankees win/score more/pitch better/get healthy.  

I'm not here to place the blame on anyone, but I will look into the crystal ball and talk about a few possible outcomes for the Bombers season.

First Scenario: The Best Case (real world)

This scenario is one that all Yankee fans would like to see. First off, Mike Mussina continues to pitch as well as he has and ends up with a 19-win season. This is helped by a Yankees offense that all of a sudden starts consistently running on all cylinders and scores the most runs in the majors for August and September.

Joba Chamberlain comes off the DL and resumes his role in the starting rotation, continuing to pitch very well and is helped by said offense. Phil Hughes and Carl Pavano return to the order, pitching well, not great, and earn a win or two to bolster a rotation that has been suspect at best.

The Rays, in part due to injuries to Longoria and Crawford, go into a slump and get into a tight battle for first with the Yankees and Red Sox. The Yanks somehow wind up in first by a half game, and the Rays take the wild card.

The Yanks play the Halos in the Divisional Series, but ultimately lose in Game Five due to a Vlad Guerrero walk-off. Although it is not a World Series, the young Yanks show promise, Girardi and Cashman keep their jobs, and Steinbrenner sits in the luxury boxes at the new Yankee Stadium lighting cigars with $100 bills.

Likeliness Rating: Very

Second Scenario: Worst Case (real world)

The Yanks' poor, inconsistent play continues, causing them to miss the playoffs, finishing 10 games out of first in the East. Hal and Hank fire Cashman but keep Girardi, but also say that if there are any signs of struggling next season, Willie Randolph is the new manager.

This is the worst case for the obvious reason of missing the playoffs, something that has not been seen by most middle schoolers of today.

Likeliness Rating: Very (yes, it is very likely that either of those could happen)

Third Scenario: Best Case (Fantasy Land)

Now it is time to have some fun. The Yankees, all of a sudden, are playing absolutely perfect. Chamberlain, Hughes, Pavano, and Matsui all return from the DL, and Jorge Posada uses holistic medicine to cure his ailing shoulder.

The Yankees are almost all healthy, besides Chien-Ming Wang, who injured himself thinking about a world with no DH.

The Bombers go on a stretch where they win 40 of their next 42, pitching five perfect games and one no-hitter in the process (due to a Robinson Cano error). They lose the two due to forfeit, because those games happened to coincide with Brett Favre/Jets preseason action.  

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