NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 21: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout during the fifth inning of the game against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on April 21, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
If the 2020 MLB season gets canceled, the New York Yankees and their fans are getting robbed.
If baseball isn’t played in 2020, the New York Yankees will always wonder what could have been.
Coming into the season, New York was an odds-on favorite to reach the World Series and win it all. After a few years of close calls, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman loaded up this winter by adding Gerrit Cole on a monster nine-year, $324 million deal, all while stealing him from the Houston Astros.
The rest of the roster? Well, it reads like an All-Star team. Aaron Judge. Giancarlo Stanton. Gleyber Torres. Miguel Andujar. Gary Sanchez. Masahiro Tanaka. James Paxton. Zack Britton. Aroldis Chapman. D.J. LeMahieu. The list goes on.
Suddenly, it appears the notion of winning a third World Series trophy this century could be a dream on hold. After the season was necessarily delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was hope for a campaign to begin in July. While hope remains, MLB and the MLBPA are doing their best to dash it.
Should the season be scuttled, the contracts of each player still counts towards 2021. Anybody slated to be a free agent will become one. This means the Yankees are looking at the possible departures of LeMahieu, Tanaka, Paxton and Britton.
Considering the probable raises for Judge, Andujar and Torres in arbitration, it could be tough for New York to replenish its rotation, even with its considerable cash flow.
For most teams, only winning one title since 2001 wouldn’t be a draught. In the Bronx, it’s the equivalent to most teams going 50 years without a parade.
This was supposed to be the Yankees’ time, but forces beyond their control are hampering their designs on a title.