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mlb.com Matt Linder Going into the Yankees 2017 season, there was tremendous uncertainty and excitement surrounding the ball club.  Would the starting rotation hold up over the course of the 162 game baseball marathon?  Would the young players show promise as everyday players in the lineup?  These questions and many others were answered in the affirmative.  As a result, the Yankees 2017 campaign checked all of the boxes of a captivating season. ·      Exceeded expectations ☑ ·      Break out stars ☑ ·      Surprising playoff success ☑ ·      Major trade deadline acquisitions ☑ ·      Obstacles: Injuries and Prolonged losing stretch ☑ ·      “Win or go home” games ☑ ·      Fun group of veterans and youngsters ☑ As a way to review the 2017 season, I will break down the team, position by position.  Let’s start by recapping the Yankee...

CBS New York Matt Linder Picking up where my previous article about the 2018 luxury tax situation left off, the Yankees currently have three roster openings: two for starting pitchers and one for a position player. Their payroll for 2018 sits at $137.5, leaving Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office with about $60M to play with. Will the Yankees use up all of that money to fill their three openings? Probably not. However, they certainly should not be cheap in addressing their holes. To fill those pitching spots, I would like to see them bring back CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka. The reinvented CC has proven his ability to anchor the back-end of the rotation and provide veteran leadership and clutch post-season performances. The going rate for one-year deals for veteran pitchers (Ex. Bartolo Colon and RA Dickey) is about $10M. CC is certainly better than those guys, so let’s say he gets 1 year, $13M. And for Tanaka, even after coming off an up and down year, I an...