Five teams that could take down the Dodgers this season
The case for the Yankees: For all of the hype surrounding many of the young, talented teams in baseball like the Padres, Braves and White Sox, the Yankees are still the Yankees. They still have
Aaron Judge,
Gleyber Torres,
DJ LeMahieu and
Giancarlo Stanton in the middle of the lineup, barring injuries, of course. They still have
Gerrit Cole at the front of their rotation and a bullpen anchored by
Aroldis Chapman,
Chad Green and
Zack Britton. Toss in
Corey Kluber,
Jameson Taillon and you've got a group that could easily keep pace with the
Los Angeles Dodgers as the most talented team in the sport. Mentioning that the Yankees have a shot at winning the championship is like saying LeBron has a chance at winning an NBA Finals, but sometimes the boring pick is still the right pick.
-- Joon Lee
Judge Jeff says: While I appreciate Mr. Lee's attempt to offhandedly brush away the Yankees' predilection for injuries, there is an undeniable element of skepticism with them because they have not stayed healthy. It's difficult to buy the idea of the Yankees without taking that leap -- a leap that extends beyond Stanton and Judge to Kluber, Taillon and
Luis Severino, who's returning from Tommy John surgery. Complicating matters is an AL East that is no cakewalk. The Blue Jays were a playoff team last year and are better this season. The Rays beat the Yankees in last year's postseason and are always a threat. Boston is better. Baltimore, as the Red Sox learned opening weekend, is no cake walk, either.
New York may be the AL East favorite, and it has the talent to dethrone the Dodgers, but this court needs to see a half-season of health from the principles before it hitches itself to a wagon that always seems to find itself missing a wheel. And
Gleyber Torres needs to catch the dang ball, too. Motion denied.
