About the Off-Season: Great Expectations or Unreasonable Expectations?
By Tim Kabel
January 11, 2025
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The Yankees have made several moves to strengthen their roster heading into the 2025 season. Yet, when I read articles and comments by fans or listen to sports radio, I see and hear a lot of dissatisfaction and a lack of confidence. For the most part, these sentiments are focused on the young players on the team. There is a lot of apprehension regarding these players. Many of the comments hinted at, if not openly stated, a willingness to move on from these players.
Many of the opinions that I have heard or read expressed little to no confidence in Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jasson Dominguez, Ben Rice, and even Luis Gil. Let's take a look at some numbers.
This player, in his rookie year, batted .302 with 6 home runs and 53 RBI. He played 132 games. The batting average was good, but you would not characterize this player as an offensive threat or a major run producer, would you? Well, that player was the late, great Thurman Munson, who went on to have three straight seasons of batting .300 with 100 or more RBI. He also won the MVP in 1976.
Last year, Austin Wells played 115 games. He batted .229 with 13 home runs and 55 RBI. It is true that his batting average paled in comparison to Munson’s. However, batting averages across the board in Major League Baseball are not what they were 50 years ago.
I remember reading Thurman Munson’s autobiography when I was a kid. In it, he stated that the Yankees’ manager when he came up, Ralph Houk, told him that he would win a lot more games for the Yankees with his defensive performance as a catcher than he would with his offense. Munson believed that to be true. It should be noted that when Austin Wells came up to the Majors, there were a lot of questions regarding his defense. He worked extremely hard on that aspect of his game and became one of the better catchers in the league. To that end, the Yankees traded Jose Trevino a few weeks ago.
A second player came up to the Yankees for the first time and in that season batted.179 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in 27 games. He was injured after he came up and limited to those 27 games. I distinctly remember articles and calls to sports radio stations claiming that this player did not have a future as a starter with the Yankees. That player's name was Aaron Judge. The year was 2016. The next season, he was the American League Rookie of the Year. He has put up 2 MVP seasons and is the American League record holder for home runs in a season with 62.
Last year, Jasson Dominguez was limited to 18 games with the Yankees due to injuries. He was shifted to leftfield from his normal position of centerfield. He hit two home runs with four RBI and had five stolen bases. As was the case with judge, I read and heard numerous comments and opinions that the Yankees should find another player for the outfield because Dominguez is not ready. In 2023, Dominguez hit 4 home runs and had 7 RBI in just 8 games with the Yankees. In his entire 26-game Major League career, Dominguez has 6 home runs and 11 RBI. Also of note, he will not be 22 years old until next month.
The Yankees once brought a pitcher to the Major Leagues who, in his first season went 5-3 with an ERA of 5.51. He had 51 strikeouts and 30 walks in 67 innings. His WH IP was 1.51. I remember hearing Mike and the Mad Dog go on and on about how he wouldn't amount to anything. The year was 1995. The pitcher was Mariano Rivera. He was the only player ever elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously.
There was another pitcher who in his first full Major League season went 6-14 with an ERA of 5.61. In 155 and 2/3 innings he gave up 181 hits and had 101 strikeouts and 74 walks. His WHIP was 1.638. The year was 1987 and that pitcher was Greg Maddox. He is in the Hall of Fame and won 355 games and 4 Cy Young Awards.
I am not suggesting that any of the Yankees’ young players will become Hall of Famers. Very few players become Hall of Famers. However, the young Yankees need to be given a chance to make the adjustment to the Major Leagues and show what they can do. They need a reasonable number of games to make that adjustment. By the way, 18 games is not a reasonable number of games. I can just imagine Dominguez struggling a little bit in Spring Training or having a brief slump in April and hearing someone call WFAN wondering what Aaron Hicks is doing.
The 2025 New York Yankees will have several young players in key roles. These players include Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, Luis Gil, and possibly some others. Although he has been in the Major Leagues for a while, Jazz Chisholm, Jr. is also a young player. We need to look forward to the development of these players with anticipation rather than trepidation. We need to temper our expectations with patience and the understanding that it takes time to adjust to the Major Leagues. Now, let's see what these players can do.
