Of all the spring storylines emerging in baseball, the uncertainty surrounding the New York Yankees has to be the most satisfying.
For once, the Yankees are underdogs in the AL East.
The division underwent dramatic improvement over the offseason as the Red Sox acquired Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.
The Rays have renewed hope after signing Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez.
In 2010 Buck Showalter turned the Orioles around, and they should only get better with new players such as Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee.
The Blue Jays can’t quite be counted out as they hope new skipper John Farrell can bring winning baseball to Toronto.
The Bronx Bombers on the other hand, didn’t have such a joyous winter.
After months of courtship, Cliff Lee said no thanks and accepted less money to pitch in Philadelphia. Andy Pettitte lingered for months, and then decided to retire.
The Steinbrenner bosses signed pitcher Rafael Soriano despite General Manager Brian Cashman’s desires.
The bosses mishandled the Derek Jeter contract negotiations, thus upsetting the franchise’s most heralded player.
Meanwhile, A-Rod was busy being fed popcorn at the Super Bowl.
Will the offseason drama carry into the regular season? Who knows, but October baseball without the Yankees does sound appealing.
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
