New York Yankees Are Playing With House Money

In a sense, no matter what happens over the remaining 24 games the New York Yankees have left to play, the 2016 season has to be marked as a success. But although their hopes for a playoff appearance are dimming by the day, the Yankees keep up the charge.

So much has happened with the New York Yankees this year. The remarkable thing is that very little of what’s occurred actually took place on the field. Until recently, that is. The Yankees ripped their way into the wild card race in August and are continuing the charge in the closing month of the 2016 season. But, will it be enough?

At this point, the Yankees are fighting only for a chance to play in the one game elimination contest as the last and final Wild Card team in the AL. With Mashiro Tanaka going for them, you’d have to give them a better than even chance to win that game and move on to the next level.

It’s probably also true that they would then be installed as the Cinderella team playing with house money from that point forward, because really……..who would have thought?

At the moment, the problem for the Yankees is simple math and the fact that they remain dependent on the teams in front of them losing while they continue to win as the games clock keeps ticking down.

A definitive winning streak of ten in a row or a overall 18-6 record for instance would probably lock it up for them, but how likely is that?

Still, in a lot of ways the Yankees are playing as much for next year as they are for this season. The way they are playing now, especially with the influx of new and young talent they are putting on the field, is important as a reminder that this team has come a long way since April.

The Yankees have finally removed themselves from the days when they were expected to win. That includes the players themselves like the Core Four who came to consider anything less than a World Series title as a failed season.

The Yankees, with the team they are putting together now and the one we’ll see in a year or two, they could bring about a return to those days again.

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But for now, it would seem that Yankee fans should be able to sit back enjoying the next few weeks no matter what happens and where the Yankees wind up. Because at least for this fan, it’s fun to watch this team again.