The main storyline ahead of the Yankees 2013 season is health! Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are question marks to start the season and even if they do emerge from Spring Training, how will the offseason rehabbing affect their aging bodies. <\/p>\n
Odds to Win AL East<\/strong>: +225 Still one of the biggest payrolls in the Big Leagues, the Yankees hope that their knack of success despite age, injury and improvement around them in the American League continues.<\/p>\n 1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF Ichiro Suzuki is one of the best hitters to ever lace \u2018em up in Major League baseball. He had a down season last year but looked reborn when he was traded to New York. The #2, 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup are as strong as any in the game today, but that depends on the effectiveness of Derek Jeter who is coming off a broken ankle. Brett Gardiner also returns from injury and if he can find his 2011 form could emerge as one of the best #8s in the game. Names like Granderson, Youkilis and Hafner complete a batting order that on paper is pretty solid \u2013 if this were 2008! The key is keeping these old guys engaged, healthy and playing at a level that we have all become accustomed to.<\/p>\n 1. CC Sabathia CC Sabathia is a legitimate ace \u2013 there is no reason to think that he disappoints this year. But he is also coming off injury! Hiroki Kuroda proved to be New York\u2019s starting MVP last season \u2013 he stayed healthy, ate up innings and was effective each and every time he took the mound. 125 year old Andy Pettitte returns for a full season which cements a previously sketchy rotation while Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova return at the bottom of the rotation. Truth be told, the #4 and #5 starters on the Yankees would be aces or #2s on most MLB clubs.<\/p>\n Closer: Mariano Rivera Perhaps the biggest strength of the Yankees will be the bullpen but that depends on health \u2013 have we all heard that before? Mariano Rivera returns after knee surgery and if he can regain his form of 2011 he will give the Yanks the best closer in the game. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n Set up men David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, David Aardsma, David Phelps, Boone Logan, Clay Rapada are the envy of almost every other MLB team. The Yankees bullpen is brimming with talent \u2013 they could easily emerge as the best in the game.<\/p>\n C Francisco Cervelli, IF Eduardo Nunez, UTIL Jayson Nix, OF Juan Rivera<\/p>\n The Yankees always have someone step up off the bench \u2013 they have a knack of finding that diamond in the ruff that can fill in and produce when called on. Above are just a few names but rest assured others will come to the forefront before this season is over.<\/p>\n Rivera (knee), Jeter (ankle) and Sabathia (elbow) are all coming off surgery while new additions Youkilis and Hafner have a propensity to get hurt. Gardner (elbow), Teixeira (calf), Robertson (oblique), Pettitte (leg) and Chamberlain (ankle, elbow) all spent time on the DL last summer, plus A-Rod’s latest hip injury will keep him on the shelf until at least the All-Star break. Translation \u2013 optimism has to be tempered just a tad.<\/p>\n How many times have we suggested that the Yankees were a team destined to fall off \u2013 and the drop-off simply hasn\u2019t occurred? The same will likely ring true this year. Sure there are enormous question marks in every aspect of their team but betting against them to miss the playoffs has proven futile in the past and likely will again this year.<\/p>\n The Yankees simply won\u2019t go away \u2013 there is still too much pride and too many expectations for this team to fail. Reclamation projects have been very successful in the past for New York and I see the same thing ringing true this year. There is something about wearing pinstripes that brings the absolute best out in everybody.<\/p>\n Bottom Line<\/strong>: The Yankees will challenge for a playoff spot as per usual in the AL. I think they chase the Jays for the AL crown but fall short. The Wild Card however is theirs to lose! A team that has made a habit of proving everyone wrong will do so once again in 2013!<\/p>\n 2013 MLB Team Preview: N.Y. Yankees The main storyline ahead of the Yankees 2013 season is health! Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are question marks to start the season and even if they do emerge from Spring Training, how will the offseason rehabbing affect their aging bodies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[58289,58293,24742,10737,10736,66513,10729,66497,678,681,44287,6874,24973,11278,11279,24972,11280,11281,44286],"class_list":["post-60205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb-baseball","tag-2013-mlb-team-preview","tag-2013-yankees","tag-al-east","tag-al-east-predictions","tag-al-east-preview","tag-handicapping","tag-handicapping-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-betting","tag-mlb-gambling","tag-new-york-world-series-futures","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-new-york-yankees-picks","tag-new-york-yankees-predictions","tag-yankees-futures","tag-yankees-mlb-picks","tag-yankees-odds","tag-yankees-predictions","tag-yankees-world-series-odds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107966,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60205\/revisions\/107966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOdds to Win World Series<\/strong>: 15\/1<\/p>\nProbable lineup<\/h3>\n
\n2. Derek Jeter, SS
\n3. Robinson Cano, 2B
\n4. Mark Teixeira, 1B
\n5. Curtis Granderson, LF
\n6. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
\n7. Travis Hafner, DH
\n8. Brett Gardner, CF
\n9. Chris Stewart, C<\/p>\nProbable rotation<\/h3>\n
\n2. Hiroki Kuroda
\n3. Andy Pettitte
\n4. Phil Hughes
\n5. Ivan Nova<\/p>\nBullpen<\/h3>\n
\nRighties: David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, David Aardsma, David Phelps
\nLefties: Boone Logan, Clay Rapada<\/p>\nNotable bench players<\/h3>\n
Betting Prediction:<\/h3>\n
View The MLB Cappers Leaderboard For 2012 – Picks Packages for 2013 On Sale! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"