ARLINGTON, Texas — Will the dragon breathe fire one more time in October against the Twins?
The Yankees wrapped up the regular season with a disinterested effort against the Rangers, losing 6-1 Sunday, closing down Globe Life Park.
Now the real work begins. The spring training part of the Yankees schedule is finally complete and on Friday the Yankees open the ALDS at Yankee Stadium against those wanna-be dragon-slayer Twins.
Twins president Dave St. Peter declared this past week on SKOR North radio how much the Twins were looking forward to finally beating the Yankees after being their postseason doormat for years on end.
“Organizationally, I just say it’s time to slay the dragon, right. No time like the present to break that curse, so to speak,’’ St. Peter said.
When Yankees GM Brian Cashman was asked if he considered his team a dragon, he said, “I consider ourselves the American League Eastern champions and that is all we are right now. We hope to be able to call ourselves more than that.’’
That is the 2019 reality. For all their 103-victory success, now it’s about winning 11 more games. That is all that matters.
The Yankees are shooting for their first World Series victory since 2009.
“It’s all hands on deck,’’ Cashman said. “Give us anything you got. Even if guys are dealing with anything, they are going to have to find a way to get through it, give their best shot, their best abilities despite it. Every time we turned to it, our guys stepped up. Even the big, bad Yankees need help.’’
Yes they do, as a litany of injuries hobbled the team throughout the year, but the Next Man Up Yankees made it all work. Now the pieces must come together against the slugging Twins.
Gio Urshela gave the Yankees a scare when he suffered a mild sprain of the left ankle Sunday but declared it will not be a problem going into the week and he will be ready Friday.
“We certainly got a lot of respect for the Twins,’’ Cashman said, praising Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine. “You saw the last series played against those guys [in July at Target Field]. We got out of Minnesota by the hair of our chinny chin chin. It was a real slugfest. Back and forth, and it obviously culminated in Aaron Hicks’ diving catch in center. I think massive respect for their ownership group. For their baseball operations with Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, their manager Rocco Baldelli, obviously, got a history with Rocco from his days with the Red Sox and the Rays and now as Minnesota manager.
“Their players, not surprisingly that the players that have been constructed there with the roster there under Falvey’s leadership, they’re legit. I think every team in the American League actually has a chance to run the table and represent the league in the World Series so we are going to take our shot just like they are.
“We’ve got to play our best baseball. Period. End of story,’’ Cashman said, knowing the depth of this challenge. “Do everything in our power to find a way to get past them. We’re really excited for the opportunity. Our first step in this process was to win the division so we didn’t have to deal with the wild-card issue. That’s Phase I. Phase II is to try to find a way to get through this series. They happen to be our opponent and they’ll be a handful.’’
The Yankees have had a team of scouts on the Twins for weeks and all possible postseason opponents.
“We’re doing our deep dive,’’ Cashman said.
“We’ll be buttoned up and ready to go,’’ he promised. “It will be our best against their best and we’ll see where it goes. Be good or go home. None of us want to go home.’’
When I asked Aaron Judge, who hit the last home run at Globe Life, what the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium will be come Friday, he said, “Oh, it’s going to be rowdy. We’re looking forward to it. We’re excited to get back home and see The Bronx come out in numbers.’’
Come out to watch the dragon breathe fire once again against the Twins.