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TAMPA — It is painstaking enough having to pick yourself up off the mat when you come up short in the World Series, especially the way Game 5 ended against the Dodgers.
Then the Yankees were dealt the double body blow of losing the bidding war for Juan Soto, and losing him to the Mets at that, which quickly threw their offseason into the Plan B version.
A few months later, the Yankees are about to begin the journey to find out whether their pivot was good enough to take another crack at a championship.
“Some people may disagree with me — but some people will agree with me —I think we have a better team right now than we did a year ago today,” Hal Steinbrenner said on the YES Network last month.
While Steinbrenner’s claim was the topic of plenty of debate, the only thing that ultimately matters is whether the Yankees will be better in October this time around.
They have a long way to go to get that chance, but tried to set themselves up for it in the wake of missing out on Soto despite offering him a 16-year, $760 million contract.
They did not redirect all of that cash and spend like “drunken sailors,” as GM Brian Cashman promised they would not, but used a chunk of it in an attempt to get more well rounded, better defensively and more athletic.
The Yankees added left-hander Max Fried (on an eight-year, $218 million contract), outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger (taking on the two years and $52.5 million left on his contract in exchange for Cody Poteet), first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (one year, $12.5 million) and closer Devin Williams (and his $8.6 million salary, in exchange for Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin), among others.
That group has a combined 13 All-Star selections and two MVPs, though the Yankees are paying them for what they can do this year (and at least in Fried’s case, beyond).
The addition of Fried should help further solidify a rotation that could be one of the Yankees’ biggest strengths.
Of course, it was only last spring that Gerrit Cole was sidelined by an elbow injury that kept him out until June.
So the first test for this Yankees staff will be getting through camp healthy instead of needing to tap into its depth options — which currently include Marcus Stroman, the $18 million trade candidate whose role is uncertain entering spring training — before Opening Day on March 27.
Bellinger and Goldschmidt, meanwhile, will be tasked with making up for some of the production that Soto provided single-handedly.
The 37-year-old Goldschmidt is coming off the worst season of his 14-year career, though the Yankees believe there is still more in the tank.
Spring training stats do not matter, especially for veterans, but how Goldschmidt looks in camp will garner plenty of attention.
Having Bellinger take over center field allows the Yankees to shift reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge back to right, where he is stronger defensively, while Jasson Dominguez (in his best shot yet to become an everyday impact player) is expected to man left.
His transition from center field to left late last season did not go well, but Dominguez will now get the runway of camp to prove that will not be an issue this year.
The Yankees are less settled at third base, where they appear ready to have a camp battle between Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, DJ LeMahieu and Jorbit Vivas for the job, assuming Jazz Chisholm Jr. sticks at second base.
All of it makes for a fair amount of turnover for a team that came within three wins of taking home its first World Series title since 2009.
Perhaps that will help chip away at any mental scars that may be lingering from last October and the stunning Game 5 collapse that included three defensive gaffes in a dismal fifth inning.
The deep-cut wounds of the last few months may not be completely healed just yet, but when pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday — with the first full-squad workout set for next Monday — the time for licking them will be over.
