The New York Yankees off-season has been a quiet one due to ownership implementing a new frugal stance.
Instead of story-lines about signing the biggest free agents, Yankee fans were relegated to watching the realities of missing the 2013 postseason grow by the day.
So as a result, fans, the media, and bloggers alike have been provided with plenty of things to grumble about.
And for the first time in almost two decades, the paved regular-season road to October that the Yankees build during the off-season is no longer a smooth ride.
But in reality, not all hope is lost yet; and here are three reasons why.