First, the Yankees are already over the tax threshold for year 2019, so they will not be under the soft tax cap (heck, Im just going to call it the cap!) for a second year in a row.
Second, with all the moves this winter, I still don't think the Yankees are better than the Red Sux or Astros. This is why I wanted them to sign Machado so they could at least get closer to them, if not leap frog over them. We may have the better bullpen, but they both have better starting pitching and line ups. And what did these two teams do over the past two seasons against the Yankees in the playoffs? They both took starters from their rotations and placed them in their bullpens. Therefore chipping away at our one major advantage, which helped them beat us and win the World Series in 2017 & 2018.
Maybe with a full year of Happ, a healthy Britton, the replacement of D-Rob with Ottavino, a healthy (hopefully!) Tulo, and the trade for Paxton has greatly improved the team for the 2019 season. However, and it's just my opinion. The 2019 Red Sux and Astros are still better "playoff" teams than the 2019 New York Yankees.
