New York Yankees

The American League East is forcing the New York Yankees’ hand. 

It is Thanksgiving, which means the holiday season is in full swing.

With Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez both going to Boston and a few other free agents already signed, it is clear that baseball's offseason is well underway as well. Rumors are swirling and whispers are making their way across the league about which teams are after certain players.

A chill in the air, "Deck the Halls" blaring in every department store and the New York Yankees throwing gobs of cash at a top-tier free agent—those are the signs that tell us winter is on its way.

This year, though, the Yankees are threatening to break with tradition. 

Pass the mashed potatoes, please, while we count our blessings.

Family? Definitely. Friends? Absolutely. Food on the table and a roof over our heads? You bet. Mom's homemade pumpkin pie? Yessir (with whipped cream, please).

And then there are the New York Yankees.

After not making the playoffs for the second year in a row, it is clear the New York Yankees will have to make some moves this winter if they intend to compete in 2015.

It's the Yankees, so you know that is exactly what their intentions are.

In many ways, for many reasons, the New York Yankees trading for Troy Tulowitzki makes sense. After all, they're the major-market, deep-pocketed, All-Star-obtaining Yankees, and in 2015, they'll be embarking on their first season sans shortstop, captain and future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter.

The MLB offseason has started busier than expected, as multiple organizations have already made moves large enough to change the landscape of their 2015 seasons.

Believe it or not, the New York Yankees don’t plan on being big spenders this offseason. At least compared to previous years.

Derek Jeter's final series as a member of the New York Yankees could end with a whimper. The soon-to-be retired star was taken out in the fifth inning of Saturday's game against Boston at Fenway Park for undisclosed reasons. 

You might have tuned into NBC Sports last night and thought, “Damn, this is a long Derek Jeter commercial.”

And you wouldn’t have been entirely wrong. Reality twisted into fiction at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, with real life taking on the facile shimmer of an advertising fairy tale.