The New York Yankees’ Deep Bench Has Them Sitting In The World Series

On Saturday night, playing in extra innings in Cleveland with a trip to the World Series on the line, the New York Yankees' season was in jeopardy—but the Bronx Bombers knew that anyone of their teammates could turn things around instantly.

The Yankees-Guardians series added more excitement to an already memorable post-season. After winning the first two games over the Guardians in the Bronx, the Yankees looked headed to the World Series. But the Guardians rallied back from a 5-3 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning to win Game 3. History appeared to be repeating itself in Game 4 as the Yankees blew a four run lead, only to escape with two runs in the ninth inning to win 8-6.

On Saturday, both teams relied heavily on their bullpens as they tried to gain the edge in the critical game 5. The Yankees were able to chip away at an early 2-0 deficit, but once again, they were headed for extra innings. Cleveland went through eight pitchers on Saturday while six Yankees took the mound.

As the autumn breeze came off Lake Erie, in the top of the 10th, with two men on and two men out, Yankees outfielder Juan Soto faced Hunter Gaddis, one of baseball's most reliable relievers. Gaddis hoped to throw Soto off with a series of sliders and changeups, but the Yankee outfielder held him off with a series of foul balls. Finally, on the seventh pitch, Gaddis threw a fastball, which Soto cracked off his bat. The entire stadium went silent as the ball soared over the outfield wall..

Soto offered the last moment heroics to wrap the series up for the Yankees but plenty of players in pinstripes came through against Cleveland. Just like the best teams, from the diamond to the boardroom, the Yankees' series win was a team effort. Yankees starter Carlos Rodón went six innings and gave up only one run, while striking out nine Guardians in Game 1 as Soto and Giancarlo Stanton hit crucial home runs to put New York ahead.

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Aaron Judge provided the offense for the Yankees as four New York relievers held off the Guardians to win Game 2. Stanton and Soto hit home runs again in Game 4 while unheralded reliever Tommy Kahnle stepped in to close the game.

And four Yankees relievers held off the Guardians, allowing no runs in the later half of Game 5, as Soto and Stanton hit more home runs. Relief pitcher Luke Weaver was the one Yankee who remained calm after Soto's big home run on Saturday night since he had to finish off the Guardians.

"There was no reaction out of me because I was in complete lock-in mode. I knew I couldn't exert energy there because I didn't want to go out there without enough energy to help us win the game," Weaver told the New York Post after the win.

Every member of the Yankees contributed to beating Cleveland, a testimony to the strong bench assembled in the Bronx.

Building a strong bench is needed in business as much as it is in creating a championship sports team. In a piece at Deal Room, Ken Greenberg, a Senior Managing Director at Auctus Search Partners, cited a study that showed almost half of middle managers do not have a successor ready to take over.

"It's crucial for owners and their senior leadership to identify and develop a bench to fill key executive roles," Greenburg wrote. "The bench can be internal existing junior executives that are developed into leaders; external recruits with deep industry knowledge and leadership skills; or a combination of both."

To help build your bench, Greenburg stressed that companies need to make training their talent pool a top priority.

"Building talent pools for key positions should always be part of the resource planning of an organization," Greenburg noted. "This also means analyzing the key soft and technical skills needed to fill key positions and having an evidence-based assessment process (not just a gut feeling) at the ready to screen candidates."

The Yankees have made building their bench a priority, and it's one of the reasons they won the American League pennant.

Hal Steinbrenner, the chairman and managing partner of the Yankees ownership, recognized his team received effort from every member of the roster as they reached their first World Series in 15 years.

"This has been an incredible year, and it's an incredible group of guys," Steinbrenner told Front Office Sports. "We had our ups and we had our downs, but they never had a doubt. They never panicked. Every day, they went out and did their job, and that's why we're here."