New York, New York: Do I want to be a part of it?

There’s a joke somewhere in here.

The New York Yankees made it to the American League Championship Series five months ago behind CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter and the pinch-hitting heroics of Raul Ibanez. Who’s going to forget those shots deep into the New York sky in place of the embattled Alex Rodriguez?

On Monday, Feb. 25, the Yankees played their third game of spring training. Already, it seems like it’s going to be a long year for the Bronx Bombers that aren’t really the Bronx Bombers anymore.

Manager Joe Girardi said it himself. The 2013 Yankees are going to rely more on speed and less the long ball to succeed in the vastly improved American League East, which is not easy to do even with the long ball like in years past.

The 2012 team had Russell Martin behind the plate, Nick Swisher in right field and Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones off the bench. Sure, nothing earth shattering, but add their power numbers together and you come up with 94 home runs. New York hit 245 homers last season, so losing the 94 adds up to more than one-third of the total home runs. That No. 94 didn’t seem so small in the first place. Now, it’s monumental.

Curtis Granderson led the Yankees with 43 home runs in 2012, which was 10 more than second-place Robinson Cano at 33. Girardi and the higher ups of Yankee World decided to make a tweak in the outfield involving Granderson and the newly returned from injury Brett Gardner. The plan was that Gardner, the better, faster defender, would move to Granderson’s center field position while the team’s home run leader would move to left field, a place he hasn’t played since playing two games there for the Detroit Tigers in 2007.

Problem: Granderson was hit by a pitch on Sunday, Feb. 24 by Toronto Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ. Normally not a big deal, that’s not the case this time. The “new” Yankees left fielder suffered a broken forearm and will be out until the first week of May. General Manager Brian Cashman to the media on Granderson going to left field: “That experiment’s over.”

Now add 43 home runs to the already 94 departed. Opening Day on Monday, April 1 against the archrival Boston Red Sox will have a Yankees roster featuring less than half of the individual home runs from 2012. That doesn’t even factor in Alex Rodriguez’s total.

Now, the “Bronx Bombers” need a new nickname. While they play in a bandbox, you still need players in the lineup that will hit home runs to keep such a nickname. Ichiro Suzuki at 40-years old won’t do it. Speedster Brett Gardner won’t do it. Francisco Cervelli, seemingly the leader in the clubhouse to replace Martin as the Opening Day catcher, really won’t do it.

The pressure to produce falls on Robinson Cano, who is in a contract year, Mark Teixeira, who struggled mightily last season and usually starts slow, and newcomer Kevin Youkilis, who still has to prove he’s a viable fill in at third base having struggled in recent years. Newly aquired Travis Hafner could produce some pop from the left side in the designated hitter spot, but he’s long past the years of 30-plus homers.

Toronto got better in adding Josh Johnson and R.A. Dickey to the rotation. Boston got better in adding a calmer, less trigger-happy manager in John Farrell, among other players. Baltimore, well, Nick Markakis comes back from a broken finger, but they didn’t add too much. As for Tampa Bay, they’re the kings of playing small ball with speed. They lost James Shields to the Kansas City Royals, but that’s on the mound. They do still have the reigning Cy Young Award winner in David Price, and Matt Moore paired with Jeremy Hellickson anchor the rest of a solid rotation.

The moral of the story is New York is going to need the pitching staff to step it up. In years past, they have not been relied upon to shut teams down with consistency. Usually, Yankees starters could give up five runs in an outing and still win. Now, that’s not going to be the case. Sabathia has to rebound from October elbow surgery. Andy Pettitte has to pitch like a 30-year old, not a 40-year old. Hiroki Kuroda will need to repeat his success from his first year in pinstripes in 2012 while Phil Hughes must get better. That might not happen though as Girardi revealed because of right hander's back, he's questionable to be ready for Opening Day. Ivan Nova might be the key though. He needs to take the next step and become a consistent one-two punch with Sabathia. If that happens, New York still has a chance.

Yes, it’s only the end of February and I’m already talking about the Yankees chances in the AL East. But lets be honest. Losing Granderson is huge. Gardner missed nearly all of last season. Swisher is gone. A-Rod is on the bench (and maybe that’s for the better.) Derek Jeter is still no guarantee to return to form from a broken ankle he suffered against the Tigers in the ALCS. Cervelli has to prove he can control the pitching staff for 162 games.

Do you get the point? There are a lot of question marks in 2013.

So where’s the joke? I can read this multiple times through and find a new one each read. Lets see if you find the same ones I did, or whether I’m missing one. Or five.