Steinbrenner embraces new direction

HOUSTON — It happened in an instant, a pair of home runs sailing over the wall at Yankee Stadium. In that moment with a packed house rocking the ballpark in that old, familiar way, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner could see a bright and shiny new vision of his team take shape.

“I gotta be honest with you,” he said Wednesday afternoon at Major League Baseball’s Quarterly Owners Meetings. “I was emotional. We’ve been following these guys for three years. All the ups and downs. The progressions. The hope you have. Being in that stadium, it was electric. I can definitely tell you that the atmosphere in the clubhouse over the weekend was different. It was exciting. People were excited. The players were excited. Time will tell.”

• Yankees’ top prospects

Two things had happened in the weeks leading up to those home runs by Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge in their first Major League at-bats last Saturday.

First, the Yankees looked like a team going nowhere. They were an old team, a team unlikely to get better. They had spent most of this season in fourth place in the American League East, and this wasn’t about injuries or slumps. This seemed to be a new normal.

Around that time, some of the prospects the Yankees had been so patient with the last three years showed the club they had nothing else to prove in the Minor Leagues.

In a span of three weeks, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman traded outfielder Carlos Beltran and relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. And on Friday, Alex Rodriguez played his final game with the Yankees.

On Saturday, the Yankees ran out a lineup that had six players 26 or younger, including three of the organization’s top prospects — Judge, Austin and Gary Sanchez.

This is how the Yankees intend to play it. They’re going to throw ’em out there and allow them to grow. Suddenly, the Yanks are about as interesting as any team in the game. They’re still in contention, possibly a long shot to make the playoffs. As Steinbrenner said, they were a long shot when they had all the veteran players.

Now they’ve got a young roster that has a chance to improve. Along with that talent comes enthusiasm and possibly growth. Those trades helped, too, creating what MLBPipeline.com rates as baseball’s No. 2 farm system.

If the Yankees stay the course — and Steinbrenner says they will — this week may be looked back upon as the beginning of the beginning of another championship era for the Yankees. For now, these are the Baby Bombers.

“The last two weeks have been exciting,” Steinbrenner said. “Lot …

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