Thursday, December 16, 2010

Time For Yanks To Get Creative

     Not much is certain about the Yankee's starting rotation beyond C.C. Sabathia.  Phil Hughes is also a solid starter but no one is sure if he can mirror his success from last season.  A.J. Burnett is coming off of a terrible year and will have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of his manager.  There are no guarentees of who will even be the 4 or 5 starters.

If the season started today, the rotation would look like this.  C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre.  Thank God the season does not start today.  There is still plenty of time to make some moves to bolster the rotation and the bullpen.  There are many options out there for the Yanks but it is important to not rush into anything and be patient.

Lets go over a few ideas that have been confirmed and also spitball some ideas that haven't.  My brother, Anthony, mentioned Josh Johnson as a possible addition to the rotation.  There is a lot of promise in this young righty.  He hasn't gotten much recognition for what he has done in the last 3 seasons due to the fact that the Marlins are a struggling team.  He went 11-6 last year with a 2.30 ERA. The year before that he was an impressive 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA.  Trading young talent for him would not be so bad given his age of only 26.  He is just coming into his prime and could do great things for the Yankees.

There were rumblings of the Yankees looking into Carlos Zambrano as a possible solution to their starter woes.  However, in the most recent report, the Yanks are said to not be that desperate yet.  Zambrano has a lot of issues that the Yankees don't feel they need to take on just to gain a starter.

Fausto Carmona has been mentioned as a possible addition to the rotation.  He's coming off of a sub .500 year with a 13-14 record and a 3.77 ERA.  This is an improvement from his previous 2 seasons. If he continues to show improvement he could make a good fit for a 5 man in the rotation.  And seeing as how his past few seasons haven't been spectacular, he should come relatively cheap.

Things will be a lot easier on the Yankees if they receive good news out of Deer Park, Texas.  Andy Pettitte has been on the fence about returning for another season in pinstripes.  Word is that the Yankees should have an answer on Pettitte's status in a few days.  It seems his family is supporting him if he decides to come back for another year, but he does not want to deal with a low ball offer from the Yankees and insists they pay him fair.  There was a rumor that he told a friend, "If the Yankees get Lee, I'll come back.  If they don't, I'll stay home."  Seldom are things every really that cut and dry.

I've just read that the Yankees have requested the medical records for Freddy Garcia.  This was a spitball idea of mine but now it seems to be an option being pursued.  Garcia is not nearly as young as Johnson but he can definitely fit nicely in the rotation.  He's Just over the league average in ERA but also in WHIP.  He seems like he could be the type of guy the Yankees are looking for if the price is right.

Sidenote: With today's transactions, the Red Sox now have a higher payroll than the Yankees.  However, it is only a matter of time before the Yankees make a noticeable move.

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