The Yankees approach the new season with questions surrounding the starting rotation. That’s no surprise, we’ve been talking about those shortcomings ever since Javier Vazquez became the least welcome sequel after Staying Alive (tough choice, lots of terrible sequels).
The surprise is that the Yankees have too many starters now. But once again, they’re having a very hard time finding five of them that are ready to be effective come opening day. Here’s a take on the problem from John Harper in Daily News.
The stats in spring training may be meaningless, but as Phil Hughes demonstrated last year, if you are not ready to answer the bell once the games count, you will get obliterated. So I hope Joe Girardi learned that lesson and will leave behind anyone that can’t cut it.
What if that means leaving Michael Pineda behind? If he’s going to get lit up like Hughes last year, then it’s for the best. But I will have a much happier time this spring if Michael Pineda is pitching well for the Yankees. Revisiting the Montero deal ad nauseum is inevitible, but it won’t be upsetting if Pineda delivers something positive right away.
What’s your rotation now? What’s your rotation once Pettitte is back?
Now: CC, Kuroda, Pineda, Hughes, Nova
Then: Pettitte replaces Nova
If Nova is pitching better than Hughes, that can be amended.
Holy shit that's a funny picture of Travolta.
Imagine what a douche he felt like in that get up.
Re Pineda. I was against the deal, but I have a good feeling he'll be fine.
That rotation you sketched out looks correct, Alex.
Correct, Jon, that is
What's the over/under on Freddy Garcia starts? 5? 10?
I'm all for going 2 turns through the rotation with Pineda in the minors. If the team is 5-5 then you drop your worst SP not named Sabathia and slot in Pineda. If the team is 8-2 you are playing .800 ball and you've got no worries. These things tend to sort themselves out.
Pettitte is back to pitch in October, not May, so he'll be patient.
Nice problem to have, and if everyone holds up, valuable trading chips for later. Nova only consistantly won last year, and was nothing but dependable. He's smart, calm, and wily at this young age. He's got to be a keeper. Is Kuroda really better than Nova, Hughes, or Garcia?
[4] Good point about Nova. He's been good and should get as much consideration as Hughes.
Kuroda is being paid 10 million, so he's in the rotation until he goes Javy on us. If the point is why did they acquire Kuroda after getting Pineda, I think that going in with only CC, Pineda, Hughes, Nova and Garcia would have been overly risky.
Now that they have Pettitte, seems unnecessary, but that wasn't the case when they got him.
[5] It's funny (not the haha type) that money paid to a player trumps merit. We'll see how it goes. $10M doesn't seem a lot to pay a dependable starter these days. Maybe another team will take him off the Yankees payroll before he disproves his worth?
[1] Rambo meets Caligula? Travolta prolly likes that image.
[1] On an initial glance I thought it was the Marlins new Home-Run Fish-a-palooza machine.