If I were New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, I’d be very happy if everybody got sucked into following the tawdry tabloid saga of Alex Rodriguez this winter. The more “A-Rod is the devil” stories come out, the less time anyone will have to pay attention to the multitude of problems Cashman needs to solve this winter to get the Yankees into the playoffs in 2015.
Right now, the Yankees’ starting rotation depth chart is Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia, Shane Greene and David Phelps (I guess), with Ivan Nova a possibility sometime later in the season. Cashman has indicated that he’d like to re-sign free agent Brandon McCarthy, who would slot in behind Tanaka and Pineda.
When healthy, Tanaka and Pineda are very talented. But every time Tanaka throws a pitch, you’ve got to wonder if it will be the last before he needs Tommy John surgery and Pineda has started just 13 major league games in the past three years. Sabathia is no longer the ace the Yankees thought they were adding when they signed him and his workload will always have to be carefully monitored due to a knee condition. Anybody care to bet that the three pitchers will each start 30 games next year? I’m not so sure I’d count on the trio combining to start 30 games.
The good news is that this problem should be relatively easy to fix. While their aren’t many quality free agent hitters available this winter, starting pitching is a strength with Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields all on the market.
Continue reading “What does the Yankees’ lack of interest in this year’s top free agents mean?”
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