It is looking more and more likely that the New York Yankees
will miss the postseason for the second consecutive season even after spending
in excess of $500 million in free agent contracts in the offseason. When the
Yankees fall out of contention I tend to start thinking about the next season
just a little and try and plan out how the team can avoid this kind of
disappointment in 2015. The Yankees starting rotation is going to be littered
with question marks heading into the 2015 season with health questions for CC
Sabathia, Ivan Nova, and Masahiro Tanaka specifically.
Keeping the health questions in mind New York will need to
have as much depth as they can stashed away in Triple-A and in the bullpen for
next season. Taking into consideration all the options New York currently has
at their disposal mixed in with the question marks the Yankees may be stacked
at pitching next season.
The starting rotation looks to consist of CC Sabathia at the
top followed by, in no particular order, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Ivan
Nova, and Shane Greene. It is extremely likely that New York brings back
Brandon McCarthy to essentially replace the retiring and/or free agent Hiroki
Kuroda in the rotation as well. New York also has Chase Whitley, Manny
Banuelos, Bryan Mitchell, David Phelps and others already on the roster to
potentially fight for a roster spot or work out of the bullpen.
As much as this is going to shock many I think New York
should go with what they currently have in 2015 and avoid the free agency trap
that is Jon Lester or Max Scherzer. If New York could get James Shields on a
smaller termed deal, three years or less, than I would be more than willing to
make room in the rotation for him by either trading a Shane Greene or not
bringing back a Brandon McCarthy. Other than that I think the Yankees starting
rotation is pretty much written in pen, hole punched, and placed in the 2015
version of Joe Girardi’s binder already.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)