WTF Yankees?!?!
The baseball season is coming up, and for one of the first times in decades, the Yankeees are not heavy favorites to make it to the World Series. As it stands right now, this is the starting pitching rotation for the Yankees.
- CC Sabathia
- Phil Hughes
- A.J. Burnett
- Ivan Nova
- Sergio Mitre
The only person in that rotation I trust is CC Sabathia. Phil Hughes had a great first half last year, but sort of fell apart the second half of the season. A.J. Burnett was abysmal last year. Ivan Nova, and Sergio Mitre are middle relievers. This should not be the pitching rotation for a team that has the highest payroll in baseball.
However, for some reason Yankees GM, Brian Cashman is reluctant to include the 2nd highest ranked baseball prospect, Jesus Montero, in any sort of trade package. The kid has the talent to be a great hitter one day, but he's not good enough defensively to be our catcher, and the only other suitable position for him is 1st base. The problem is that Mark Teixeira is gonna be at 1st base for years to come. An all-star DH can do a lot for us in the regular season, but it's not gonna help us much in the postseason, where half the games are played in NL ball parks.
The bottom-line is the Yankees need starting pitching, and if the Yankees are going to continue to invest the kind of money they do on pitching over the next decade, it would make sense to have an excellent defensive catcher. An excellent defensive catcher can improve the performance of the whole pitching staff. The Yankees will always be able to buy any bat they want, so the offensive production lost by trading Jesus Montero can be replaced by signing an all-star hitter, or by developing another all-star hitter at a different position, in the future.
I know a lot of people in baseball like to develop from within, and developing from within usually makes a lot of sense. It allows teams to have all-star talents on their roster for years at a time, for a fraction of the cost, of a free agent signing. Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, and Derek Jeter are all current roster all-stars the Yankees have developed from within. However, prospects can also be used as trade chips, especially for large market teams like the Yankees, that need to win every year. In the case of Jesus Montero, the Yankees should seriously reconsider what option they choose. Starting pitching wins ball games.
Jorge is getting old...we need a long term replacement for him soon....Jesus Montero is that guy. He may not be good defensively...but he is learning. Also, what starters can we trade for? Mariners will never trade Felix...Detroit wants too much for Verlander.
Montero has enough time to work on his defense that they should really keep him. They have other catching prospects (not to mention overall prospects) that they can trade if they want to make a move for a pitcher. I wouldn't be surprised if Montero was dealt at some point next season, but he could also easily be the starting catcher in a couple of years. There are a lot of guys that have worked to improve their defense, and the Yankees are used to getting good offensive production out of the catching position too.
About the rotation, they did everything they could to get Lee and he took less money to sign with Philly. Not much you can do about that. There weren't many other quality pitchers on the market this offseason either. Many people are saying that you should expect the Yankees to make at least one, possibly two trades for pitchers by the trading deadline next July. Wouldn't doubt it.
I'm sure if the Yankees were more willing to include Jesus Montero in a trade package, they would eventually be able to find some sort of ace. The problem last year was that Brian Cashman was only willing to include Jesus Montero in a trade involving Cliff Lee. There are plenty of other high quality starting pitchers in the MLB. The Yankees also have Gary Sanchez, who is another top ranked catching prospect, with excellent defensive skills. However, he is only 18 and is a few years from being ready for the majors. I don't think Jesus Montero will ever be a top notch defensive catcher, no matter how hard he tries, his build is just not suited for it. The Yankees should use what they got, or sign someone next year to fill void at the catching position, until Sanchez is ready. The Yankees aren't going to get any type of high quality starting pitcher, unless they give up something of value, and I think Jesus Montero is what they would need to give up.
PS- I'm not just rambling on about this stuff, because I love the Yankees. Goldman Sachs has a significant stake in the Yankees, and all you monkeys looking to impress Lloyd Blankfein, should pay attention to what goes on in this thread.
No offense, but I think I'll take the opinion of the GM and Staff that have won the most World Series the last 20 years over yours.
Hahaha, very reasonable logic. But even they know he's not going to be the best defensive catcher, they are reluctant to let him go, because they think he is going to be a great hitter. Most sports analysts agree that he is sub-par defensively.
EDIT: Plus, anyone has a good shot at winning the World Series with a $200 million dollar payroll. I'm more impressed by the players, than by the management skills of the organization.
At least our bullpen is solid. I'm hoping that AJ gets his shit together this year....lets see if any of the low risk high reward guys we signed to minor league deals this off season can do something. If nothing works out, i'm sure Brian will do something before the July 31st deadline.
Hopefully Teixeira, Arod, and Jeter all have comeback seasons too. The lineup is going to have to make up for their starting pitching this season.
I don't even follow baseball, but everyone from home has been absolutely apeshit this past month over the new Philly rotation.
haha yea...its arguably the best ever and CERTAINLY in the top 5
That rotation is ridiculous. I'm just glad the Philles play in another league and that we'll only have to face them during inter league play or the world series. Take a moment to think about the poor Mets...having to face that rotation 19 times a year =x
Good riddance. The Cliff Lee saga was pure gold for the rest of the AL. Now, if Justin Morneau can ever recover, my Twins may even beat the Yankees in a 5 game series. Or, at least, not get swept... Baby steps.
I must say for once in a LONG time, I feel like my Jays can finish ahead of the Yankees as it stands right now. That rotation is horrible, the one smart move the Yankees made this off-season was not bringing Greinke he would have got owned in NYC.
If the Phillies stay healthy this year, I honestly don't see a scenario they don't win the World Series. They have four legitimate aces, an all-star closer, and a solid lineup. The Mets don't have a shot in hell.
It's not a crapshoot when a shutdown pitcher steps up to the mound nearly every single game. How are other teams going to score runs?
What is with all this "we" and "us" horse shit? I didn't know so many prospective monkeys worked for the Yankees.
Think last year's SF vs. PHI series, for example. Everyone thought it was going to be a super low-scoring series. Only twice in the entire series did either team fail to score less than 2 runs in a game.
Both Halladay and Hamels logged ERAs above 4.00 in the series in a combined 3 starts.
Look, I would agree that the Phillies are favorites, but in a small sample size, it's more than possible to get erratic results. The 06 Cardinals barely made the playoffs with 83 wins (worst ever for a champion) but managed to win the World Series. The rather mediocre 07 Rockies sucked for 80% of the season, got hot during August and won 10 straight games in the playoffs. Luck happens, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Phillies (with everyone healthy) dropped a shocker to some random team you can't even dream of making the postseason right now.
You're right. The Yankees are gonna win it all this year.
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/01/26/rumors-of-andy-pettittes-return-are-…
Go GIANTS!
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