Wednesday April 18, 2012

Bryan Sheehan (Baseball Writer):The New York Yankees have some time to experiment with their pitching rotation. Though their top two starters, C.C. Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda, make more ($33 million in 2012) than half of the salary earned by the Tampa Bay Rays, the bottom three of the rotation may shift based on a few factors. The most important consideration is the fact that the Yankees have two young players, Michael Pineda and David Phelps, that have shown signs that they would be effective in the rotation, when healthy and given the opportunity. Also, one cannot forget that Andy Pettitte, who signed out of retirement in March, has shown signs of strength in two rehab appearances for Hi-A Tampa, throwing a total of seven innings and allowing just one run on four hits while striking out five. The third factor in the potential shake-up of the Yankees’ rotation is the sub-par starts that Freddy Garcia (0-1, 6.97 ERA) and Phil Hughes (0-2, 9.00 ERA) have had this year. If Joe Girardi wants to try something new as the season progresses (he may have to if he wants to keep his job), he will have many key pieces to play with already in the organization. Read the rest of this entry →