tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Yankee Rumblings Part II

The New York Yankees announced the signing of CC Sabathia to a contract extension thus precluding the big lefty from opting out from his original contract. The move ensures that the Yankees will have their left-handed ace for the next 5 years. One thing that Sabathia needs to do is take care of himself better and I am particularly referring to his weight. Carrying the extra weight could ultimately be a problem the older Sabathia gets.

With CC secured, the Yankees will not be in panic mode this year however General Manager Brian Cashman indicated that the team will try to bolster the pitching staff. As it stands, four spots are set for the rotation: Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes and AJ Burnett. The Yankees have indicated that they may be willing to bring Freddy Garcia back for the last spot in the rotation. However, there may be better options. The guy I would like to see the Yankees make a run at is Mark Buerhle. Buerhle is 31 years old and has been a solid successful pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Buerhle was a part of the White Sox World Series Championship team in 2005 and is an innings eater. In my mind, Buerhle would be your number 2 starter behind CC.

There are three other pitching free agents who I believe the Yankees should stay away from. CJ Wilson will be looking for big dollars and quite frankly I am not impressed. He doesn't have that big of a body of work to warrant a big contract. The Japanese phenom, Yu Darvish has many people salivating over his abilities. Quite frankly, it has been proven that pitchers from Japan have not translated well in the U.S. Let someone else spend the money. In fact, but for El Duque, the Yankees have had terrible luck in the importing of pitchers from other countries. The Phillies did not pick up the option on Roy Oswalt and the Yankees should steer clear. Oswalt has never pitched in the American League and I don't believe he has the personal make-up to handle pitching in New York.

Another way to improve the starting rotation would be through a trade. A name that has been floating around which may be able to be had is John Danks. Danks is 25 years old and the White Sox are looking to shave payroll which could mean that the asking price for Danks may be reasonable. A couple of mid-level prospects for Danks would be a good move.

The bullpen appears to be solid. It would be nice if the Yankees could get another lefty reliever in addition to Boone Logan. But once again the Yanks do not need to overpay for one. They will be getting Joba Chamberlain back and Rafael Soriano elected not to exercize his opt-out clause and he will be back. This should once again be a strength.

There are some who are suggesting that it is not essential to have a dominating pitching staff as they point to the ouster of the Phillies and the success of the Rangers. But I would still want to have a good pitching staff going into a short playoff series. That being said, the Yankees need to make sure that Phil Hughes comes into camp in good shape and that Ivan Nova does not suffer a sophomore jinx. That's why my ideal situation would be to sign Buerhle and bring Garcia back. If Nova or Hughes falter in camp you have a fall back option in Garcia. If they do well, then you can use Garcia as a long reliever or cut him. The other wild card is Burnett but as the Yankees proved this year their offense can compensate for him.

One other area that needs to be looked at is the Manager, Joe Girardi. While many praise Girardi for his handling of the bullpen, I believe that the manager needs to be more closely scrutinized. Girardi is addicted to his binder with all of his statistical match-ups. While numbers are important, as a manager you also need to have a feel for who's hot and who's not. Case in point: this year's playoffs. While everyone wants to get on Nick Swisher for not producing, my question is why wouldn't Girardi have flipped Jorge Posada with Swisher in the line-up. Posada hit over .400 and certainly had successful playoff experience. In addition, with offensive production being a problem, Girardi did not utilize his bench at all during the post season. With Russell Martin struggling at the plate, I don't understand why Jesus Montero wasn't given an opportunity. And as I mentioned in my previous post, Andruw Jones should have been given more opportunities particularly with Swisher struggling. Girardi will tell you that the Tigers had mainly right handed starters and that he wanted to get more left handed bats in the lineup. But once again if you see that guys are struggling, you need to shake things up.

The Yankees also need to begin the process of incorporating more youth in the lineup. Hopefully, Manuel Banuelos and Dellin Betances will be able to make a contribution this year. They also need to see some progress from Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner. They must avoid bringing in aging players unless they are going to be around in a back-up roll. Some are clamoring for the Yanks to get Carlos Beltran or Grady Sizemore. The problem with both is that they are injury prone and could clog up an already overcrowded DH spot in the lineup due to the aging of ARod and Derek Jeter.

With the Red Sox in disarray and the Rays not in a position to substantially improve their offense, the Yankees should be in good position to qualify for the playoffs again in 2012. The key will be performance in the post season and the progression of young players to ensure long term success for the future.