Offseason Pitching

[Tabbert]

I would love to see us sign lackey but i dont know if that will happen.. however you cant go wrong with this starting rotation.

cc sabathia
John Lackey
Aj burnett
Andy pettitte
Phil Hughes

The reason i really want lackey is this season the yanks proved pitching wins championships. If not for the great pitching from andy and CC decent pitching from aj we never win it all. However, will andy aging we cant bank on the 3 man rotation of cc,aj, and andy to light it up in the postseason again. John lackey is a big game pitcher that would make us very hard to beat in the playoffs and would even allow us to move to a four man rotation rather then using a 3 man the entire way. Fact is, we only used 3 pitchers during the playoffs bc we did not trust anyone else to start. Well, dont you think its smart to bring in another big time guy who can get it done in the playoffs? i love andy, but with age comes more lingering injuries and we just cant expect the same results from him next year.

[BryanV21]

I would love to see us sign lackey but i dont know if that will happen.. however you cant go wrong with this starting rotation.

cc sabathia
John Lackey
Aj burnett
Andy pettitte
Phil Hughes

The reason i really want lackey is this season the yanks proved pitching wins championships. If not for the great pitching from andy and CC decent pitching from aj we never win it all. However, will andy aging we cant bank on the 3 man rotation of cc,aj, and andy to light it up in the postseason again. John lackey is a big game pitcher that would make us very hard to beat in the playoffs and would even allow us to move to a four man rotation rather then using a 3 man the entire way. Fact is, we only used 3 pitchers during the playoffs bc we did not trust anyone else to start. Well, dont you think its smart to bring in another big time guy who can get it done in the playoffs? i love andy, but with age comes more lingering injuries and we just cant expect the same results from him next year.

While you're worried about Andy's health due to his age, I'm worried about Lackey's health due to him spending time on the DL the past two seasons with elbow and tricep trouble.

[jxnhole]

I gotta say, Lackey for Pettitte has the initial feelling of Giambi for Martinez....how well did that pan out? If Andy wants to retire, I can honor and respect that, but if he wants to play sign him up.

[donnie23]

Sign Harden, Bedard won't play for us, he's a mental midget. Harden has the lights out stuff and comes relatively cheaply. Sheets might be a nice 1-year option as well.

Sabathia
Harden
Burnett
Pettitte
Chamberlain
Hughes

That works for me. Hughes can start in the pen and move to the rotation when somebody goes down.

[jxnhole]

On the pitching front, any news on how Kennedy is doing these days?

[Tabbert]

While you're worried about Andy's health due to his age, I'm worried about Lackey's health due to him spending time on the DL the past two seasons with elbow and tricep trouble.

yea, and aj burnett was no injury prone player when we signed him?

lackey still pitched over 175 innings this season and 160 last season despite injury problems. I think its fair to say almost every pitcher has injury risk.. and i understand the fact u might be worried about the fact that he has been injured the last two season but what is to say that he wont bounce back and be injury free like aj and pitch 200 plus innings? Fact is, lackey is only 30, and he is a horse and has shown to be ACE caliber. The premise of my argument was more so based on the fact that i don't want to depend on a 3 man rotation for the postseason next year.

[Tabbert]

Sign Harden, Bedard won't play for us, he's a mental midget. Harden has the lights out stuff and comes relatively cheaply. Sheets might be a nice 1-year option as well.

Sabathia
Harden
Burnett
Pettitte
Chamberlain
Hughes

That works for me. Hughes can start in the pen and move to the rotation when somebody goes down.

i would be good with that as well... i just really feel like we need a true four man rotation we can rely on. This season, we relied on 3 guys in the playoffs... well what if one goes down? we need a true starter to be able to come out there and give us a great peformance. If andy, cc, or aj would have gotten hurt during the playoffs we would have had chad gadin pitching for us in the alcs, or ws.. which scares the ever living Shit out of me. Dont get me wrong, gaudin did his job this season and ate up inning and really helped up but i dont trust him vs the angels, redsox, phillies, during the playoffs.

[donnie23]

i would be good with that as well... i just really feel like we need a true four man rotation we can rely on. This season, we relied on 3 guys in the playoffs... well what if one goes down? we need a true starter to be able to come out there and give us a great peformance. If andy, cc, or aj would have gotten hurt during the playoffs we would have had chad gadin pitching for us in the alcs, or ws.. which scares the ever living Shit out of me. Dont get me wrong, gaudin did his job this season and ate up inning and really helped up but i dont trust him vs the angels, redsox, phillies, during the playoffs.

Here's to that guy being one Phillip Hughes esquire!

[Tabbert]

Here's to that guy being one Phillip Hughes esquire!

i really hope he is in the starting rotation when the season starts!

[jxnhole]

Is anyone concerned that without Andy, and a pickup of Lackey, the Yanks will have just one lefty starter? I'd rather get a lower caliber, cheaper, lefty than Lackey.

[BryanV21]

yea, and aj burnett was no injury prone player when we signed him?

lackey still pitched over 175 innings this season and 160 last season despite injury problems. I think its fair to say almost every pitcher has injury risk.. and i understand the fact u might be worried about the fact that he has been injured the last two season but what is to say that he wont bounce back and be injury free like aj and pitch 200 plus innings? Fact is, lackey is only 30, and he is a horse and has shown to be ACE caliber. The premise of my argument was more so based on the fact that i don't want to depend on a 3 man rotation for the postseason next year.

I'm going to make a list, because I'm lazy like that...

1. I don't believe AJ will have another year like this one, when he didn't miss a single start. I still worry about his health.

2. Since we already have that big health risk with AJ, why add another injury risk to the rotation? That seems kind of dangerous.

3. Injuries don't care how old you are. Greg Maddux threw 190+ innings every season from the age of 22 til the age of 42.

4. I don't want another 3 man rotation throughout the playoffs either. We got a little lucky thanks to weather and extra off days. You can't count on that again. I'm not sold that one of these injury risk pitchers is the answer though. Especially when the Yankees do not need an "ACE caliber" pitcher.

[Yanks 4lif3]

One of Hughes and Chamberlain should be in the rotation, while the other should stay in the bullpen. Because the Yankees have already gone so far down the path with Joba and Hughes seemed to have settled in as the set-up man, excluding the playoffs, that would be the best. Assuming Andy comesback for a year, then the Yankees can go out and sign either Harden or Chapman.

CC
AJ
Andy
Joba
Chapman/Harden with Gaudin and Aceves as backup options

On a side note, would the Yanks entertain the idea of using A-Jax in left field next year as a cheaper way to get younger and add some versatility to the outfield?

[BryanV21]

Is anyone concerned that without Andy, and a pickup of Lackey, the Yanks will have just one lefty starter? I'd rather get a lower caliber, cheaper, lefty than Lackey.

ME TOO! Although I have to give you credit for pointing out the lefty bit.

Give me a 4/5 starter that will eat 190+ innings, and won't give up a boatload of runs per start (aka, an ERA around or below 4.25).

[BryanV21]

One of Hughes and Chamberlain should be in the rotation, while the other should stay in the bullpen. Because the Yankees have already gone so far down the path with Joba and Hughes seemed to have settled in as the set-up man, excluding the playoffs, that would be the best. Assuming Andy comesback for a year, then the Yankees can go out and sign either Harden or Chapman.

CC
AJ
Andy
Joba
Chapman/Harden with Gaudin and Aceves as backup options

On a side note, would the Yanks entertain the idea of using A-Jax in left field next year as a cheaper way to get younger and add some versatility to the outfield?

AJax still needs to work on his hitting. Develop more power and lower his K rate. A late season callup seems to be his best bet.

[Tabbert]

bryan, you make great points... however i would say thats its not really fair to compare other pitchers to greg maddux.. thats simply not fair.

Let me throw this one out there for u though... What if the phillies or redsox were to get roy hallady... leaving each of those teams with halladay/beckett or halladay/ lee then would you be open to us spending the money to bring in a guy like lackey to give us the dynamic duo of cc/ lackey? this is all hypothetical of course.