It's looking more and more like AJ Burnett is headed for pinstripes

[Mach]

22 starts is not staying healthy all year. i honestly could see him missing a few starts but not that many. i say he makes it to 30 starts. going out on a bit of a limb, but i really think he does. plus...i just don't see Hughes coming up soon enough to get that many starts. and yes, he and Joba will both be on inning counts. so they do need someone. Sheets could fit the bill because even if he gets hurt, your count says 27 starts out in the open. he could get that.

Well Sheets as a 5 starter would be scary because he's not durable, and has only beat 25 IP once in the last 4 years. There's only so much in the well. And I'm not sure he'll like to ride the pine come playoff time, if there is. I'd be leery about having to fill three rotation spots due to injury/limits.

[ljshorty89]

Well Sheets as a 5 starter would be scary because he's not durable, and has only beat 25 IP once in the last 4 years. There's only so much in the well. And I'm not sure he'll like to ride the pine come playoff time, if there is. I'd be leery about having to fill three rotation spots due to injury/limits.

I assume you mean 25 starts?

[Mach]

While he is certainly injury prone, there's no doubt about it, I feel like it's still being overblown. We will see, but I don't think he's AS injury prone as everyone is making him out to be. I'm not ruling out something bad happening, but if I had a gun to my head, I'd say he's gonna be ok

Well, he's not Pavano, but the guy has made in the last 5 years:

08: 34 starts
07: 25 starts
06: 21 starts
05: 32 starts
04: 19 starts

And the 30+ are contract years. That's a bit of a pause for concern there for me. That's possibly somewhere between 9-15 starts that he may miss. For that reason, I believe we need a durable guy at the back end of the roto, and let IPK and Hughes fill in the blanks.

[Mach]

I assume you mean 25 starts?

Err, yeah, sorry. Was talking about the same subject elsewhere and was talking IP.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

Hughes should be an emergency starter at most. I really want him to get a little more time in AAA

[ljshorty89]

The other question is if their signing is Andy Pettite, he will likely pitch every 5 days, but will he be effective. So basically, their likely candidates for the last rotation spot would either be an injury prone pitcher like Sheets or a "questionably" effective guy like Pettite. Which one is more of the Yankees need?

[Mach]

Hughes should be an emergency starter at most. I really want him to get a little more time in AAA

I agree that he should spend the bulk of the season in AAA. Just make the occasional spot start up top. Having durable pitchers makes that easier.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

I just put this in the Mets thread, but I'll put it here too. I think Jon Garland would be perfect for this situation. You know what you're getting from him. You'll get all the starts you want without a big injury risk, and you'll get a 4.00-4.25 ERA. That's all the Yankees need for this #5 slot. He's perfect, and he's being overlooked. But the Yankees aren't the only ones overlooking Garland.

[Mach]

The other question is if their signing is Andy Pettite, he will likely pitch every 5 days, but will he be effective. So basically, their likely candidates for the last rotation spot would either be an injury prone pitcher like Sheets or a "questionably" effective guy like Pettite. Which one is more of the Yankees need?

Well, for Andy, I think he'll bounce back, as he really suffered from his defense. By revised zone rating, the Yanks were the worst D in baseball, and Pettitte had a good FIP ERA, which eliminates the things pitchers can't control. Pettitte's BB rate, K rate, all that stuff either stayed the same or got a tick better, so he shouldn't have been as bad as he ended up, and he was gassed in addition.

In any case, I'd take Paul Byrd or so production from the 5 spot, becuase the other folks are Sabathia, Burnett, Wang and Joba, all high end pitchers. We can afford one mediocre pitcher who will stay healthy. It's better than gambling on another injury risk, and running replacement level pitchers out there in 3 spots potentially, much like last year.

[Mach]

I just put this in the Mets thread, but I'll put it here too. I think Jon Garland would be perfect for this situation. You know what you're getting from him. You'll get all the starts you want without a big injury risk, and you'll get a 4.00-4.25 ERA. That's all the Yankees need for this #5 slot. He's perfect, and he's being overlooked. But the Yankees aren't the only ones overlooking Garland.

I think Garland will be a bit worse than that, but if he's up for one year, then I'd take him. Same with Braden Looper. I think Hughes will be ready come 2010, so I only want a one year pact.

Bonus: If it's cheap, that would allow a play at Tex, as our payroll ain't so large right now, only about 170MM, and that's the Yankees here.

[cjkalt]

As a Red Sox fan, the one starter I don't want to see in NYY uniform is Ben Sheets, the guy has as much if not more raw talent than CC but he does get hurt often but if you can have 20 starts from a #1 starter at a #3-4 price I'd rather have that than a Jon Garland or Andy Pettite

[Mach]

As a Red Sox fan, the one starter I don't want to see in NYY uniform is Ben Sheets, the guy has as much if not more raw talent than CC but he does get hurt often but if you can have 20 starts from a #1 starter at a #3-4 price I'd rather have that than a Jon Garland or Andy Pettite

Generally I agree, but what happens when that's the case with 3/5 of your roto? Who makes up the rest of the starts? You won't fear Dan Giese, Al Aceves and Ian Kennedy. The upside is good, but you have to look at the downside too. We rather you face CC, AJ and Joba in a short series. Oh, and if you miss one, you get Wang instead. So even when AJ goes down, we still have a three man of CC, Wang and Joba with another league average guy, instead of having 2 replacement level players going in a series.

[cjkalt]

I'd rather get Andy Pettite 100% of the time then Ben Sheets 66% and Ian Kennedy/Dan Giese/Al Aceves (who is pretty good) 33%

Also why are the Yankees letting the Red Sox get all of these Japanese pitchers, I don't quite understand that, at least raise the bidding a bit

[Mach]

I'd rather get Andy Pettite 100% of the time then Ben Sheets 66% and Ian Kennedy/Dan Giese/Al Aceves (who is pretty good) 33%

Also why are the Yankees letting the Red Sox get all of these Japanese pitchers, I don't quite understand that, at least raise the bidding a bit

You'd rather face Sheets/Giese/Aceves in a series than Sabathia/Burnett/Byrd? I'm glad we agree, if it turns out that way, we may see the playoffs soon yet.

Aceves has had all of 6 games and 4 starts. People were saying the same of Rasner. He's no more than a back end guy at best right now. Let's get a better sample first.

The scouting reports for the first one you signed have been less than glowing. There's nothing special to any of the ones you've been after.

[cjkalt]

The scouting reports on okajima indicated he would be no better than a Long Reliever guy... that one turned out to be pretty wrong

I mean don't get me wrong CC/Burnett are good but for the back end i'd rather see Pettite/Byrd (btw i doubt he goes there from Boston) than a Sheets

Sheets always scares me when he is on the mound