He Has Indeed Been a Killer Bee
First is that RHP Dellin Betances might be on the downward side of his arc. Listen to what he said in December at the Holiday Food Drive, as reported by Pete Caldera at NJ.com:
"“I feel I’m a lot better than what the numbers show,’’ said Betances, who pitched to a 5.59 ERA over his final 12 regular season games. “For me, I’m going to focus a lot on fastball command…that’s going to be huge this offseason,’’ said Betances, whose late-season troubles locating that pitch led to his non-status in October; he threw just four innings in the Yankees’ 12 postseason games, yielding two runs. “I’m taking it as I have to prove myself.’’"
So are the Yankees.
Be Trade
Second is that Brian Cashman might part with a valuable reliever such as right-hander David Robertson as part of a trade for a front-line starter.
And last but far from least is that two of the Yankees best full-time minor league relievers from last year are gone: RHP Nick Rumbelow was traded to the Mariners, while fellow righty Jose Mesa was picked off of waivers by Baltimore.
All of this will drive several Yankees decisions for 2018.
One, they will add at least one more starter between now and the trading deadline. Those six—Severino, Tanaka-time, Gray, Sabathia, Montgomery, Player To Be Named Later—will hopefully get the majority of the starts this year.
Two, they will try to get most of the remaining starts from mid-level pitchers Luis Cessa, and Chad Green, whom they hope will not melt down. Finally, they will trust only their most advanced pitchers to get a big league tryout this season.
That takes a lot of statistical analysis, foresight, and guesswork. LHP Justus Sheffield is a lock to remain a starter, for instance. But he might be the only one. Verdicts on the rest are below, using my foresight and guesswork.