One thing the New York Yankees needed to address was starting pitching, and they chose instead to ride with the guys they already have in the organization.
This one has to be chalked up as a failure for the New York Yankees‘ front office.
The Yankees were a team everyone thought would make a big splash at the deadline in the starting pitching department, but (in honesty) to no surprise, Brian Cashman chose to stay put and roll with the guys he has on the roster to try and bring home a championship.
That’s not a bad strategy if the team doesn’t need much tweaking. Looking at last year’s Red Sox team, they had the starting pitching in Chris Sale, David Price, and Rick Porcello all having very nice years. They had the back-end bullpen firepower in Craig Kimbrel, Joe Kelly, and Matt Barnes.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
They already had the #1 offense and multiple MVP candidates like Mookie and JD. They simply added “extra” pieces like Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce (who both actually turned out to be game-changers in their own right).
But when we look at this year’s Yankee team, there’s no question they weren’t “all set” with the roster they had. They absolutely and unequivocally (even “indubitably” as the kids say these days) NEEDED starting pitching. Their rotation is 18th in ERA (4.77), 19th in BAA (.263), and 15th in Ks (528) per ESPN team stats.
That is not a World Series-ready bunch.
We just saw how badly their rotation got beat up, not just in the Boston series, but even dating back to the Minnesota series where they gave up 20 Earned Runs and 9 home runs in just 11 innings between the threesome of CC Sabathia, Domingo German, and J.A. Happ. Then James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka got destroyed at Fenway to top it all off.
This New York Yankees rotation has had a problem all year with its ability to go deep in ball games aside from the fact that the ERAs have skyrocketed for all five starters in recent weeks.
Looking at the crop of talent available via trade this season, it’s understandable that there wasn’t much to get excited about. But when a potential ALCS opponent in Houston goes out and lands Zack Greinke without giving up their best prospects in return, it’s a bad reflection on upper management.
MadBum wasn’t for sale? Fine.
Marcus Stroman wouldn’t make that much of a difference for a hefty price? Fine.
Matt Boyd‘s price doesn’t look “worth it?” Fine.
But the Mets had Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler on a silver platter and the Diamondbacks were literally in the building playing the Yankees yesterday and a deal couldn’t be struck with either of them?
That’s certainly a lot of faith being put in the guys already on the roster and in the organization, and this is coming from someone who isn’t even a Yankees fan.
New York Yankees Nation has to be upset about what transpired (or didn’t transpire) yesterday and they have every right to be.
Could the current rotation turn things around? Absolutely. If they wind up winning the World Series are these criticisms going to fall by the wayside? Of course.
But when we look down the barrel of a potential matchup with Houston in the ALCS, the possibility of seeing Verlander, Cole, and Greinke SIX times in a seven-game series doesn’t look too promising, nor does it evoke confidence on the Yankees’ part.