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The New York Yankees are entering the 2016 season with a lot of hope when it comes to their rotation. The pitching staff wasn’t exactly an area of strength last season and some of the questions they entered last season with still linger. Those questions haven’t exactly precipitated an investment in starting pitching so far this offseason which could be something that comes back to haunt them.
Last year, only two starters, C.C. Sabathia and Michael Pineda, surpassed 160 innings. Sabathia had 167.1 to lead the team and Pineda barely surpassed the number with 160.2 innings pitched. While Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow held up the rest of him didn’t. He suffered a couple of minor injuries and tallied just 154 innings. The questions about his elbow remain. Nathan Eovaldi tallied 154.1 innings and was for a short time the Yankees’ best pitcher. There are questions about Eovaldi as well, with the most pressing being whether or not he can build on last season.
Adam Warren was fifth on the Yankees with 131.1 innings despite only starting 17 games. He is now a member of the Chicago Cubs. Ivan Nova is still trying to come back from Tommy John surgery and there are a lot of reports the Yankees are trying to trade him.
For 2016, the Yankees will rely heavily on Luis Severino who may or may not have an innings limit. He posted an excellent 2.89 ERA in 62.1 innings but he has 11 starts above Triple-A and counting on him to help lead a rotation isn’t the best idea. The Yankees will also hope that Sabathia comes back from his battle with alcoholism and resembles the pitcher he was in August and September. They are hoping that Pineda can stay healthy for a full season and be closer to the pitcher he was for parts in 2014 than most of 2015.
The Yankees should learn from last year’s Boston Red Sox, that you can’t gamble on pitching. The Red Sox gambled big on their rotation that featured Wade Miley, Rick Porcello, Joe Kelly and Clay Buchholz. They lost and are currently trying to improve the rotation to avoid making the same mistake. The Yankees could be falling into that same pitfall right now.
They didn’t have to go out and grab a David Price or Jordan Zimmermann, though Yankees’ fans wouldn’t have complained. However, they have been totally inactive in the free agent market. Their only moves have come through trade and those trades have subtracted from their rotation and bullpen depth. Meanwhile, no reinforcements are seen on the horizon unless they are already part of the organization. The bullpen can be handled internally but the rotation is concerning.
There is no depth in the upper levels when it comes to starting pitching. James Kaprielian is probably the best starting prospect but he probably won’t be ready until 2017. Ian Clarkin and Ty Hensley, two starters the Yankees have drafted in the first round over the last couple of seasons have been derailed by injuries and lost a ton of development time. Really, outside of Severino the Yankees don’t have young arms they can call upon to take the place of a starter if injury hits. There is no Adam Warren. No David Phelps. There is Bryan Mitchell but his time in MLB has lacked results, though the Yankees love his stuff.
After Mitchell there is Jaron Long who had a 4.94 ERA in Triple-A. Then there is Luis Cessa and Chad Green, the two arms they just acquired for Justin Wilson, but they appear to be nothing more than depth arms at this point.
So far, the Yankees aren’t budging on their stance in free agency. They just have no interest in bringing in an arm unless through a trade. That limits their choices drastically and means they have to give something of substance up. Believe it or not, despite the Yankees’ recent insistence on not spending, no other team will just gift them a pitcher.
It is certain that Brian Cashman needs to do something. He needs to bring in a veteran arm as insurance. There is no more volatile commodity than pitching in today’s game. However, it seems as if Cashman is willing to roll the dice on what he has and pray for a positive outcome. That might be one game that won’t have great odds in his favor. The team has the money but they just don’t want to spend it. That is a business decision that could haunt them this year.
