I was quite frustrated when the Yankees didn’t wind up with a pitcher at either trading deadline this year. Most people responded by saying the Yankees have no holes on their team, especially their pitching staff. Even though some of my frustration was out of place at the time, now I find Yankees fans everywhere only confident in three starting pitchers.
This includes ESPN’s Rob Neyer, who wants Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes to switch roles immediately. I thought it was an interesting, but risky proposal. Hughes looks like the superior pitcher right now, but what if he can’t make a quality start before the postseason? Or what if Chamberlain can’t return to his dominance in relief from 2007?
I liked what Moshe Mandel of The Yankee Universe said of the situation.
It seems likely that the Yankees will need a 4th starter twice in all of the postseason, which means that a good 8th inning guy may actually be about as valuable as another starter. This is just a bad idea that would provide marginal benefits while risking significant costs.
The general idea Neyer brings up is the Yankees only have three trustworthy starters right now. Sergio Mitre has been very inconsistent, and so has Chamberlain.
Maybe it wasn’t such a stupid of an idea of mine to be looking for another starter? Didn’t think so.
