The Yankees had many changes this off season,fan favorites like Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson are gone. There are also some key additions like Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran. However, there still are a lot of question marks for the 2014 Yankees. Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettite have retired .
The Yankees also have also lost some pitchers who have not ever reached their potential or promise. They are of course Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. I am actually wearing my old Joba Chamberlain t-shirt as I type this. Remember the trade for Johan Santana the Yankees refused. Santanna for Hughes and Chamberlain. The Yankees said no! Joba and Hughes, for whatever reason, could not produce in New York and a change is needed. Yankees also lost Boone Logan an unheralded middle reliever.
The 2013 Yankees had many different starters due to injuries . The top starter in 2013 was Hiroki Kuroda then next best I would say amazingly it was Ivan Nova who came out of left field, well actually the minor leagues to be very dominant part of the rotation in the 2nd half while Kuroda faded. I now present you the question marks. Phil Hughes who was stuck in 3rd gear all year is gone. Then there is the biggest question mark. CC Sabathia just has not been the same the last 2 years. His ERA is up and his win totals and more alarming his velocity are down. I have a theory about his recent ineffectiveness. I think the recent weight loss has affected his velocity. The heart of a lion is still there so that is good.
I think the Yankees need to land this new stud pitcher from Japan. He is named Masahiro Tanaka and his record last year was 24 -0 with an ERA of 1.27 and a WHIP of 0.94. I don’t care where or for who he has pitched before, these are amazing numbers.
Imagine a rotation of CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova and Tanaka and maybe Joel Pineda . I almost forgot about him. He’s the guy the Yankees got from Seattle who has been hurt all year. See what I mean by question marks.
I haven’t even talked about the bullpen yet. The best reliever ever Mariano Rivera has retired. David Robertson did well when Mariano was hurt in 2012, however I still feel he walks too many to be an effective closer. I don’t know what other options are out there so he just might have to work on getting his walk numbers down . He did get the nickname of “Houdini” because like magic he would get himself in trouble but then strikeout the side to get out of trouble.
The key to getting the ship right is signing Tanaka. Once this is done the Yankees might try and get another pitcher like Ubaldo Jimenez or Matt Garza but they also have their own question marks and and as some people might call them, “has beens”. All will be fine if CC can get back to being CC and Pineda is the dominant pitcher he was in his early Seattle days.
I do not have bullpen answers. Maybe promote a rookie and hope for lightning in a bottle. If the starters pitch quality innings the bullpen will not be taxed but that’s a big if. The offense will be fine in 2014, but how will the pitching pan out. There is still time and as I write this I just read that US clubs can now bid for Tanaka.
Go get him Yankees!
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