Rounding Out the Rotation

The Yankees now have three definite starters for next year(Sabathia, Wang, and Chamberlain), but they will continue to pursue starting pitching. On the free agent market they are interested in AJ Burnett, Derek Lowe, and Ben Sheets. And on the trade front, apparently they are still talking about Jake Peavy, though without much progress.

The best pitcher out of those four is Peavy. The next best is Sheets. Followed by Burnett and then Lowe.

As I am fond of saying Burnett is Carl Pavano 2.0. He is an injury waiting to happen. He wants a 5 year deal, and apparently the Yankee have offered one for $80mm. So, the final year of that contract would have him opening the season at age 36. So, he's going into the declining years of his career, as 27-32 are typically considered peak year with everything afterwards typically being a part of his decline. He also would get a $16mm salary each year. And, most likely he will spend a significant portion of his next contract on the DL because of his previous history of injuries to his pitching arm(see Conor's post). This is just a bad investment. One can only hope the Braves blow us out of the water and offer Burnett a bigger contract. Then they will be stuck with him instead of us. But, most likely the Yankees will sign this ridiculously risky player to a long term deal and have to manage the risks of both this and the Sabathia contract.

Peavy is a phenomenal player, but the Padres will ask for too much in terms of prospects. UPDATE: Apparently the Yanks are more appealing to Peavy with the addition of Sabathia.

Sheets' injury history isn't as bad as people think and he is dominant every time out on the mound. As he will only require a 2 or 3 year deal, I would much rather have him than Burnett.

Lowe is a great pitcher and had success in LA. But, he's getting old, hasn't played in the AL in a while, and thus doesn't know the hitters as well, and wants too long of a contract.

So let's hope Cashman is smart and signs Sheets or somehow manages to get Peavy without giving up prime talent(although this isn't likely). Let's just not sign any more regretful contracts.