Thoughts for the Day

On the Freddy Garcia front, I'm not a big fan of signing him. He's going to want a big league deal I would presume, and the Yanks shouldn't offer him one. He has never been a dominant pitcher, and hasn't pitched a full season since 06. I think that guys like Eric Milton and Victor Zambrano would be better, cheaper investments. I personally wanted Bartolo Colon and Mark Prior, but they signed with the White Sox and Padres respectively. There are definitely arguments for signing a veteran pitcher like Garcia for the 5th spot, and I want veteran insurance, but Garcia just isn't the best option. I could see Jason Jennings and Mark Mulder as being interesting back-up options that wouldn't cost much. One other candidate, Rich Hill. He's still with the Cubs, but is out of options, and would probably come cheaply in a trade. In 07 he had an ERA of 3.92, a WHIP of 1.195, and threw 195 innings. If he could get anywhere back near those numbers he'd be a great acquistion, and he'll only be 29 when the season starts. There are a lot of options out there, and Cashman just needs to figure out which one(s) will be the best. And don't forget he also has Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Phil Coke, Jason Johnson, Sergio Mitre, Scranton Wilkes-Barre Pitcher of the Year Kei Igawa, and Alfredo Aceves. Really, I think the fact that the top four pitchers in our rotation (Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, and Chamberlain) could all be aces on almost any other staff makes up for having a weaker 5th starter. Even with an injury the Yanks will survive. And if for some reason they are yet again in need of pitching next year, I'm guessing Japanese Phenom Yu Darvish will be posted after this season to take advantage of a weak free agent market, and of course the Yanks will at least be rumored to be in the bidding. So don't get too hung up on pitching. It's the 5th starter role, not the ace role.