At The cross-section of disappointment and desperation, the Yankees must consider selling low on Joba Chamberlain and/or Phil Hughes to see if they can elevate their lineup, particularly against lefty pitching.
It would be one thing if Chamberlain or Hughes were worth trying to reclaim from their current nadir. But both are free agents whose chances of being with the 2014 Yankees are slim and, well forget, it’s not even slim.
It would be another thing if either were central to 2013 contention. But Ivan Nova probably should have Hughes’ rotation spot, with Michael Pineda, Vidal Nuno and Adam Warren all looming as alternatives/depth. Shawn Kelley already has hopped ahead of Chamberlain on Joe Girardi’s bullpen hierarchy.
In fact, the Yankees’ best possible scenario is dealing Chamberlain, putting Nova or Pineda in the rotation and shifting Hughes to the pen to see if he could recapture his glow in that role from the 2009 championship season.
Most vital is the Yankees just might not have time to wait if they want to contend. They have entered a perilous phase between the losses of Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis and the hoped-for returns, perhaps in a month, of Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
The Yanks must have blind faith that trio and maybe Teixeira, Francisco Cervelli and Eduardo Nunez will return, as well. But can they do the survive-and-advance two-step for another 30 days or so, hoping to stay viable in the AL East until the cavalry arrives?
For this feels like the Yankees are trying to bluff their way through an entire season, that the strongest reason to think they can hang in is a nebulous belief the Yankees always find a way. However, there are just too many days now, particularly against lefties, when the Yankees are deploying lineups that would shame Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
Bernie Williams was on the field before Rays-Yankees and with another southpaw, Matt Moore, due to start I reminded the one-time lefty masher that he had never formally retired. He joked he needed 10 days. But even seven years into his retirement, I am pretty sure he could deliver a more competent at-bat on the spot than Reid Brignac or Thomas Neal or probably even this version of Vernon Wells.
Then to make the point the Yankees managed just four hits in seven innings last night against Moore and fellow lefty Jake McGee, losing 8-3. They are now 3 1/2 games out of first in the AL East and 3 1/2 games out of last.
It is not crisis, but the team is wobbling badly. Still, general manager Brian Cashman told me yesterday the trade market is not open yet for difference-making pieces. But I am not sure the Yankees should be looking for difference makers as much as better placeholders, better options against southpaws now who could become reserves when (if?) the stars return. And this is where, perhaps, Chamberlain and Hughes play a part as bait.
You just have to get out of your mind what their pedigree was supposed to be or what kind of return you might have gotten for them even 12-18 months ago. The question is what is their best use to the franchise now, especially since both are free agents after the season.
Internally, the Yankees still feel Hughes and, especially, Chamberlain are better than they currently are performing. But when does that show up? Chamberlain gave up another homer yesterday and his ERA is now 6.06. Hughes is at 5.09. Still, I sense no strong inclination by the organization to deal them for secondary pieces.
For now you would probably have to find a contender that needs a reliever, believes in Chamberlain’s stuff and has an expendable multi-positional player with a history of hitting lefties well such as Philadelphia (Kevin Frandsen), Arizona (Willie Bloomquist) or Texas (Jeff Baker).
And then would the Yankees ever be OK giving up even a wilted Chamberlain for that level of player? Or do they try to hold on until the injured return? Or gather more info about which injured are not returning to better know what they need in the marketplace? Or wait for better righty hitters — maybe Seattle’s Mike Morse or Minnesota’s Trevor Plouffe — to come on the market when non-contenders go into full sell?
But the danger with waiting could be the stock of Chamberlain, Hughes and the 2013 Yankees falling further.
Chamberlain and Hughes never became the aces of the Yankees’ dreams. Could it be their last, best act for the franchise will be pitching elsewhere?