While most of the baseball world is congratulating the Yankees for their two bold roster moves Friday night, Bobby Valentine isn’t completely sold.
The new Red Sox manager sees holes in the games of both Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda, the main pieces the Yankees added.
“Pineda, when I saw him the first half [of last season], he looked unhittable,” Valentine told MLB.com when asked about the 22-year-old, whom the Yankees got from the Mariners in a trade for their top offensive prospect, Jesus Montero. “Second half, he looked OK. [The Mariners] saw a lot of him and they traded him.”
Valentine also is skeptical of Kuroda, who has spent his four major league seasons in Los Angeles, but will no longer have the advantage of pitching against the NL West or in spacious Dodger Stadium.
“Kuroda is a good pitcher [but] a year older than he was last year,” Valentine said at a charity event in Boston. “[And he will be] pitching in the American League and not the National League. [He’s going from] pitching in not a great pitchers’ ballpark from a great pitchers’ ballpark. They’re probably an upgrade from [Bartolo] Colon and [Freddy] Garcia. Probably. I don’t know. It seems it.”
Valentine and the rest of baseball will find out soon if the Yankees made smart moves after awakening from their offseason hibernation.
The Yankees still have decisions to make, even after agreeing to ship Montero and pitcher Hector Noesi to Seattle for Pineda and pitching prospect Jose Campos, as well as signing Kuroda (pending a physical).
Pineda likely will be the new No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia and Kuroda adds another sturdy starter to go along with Ivan Nova as the first four members of the rotation.
The Yankees likely will continue to see if they can unload right-hander A.J. Burnett, who has two years and $33 million remaining on his bloated contract.
If they can’t trade Burnett, he could compete for the fifth spot, along with Garcia, who was re-signed for $4 million earlier in the offseason, or Phil Hughes, who has taken the team’s advice and is spending the winter getting back into the shape he was in when he won 18 games two years ago. Hughes could also return to the bullpen, where he had success in the past.
Young prospects Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances are other possible candidates, although they likely will be back in the minors.
All that pitching depth could come in handy down the road, should another pitcher become available on the trade market during the season.
As for the loss of Montero in the lineup, the Yankees have been looking to give the aging Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira more rest, so they could rely on a designated hitter by committee along with Andruw Jones and possibly Eric Chavez (if he is re-signed). They also figure to at least inquire about free agents Johnny Damon and Carlos Pena.
Pena hasn’t hit above .250 since 2007, but did have 28 homers, 80 RBIs and 101 walks with the Cubs last year, while Damon is looking for his fourth team in as many years after the Rays decided not to bring him back following a season in which he had his lowest batting average (.261) since 2001, but had 16 homers, 73 RBI and 19 stolen bases.
Another aging bat might not be the best thing for the Yankees, since the offensive struggles of most of their veteran hitters, except for the recently retired Jorge Posada, helped doom them against the Tigers in last year’s ALDS.
They hope their reconstructed rotation, however it shakes out, will make it easier for the lineup in October.