The powerful AL team missed out on Cliff Lee. So without any high-end alternatives, the club gambled on a former Cy Young winner who has been devastated by shoulder injuries in recent years.
That is how the Rangers came to a deal with Brandon Webb.
Oh yeah, that also describes the Yankees’ path to Bartolo Colon.
There was a sense of dread in cyberspace yesterday among Yankee fans over the signing of a has-been. It was as if Colon received Kei Igawa moolah, when in truth all the Yankees are obligated to the 2005 AL Cy winner for right now is meal money in spring training. Colon has a minor league agreement that guarantees him $900,000 only if he makes the team or his release at the end of spring training if he doesn’t.
These deals are quite familiar by now as teams gamble on reviving a broken toy with pedigree. Think Chien-Ming Wang with the Nationals or Chris Capuano and Chris Young with the Mets or Erik Bedard with the Mariners.
These low-cost risks are abundant and almost always fail; generally once a pitcher damages his shoulder like Webb or Colon the chance for elite return is poor. But the gambles persist because pitching is so desperately needed and clubs hope to get something for little. The Yankees’ hopes are based on Colon’s work in the Dominican Winter League, where he topped out at 94 mph, and also on his willingness to consider relief work as a fallback.
What makes Colon look bad — besides a wide midsection — is that everything the Yanks do with starting pitching right now is viewed through the Lee prism: Oh, the Yankees didn’t get an ace and their answer is Colon. Of course, Colon is not an alternative to Lee, but rather another arm designed to provide back-of-the-rotation competition. For the Yanks, it was Lee or bust when it came to truly upgrading the starting staff.
They inquired about Zack Greinke, but didn’t like the asking price and were worried if Greinke was mentally up to handling New York. They checked in early in the process on Matt Garza, and believed it would take an ace package headed by Jesus Montero to land a starter they did not view as an ace.
The Rangers tried harder and failed to land Greinke and Garza after missing out on Lee. They will experiment with Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando going from the pen to starters, while hoping Webb can turn the clock back.
The Yanks will not do the pen-to-starter dance again with Joba Chamberlain. For now, their only chance to change the perception of having a frail rotation would be if Andy Pettitte again reversed retirement plans. And optimism has risen within the Yankee family that Pettitte will indeed pitch in 2011. Two people briefed on the most recent conversations between the Yankees and Pettitte say the team is upbeat because Pettitte is working out regularly, has not firmly committed to retirement and because it is hard to dismiss the $12 million to $13 million Pettitte knows the Yankees would pay for his services.
A rotation with Pettitte, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett behind CC Sabathia would give the Yanks greater comfort, especially since they anticipate having a powerhouse offense and bullpen. But with or without Pettitte, the Yanks are proceeding with the same rotation initiative.
They do not believe there will be any way to upgrade the front of the rotation before the season. So they will consider back-end alternatives with an eye on endure until better options arise. They are still considering free agents such as Justin Duchscherer and Jeremy Bonderman. They have Colon around to battle with Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre and an interesting group of prospects.
The idea is to survive until July, at which time a quality starter could be available in the trade market or, perhaps, one of the Yanks’ better prospects is truly ready to help. Yankee officials believe the organization has no fewer than nine legit prospects who will start in either Double-A or Triple-A, with the highest ceiling reserved for Manuel Banuelos and Dellin Betances. There are, in fact, Yankees executives who want to have a flat-out competition as early as spring training with the best among prospects such as Banuelos, Betances, Andrew Brackman, Hector Noesi and Adam Warren winning a job immediately.
But patience remains the preferred route and that is where a Colon could help. Maybe he can emerge from the broken-toy department to give the Yankees even 80-100 nostalgic innings that provide cover until better help can be summoned from below or outside.
joel.sherman@nypost.com