George Steinbrenner’s his toric influence remains a powerful force around the Yankees.
Andy Pettitte had not yet limped off the field Sunday, and every Yankees fan had a collective Boss moment: Who are we going to get now?
This is a remnant of Steinbrenner in his prime: All shortcomings must be fixed swiftly and powerfully. Translation: Why isn’t Roy Oswalt here yet? Steinbrenner left a legion of fans who expect to endure no pain. And this has been a painful week.
A.J. Burnett melted down on Saturday, Pettitte was hurt Sunday and Phil Hughes was bombed last night. Hey, maybe Mike Mussina can be coaxed out of retirement to start Saturday instead of Sergio Mitre. Why not? In Yankee Land you can never have too many stars or too little perspective.
At this time last year, the Yanks’ rotation was CC Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain ebbing toward his innings cap and Mitre 12 months removed from Tommy John surgery. A month later Chad Gaudin replaced Mitre. That rotation was far more dubious than what is left in Pettitte’s absence, and yet the Yanks eked out a major league-best 103 wins.
The 2009 Yankees lost Chien-Ming Wang for far longer than the Yanks anticipate losing Pettitte, who should be back around Sept. 1. Yet, the Yanks never acquired a significant starter. At the trade deadline, they considered a more established back-end guy, Jarrod Washburn, but when Seattle insisted Austin Jackson be part of the package, the Yanks refused. Brian Cashman roundly was beat up for not adding Washburn, who went to Detroit, instead, pitched poorly and has been out of the majors this season.
And I anticipate Cashman staying dormant on a starter at this deadline, as well. He was willing to expend big prospects for Cliff Lee because so many in the Yankees’ baseball operations view the lefty as the majors’ best starter. They do not feel similarly about Oswalt or Dan Haren. And — like with Washburn — Cashman is unwilling to give up good prospects for back-end guys.
“[Pettitte] does not have a career-ending groin injury,” Cashman said. “We probably need someone for seven starts, and I am not going to give up my first and second born for seven starts.”
Cashman will stay on top of the market. He will see if the prices drop while remembering that a lot of the available starters will get through waivers in case the Yanks become desperate in August. But keep in mind that the Yanks acquired the durable Javier Vazquez because they were concerned about how Sabathia, Burnett and, especially, the 38-year-old Pettitte would rebound from last season’s heavy workload. Vazquez goes into tonight’s outing 4-2 with a 2.55 ERA in his last eight starts.
Do the Yanks have worry spots in the rotation? Of course, perfection is hard to find in sports. Hughes had poor control of his fastball last night in a 10-2 Angels rout. He struck out just two (No. 9 hitter Jeff Mathis, twice). He yielded six runs in five innings and continued to struggle more in The Bronx, where he has yielded 13 homers compared to none on the road. Still, he is far more reliable than Joba was a year ago, and the Yanks are doing a better job of overseeing Hughes’ inning cap.
“The pressure is there [to return to his strong early season form] because Andy is down,” Hughes said. “This was not a step in the right direction.”
Is Burnett a head case? Yep. But he was last year, too. Is Vazquez a worry come playoff time? Sure, his history is terrible. But Pettitte should be back well before then.
The Yanks could have traded Mitre in spring, but kept him as this kind of insurance policy. If he falters, they like both Ivan Nova (eight innings, one run last night) and fast-riser David Phelps at Triple-A; plus Gaudin and Dustin Moseley currently are around in long relief.
They would not be George Steinbrenner’s idea of a solution, but for the 2010 Yankees they are probably as good as it is getting.