I’m going to get ridiculed for this, and I don’t care. Here is the article, again:
If the season ended today, the Yankees would qualify as the AL Wild Card, albeit with the second-best record in the league and third-best record in all of baseball. Their playoff rotation would look like this
#1 CC Sabathia – 3.86 ERA, #2 AJ Burnett – 3.77 ERA, #3 Andy Pettitte – 4.85 ERA, #4 Joba Chamberlain – 4.25 ERA
The Red Sox would look like this:
#1 Josh Beckett – 3.35 ERA, #2 John Lester – 3.87 ERA, #3 Tim Wakefield – 4.31 ERA, #4 Brad Penny – 4.71 ERA
The Tigers would look like this:
#1 Justin Verlander – 3.38 ERA, #2 Edwin Jackson – 2.52 ERA, #3 Rick Porcello – 4.14 ERA, #4 Armando Gallaraga – 5.09 ERA
The Angels would look like this:
#1 John Lackey – 4.93 ERA, #2 Jered Weaver – 3.22 ERA, #3 Ervin Santana – 7.81 ERA, #4 Joe Saunders 4.65 ERA
The only thing that matters to me is getting to the postseason. I don’t care how the Yankees get there, whether it’s via the division title or the wild card. I don’t care if they do it by playing .750 baseball against losing teams and .250 baseball against contenders. I don’t care if they do it by getting 4 innings from their starters and 5 innings for their relievers.
Once you’re in the postseason you have a chance to make it to the World Series, and contrary to what anybody might tell you, no team that qualifies, not the Red Sox, not the Angels, has a substantially better than 1 in 8 chance of winning it all.
Look at these starting rotations. Is any one of these better – by leaps and bounds and miles and miles – than the Yankees? Does the Yankees rotation match up horribly against any of these teams?
I don’t think adding Roy Halladay is the only way to improve the Yankees rotation. CC Sabatthia could lower his ERA by half a run, or Joba Chamberlain tcould start throwing strikes a little more often, or Chien Ming Wang could come off the DL and start pitching like himself, or Andy Pettitte could post a league-average ERA, or Phil Hughes could come back into the rotation and pitch reasonably well. Realistically, they only need one of these things to happen for the rotation to improve, and its even feasible that two or three could happen. There’s also the option of trading for a starter (other than Halladay).
The Yankees have a solid bullpen core with Rivera, Aceves, Coke, and Hughes (if he stays in that role). They have the third-best defense in the AL, and the best amongst these four teams. They are fourth in the AL in stolen base effeciency, and best amongst these four teams. I don’t need to mention that they have the best offense in baseball, and it is more well-rounded than in years past. The Yankees are a legitimate World Series contender right now. Adding the best pitcher in baseball gives them an edge, obviously, but how much of one?
In my opinion, not enough of an edge to trade Joba Chamerlain, Jesus Montero, and Austin Jackson to a team that they’ll face 19 times a year in exchange for 45 starts from Roy Halladay. The Yankees can improve their rotation with a lot less than Roy Halladay, at a much lower cost, and still increase their likelihood of advancing to the World Series.
From Pinstripe Alley. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.
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