Life after Cliff Lee..

With Cliff Lee going back to Philly, there are several different options that the Pinstripers could take. I will go more in-depth later this week, but take a look at this pitching rotation for the Yankees for 2011.

Starters:

CC Sabathia LHP

Brandon Webb RHP -FA

Andy Pettite LHP -FA

Pedro Martinez RHP -FA

AJ Burnett RHP

Bullpen:

Phil Hughes RHP (6^th starter)

Joba Chamberlain RHP

Kerry Wood RHP - FA

Ivan  Nova RHP

David Robertson RHP

Sergio Mite RHP

Boone Logan LHP

Brian Fuentes LHP - FA

Closer:

Mariano Rivera RHP

Do I like Brandon Webb as the Number 2? No, of course I don’t. Do I think that he can have a big year with a low ERA, yes I do. There’s a lot of “what if”s on this team, which is a scary thing. Cashman said he wants to add bullpen help, what better than this? You move Hughes to 6^th starter role, while coming out of the pen. If you want to have a good bullpen, why not add arguable your best pitcher outside of CC to the pen? You HAVE TO bring back Andy Pettite to be successful; there is no way around it. He was 11-3 last year in a short season, he could end up being your number 2. Pedro Martinez in pinstripes? Is it a stretch? Oh yea, biggest stretch of the decade probably. We know two things about Pedro, he wants to play and he wants to win. Phillies aren’t looking for starting arms, Red Sox wouldn’t want him back, and who really thinks that he would go to Texas? Pedro was strong in 2009, taking a year off, and having Hughes pick up some of his starts suggests to me that he could handle it. Yankees need a left handed bullpen guy, its almost a must. Bringing in a vet like Brian Fuentes is a key in my eyes. He pitched out the pen, without closing for the Twins last year and did fairly good. Last but not least, sign Kerry Wood to pitch the 8^th inning. There isn’t a need to say more about that, you’ve seen what he can do. I also feel that Nova and maybe Joba will get traded in either the offseason or trading deadline. Maybe either Buehrle, Johan Santana, or Zach Grenike. It’s a long way from over, but life after Cliff Lee could be very successful.