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Wow....the Yanks are getting desperate for pitching...I guess its not a bad pickup for a depth move...stash him in AAA and if he does well its a low risk high reward deal...but its just odd seeing the Yankees operate like the Pirates...picking up over-the-hill washed up guys on the cheap. But I guess Colon is no worse than Sergio Mitre.
Bartolo Colon pitched in Puerto Rico for the Caguas Creoles during the winter professional baseball season, and he basically did not delivered. I think his best years are behind him. But who knows, maybe for a franchise like the Yankees he'd step up to the plate.
The Yankees take a flier on him. If they get anything out of him it is a win for them.
Their rotation is scarily thin.
#1 CC is fine
#2 Hughes is fine
#3 Burnett is a big ?
#4 Ivan Nova...who knows what they'll get from him
#5 Mitre...he's got some talent but can't be counted on to provide anything.
That's too many questions for a team with the Yanks' payroll and expectations of winning. I imagine they'll add someone (Pettitte) before the season starts.
Wow....the Yanks are getting desperate for pitching...I guess its not a bad pickup for a depth move...stash him in AAA and if he does well its a low risk high reward deal...but its just odd seeing the Yankees operate like the Pirates...picking up over-the-hill washed up guys on the cheap. But I guess Colon is no worse than Sergio Mitre.
The Colon signing is for 900k if he MAKES THE ML ROSTER. It's a low risk deal as was the Pryor one. I still see them going after maybe a Garcia or Bonderman if the price is right. Personally I think Mitre is a 2-3 inning middle relief type and not a good starter. I think Nova is a much better option, but we will see how things play out. I'm still not counting out Andy either. I have a feeling that he is coming back for 1 more year and not a mid-season return (Clemens).
Another way to look at it is, CC will probably pitch a similiar year, Hughes probably close to last year, AJ- it can only get better, but how much better, who knows?, the other 2 spots are questionable but i'm not worried. We have a much better bullpen now and that means less innings needed from starters so that will help.
Wow,since they lost out on Cliff Lee,they went with the next best option:Colon.That's a little bit of a dropoff.
Cliff Lee is a #1 starter. After we lost out on him we prioritized our funds but in a different direction. We added to our bullpen (Soriano & Feliciano) and a backup outfielder (A.Jones). We also signed Bartolo & Pryor to minor league deals with invitations to spring training for minimal contracts. We do have enough talent to take us into the playoffs but it never hurts to add to our team even if it's not what you think we should have done. We didn't like the pitching talent after CL, so we decided not to overpay for the middle tier.
Cliff Lee is a #1 starter. After we lost out on him we prioritized our funds but in a different direction. We added to our bullpen (Soriano & Feliciano) and a backup outfielder (A.Jones). We also signed Bartolo & Pryor to minor league deals with invitations to spring training for minimal contracts. We do have enough talent to take us into the playoffs but it never hurts to add to our team even if it's not what you think we should have done. We didn't like the pitching talent after CL, so we decided not to overpay for the middle tier.
I think I actually agree with everything you say here.
I especially like the Andruw Jones signing. He's the perfect 4th OFer for a team that is lefty heavy in the OF. ie the Yankees or Dodgers. But the Dodgers weren't going to go there again since they are paying Jones about $3 million a year for the next 4 years.
Certainly doesn't hurt to sign Colon and Prior. I'd just as soon have those guys as I would Dana Eveland or Tim Redding (Dodger minor league signees). Well, maybe I'd rather have Redding. He's a major league pitcher and should be in someone's rotation. He's not got the potential of Prior but he's a lot more likely to pitch some innings this year. Prior has 1 minor league inning since 2006.
If I were Cashman, after losing out on Lee I would have looked into signing Brad Penny or Jeff Francis.
I can't imagine that the Yankees won't make a move for at least one more starter. Either Pettitte or a trade
that Garcia pitched at the quality of a #5 starter last year but pitched about as much as a #3. So, we'll call him a #4. With CC, Hughes, and Burnett a #4 is what they need. If he can be reasonably healthy, this leaves Nova and Mitre to fight for the #5 spot with the specter of Pettitte still lurking.
A couple of things to keep an eye on with Garcia
Month K/9
April 5.48
May 5.40
June 5.35
July 5.33
Aug 4.88
Sept 3.79
A declining K rate through last season. He lost almost 2K's per 9 from the beginning to the end of the season.
First thing to look at when you see that. How was his velocity?
http://www.fangraphs.com/fgraphs/1077_P_FA_20100929.png (broken link)
There also looks to be a steady decrease in his fastball velocity. That'll be something to keep an eye on.
It appears as if Garcia realized his fastball is gone. Last season, only 30 percent of Garcia’s pitches were fastballs, the least amount in his career. Even two years ago, Garcia threw 43 percent fastballs. He is changing his approach and relying more on changing speeds and breaking pitches. Garcia’s change-up percent went from 13 percent in 2009 to 23 percent last year. He also had an uptick in use of his curveball and split-fingered fastball in 2010.
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Yanks sign Garcia
