Hot Stove Thoughts

Here are the moves that I would like to see the Yanks make this off season.
1. They have to sign Sabathia. They are in desperate need of an ace and haven't had one in a while. There are no aces on the market this year. If they can’t get him they will have break the bank to get Brandon Webb next year.
2. They have to sign a second starting pitcher. My first choice would be Burnett. I know that he has a history of arm problems, but he is worth a shot in my opinion. If the Yanks can’t get Burnett I would take Lowe, Peavy, or Dempster.
3. Get a third starting pitcher, an end of the rotation type of guy. I would even take Pettitte back, although he is on the back nine for sure.

If they do get these starters, their rotation will be supplemented by Wang and Hughes. Not too shabby. They will have Aceves, Coke or Giese for spot starts if they need them.

I am sure that you notice that Joba isn’t in the rotation in this scenario. He only threw about 100 innings this year and they won’t let him jump past 130-140 innings for this year. If he throws 30 starts that wouldn’t even be an average of 5 innings per start. Plus, he makes that bullpen even stronger, and will be groomed to take over for Mo as the closer when he retires. With Joba setting up Mo, that leaves Bruney, Veras, and Ramirez as righties and Marte and Coke as lefties in the pen. Robertson, Giese and Sanchez could see some innings as well.

On the other side of the ball I like the flexibility that they have right now. Where is Posada going to play? If he can't catch because of his arm, he will have to do some DHing and play some 1B. The Yanks traded for Nick Swisher yesterday. I like the move for its flexibility. If Posada isn’t catching Molina is a strong #2 catcher, and Swisher can relinquish some of the at bats at 1B to Posada. Swisher can also play some corner OF, he is a switch hitter, and they got him pretty cheaply due to a down year last year.

If the Yanks need to go the trade route to get one of those starting pitchers I would use Cano as the trade bait, and then go get Hudson to play 2B. Cano hasn’t endeared himself to me with his lack of hustle. Even though Cano had a bad year, he still has some trade value and an inexpensive salary.

The left side of the infield is locked up with Jeter and ARod. In LF the platoon of Damon and Matsui works for me. The one not playing LF will probably see a lot of DH time depending on how Posada works out behind the plate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of the LF solutions being traded, but they aren’t going to get much for either one.

Nady is a great solution in RF, but could also see some time at 1B if they wanted. He played there early in his NL career. That leaves CF. I know that there are lots of people that want to see the Yanks go get a big name CF, but I would rather see what Gardner can do, with Melky getting some time out there as well. If they both fail Damon or Swisher could do the job while they look at the trade market.

I like Cody Ransom as the utility infielder. He has some pop in his bat and can play the corner infield positions quite well. They will need to find someone to back up on the middle infield, and maybe do some pinch running.

If I were in Cashman’s role this is what my plan would be. I can’t wait to see what actually happens. I love the hot stove league!!