Do Yankees Have Enough Rotation Depth?

The Yankees lineup has made their bench look weak; now the Red Sox rotation might make the Bombers' rotation depth look a little lacking as well.

At least Peter Abraham of the Journal News thinks so. Abraham took some time out today to express his desire to see the Yankees and pitcher Andy Pettitte finally come to an agreement because he thinks the back end of the Sox rotation is considerably stronger.

“Unless you’re named Sully and say “wicked” a lot, you probably like Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, and Chamberlain better than Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, and Wakefield. It’s close, but the Yankees have an edge.

But Penny, Smoltz, Masterson, and Buchholz are much, much better options than Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves, and the assorted dreck the Yankees have lined up.”

If the rare use of the word “dreck” isn’t harsh enough, Abraham said it is just unacceptable for the Yankees to hold a spring training tryout to determine who the fifth starter will be.

“It’s not acceptable for a contending team to go into the season with four good starters and hold a contest for the fifth spot. You need to have a good No. 5 and decent options beyond that. Or do you believe that Sabathia, Burnett, Wang, and Chamberlain will all stay healthy for six months?”

He has a point. It is unrealistic to think the starting four, especially A.J. Burnett, will stay healthy all season. Part of me would rather see one of the kids get a chance on a regular basis instead of mere cups of coffee when Burnett or somebody can’t make all their starts.

Then again, a rotation of CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Andy Pettitte, and Phil Hughes is better than a starting five of Wang, Joba, Sabathia, Hughes, and Aceves.

Either way, those rotations are stronger than last year’s, but that isn’t enough for Abraham.

“Sign Andy Pettitte and the problem is solved. We wrote last week that one side had to blink. But so far nobody has. If not Pettitte, then somebody else.”