The Yankees: Big Deals Spell Out Big Disaster

Some fans say that the $400 million that the Yankees spent this offseason was totally worth it. Those fans also say they are in line to win their 27th World Series championship in 2009. Some fans are wrong. On both counts.

With the acquisition of C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, one could argue that the Yankees have the best pitching staff in all of baseball. The first and most crucial problem with this statement is the back end of the rotation.

The Yankees have Sabathia, then Burnett, then Ching Ming Wang. The rest of the rotation is up for grabs. As of right now, two young, unproven rookies are in position to fill that void: Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy. Neither of those players have been spectacular, potentially leaving a very vulnerable hole in the Yankees' pitching staff.

Sabbathia has been, without a doubt, a great regular-season pitcher. But when it comes right down to it, it's how you do in the postseason that really matters. Sabbathia was probably the best pitcher in the 2007 regular season with the Indians, and won a Cy Young Award for his efforts. But did he win a championship? The answer is no, due in large part to his play in the ALCS. The Red Sox slammed Sabbathia both times they faced him, and as a result won both games. Had his individual performance been better, the Indians probably would have won at least one of those games, and as a result gone on to the World Series.

Last season Sabbathia was great down the stretch, single-handedly taking the Brewers to the playoffs. In his postseason appearances for Milwaukee, he was terrible once again, and the Brewers lost the series. When it comes down to big games, Sabbathia cannot come through. If the Yankees get into the playoffs this upcoming year, I don't see how we can expect anything different.

The Yankees' other new pitcher also seems to be worth the money. Granted, Burnett had a great year last season—a career year in fact—but 2008 was one of the few years in which he stayed healthy.

Burnett also set a career high in innings pitched, throwing 221 frames. Historically, Burnett has suffered a serious injury and missed significant time in seasons after which he threw more than 200 innings. If history reapeats itself for the third time, then Burnett will miss games this year with an injury. The money that the Yankees will have wasted because of him will be bad, and his playing time in NY will be short lived.

With Sabbathia's bad play in the playoffs and Burnett due for an injury, that leaves one good pitcher left in the Yankees' starting rotation: a guy who spent almost the whole season last year on the disabled list. Things do not look bright for the $200-million pitching staff.

Now, on the other hand, the Mark Teixeira deal was almost a perfect one. He is a great pick up and will do great with the Yankees, but New York spent too much on him. Kevin Youkilis posted very similar numbers last season, and he just re-signed for $10 million a year, which is far less then the Yankees will be paying Teixeira. Now, don't get me wrong, Teixeira is a great player, but he's not worth the same money as Ryan Howard.

Lastly, let's not forget about the deal the Yankees made with Jorge Posada last season. They gave him a nice fat contract, and then he got injured. If he does not recover quickly, that deal too might very well be down the tubes.

All in all, we will have to see what actually happens this season, but as far as I am concerned, the Yankees are taking several huge risks that are not worth taking.