New York Yankees Pitching Rumors

With only a few weeks before pitchers and catchers are supposed to report, the Yankees' search for a pitcher to fill the fifth spot in their rotation is getting interesting.

All offseason, it seemed likely that the fifth spot would go to Andy Pettitte. For weeks he had an offer of one-year and $10 million on the table. He eventually turned that down because it was too much of a pay cut.

Then, at least publicly, the Yankees made it seem as if they were going to go with a group of young starters to fill the fifth spot, but recent news makes this seem unlikely.

It turned out that the Yankees were interested in adding John Smoltz. That fell through because he signed with Boston, but the Yankees didn’t stop there. They took an interest in another pitcher with recent injury problems, Freddy Garcia.

Garcia eventually went to the Mets because they offered him more money and he thought he wouldn’t have an opportunity because they would sign Pettitte anyways.

This brings us back to Pettitte. There were rumors that if the Yankees don’t want him he could go back to the Houston Astros. That was until Houston’s GM said that they were, “pretty well set,” without him.

Now with the Yankees missing out on Garcia and Pettitte getting the cold shoulder from Houston, the two sides started conversations back up again. Now the sides were discussing a $10.5 million one-year offer the Yankees figure he’ll turn down again. It seems they have set a price on him and will not budge, no matter how much they might want him.

If Pettitte turns it down and the two sides cannot come to an agreement eventually the Yankees could turn to Ben Sheets. They had previously been keeping their distance from him because of injury and contract concerns.

However, things have changed recently.

As it gets closer to the season and teams find other options, his price seems to be falling and there was a bit of information about some new medical records which paint a more rosy picture.

Now the Yankees should have renewed interest in Sheets for two reasons. First, he could be one of the biggest bargains of the offseason. Second, the Yankees wouldn’t have to surrender a first-round draft pick for this type-A free agent because they’ve already lost it when they signed Mark Teixeira.

In fact, they would only have to give up a forth-round pick for Sheets, which softens the blow for them compared to other teams.

The only problem now could be if the Yankees get into a bidding war with the Texas Rangers, who have recently met with Sheets. Then they would have to go back to discussions with Pettitte which was their plan to begin with.