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Dear Big Hank…

By Gary Armida

Dear Hank-you are most certainly correct that the Yankees are underperforming. Your family is paying a tremendous amount of money to watch a 19-21 team. You are correct for being upset. Luckily for you, all of your answers are in this little article. The Yankees do not need to push the panic button on the season. After all, despite playing poorly, having a ton of injuries, and really looking old at times they are still just 4.5 games out of first place. So, Big Hank (all FCP readers), read on to find out the cure to the 2008 New York Yankees.

The cry in the New York media seems to be that the Yankees need to make a trade to get more starting pitching. While talk radio hosts talk about the failures of the young Yankees staff, acquiring another pitcher would be a tremendous mistake. Yes, the people crying for Brian Cashman’s job are dead wrong. Giving up on the young pitchers would be the exact wrong thing to do.

During the offseason, the Yankees had the best opportunity to acquire Johan Santana. The rumored, yet unconfirmed, package was said to be Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and two minor leaguers in exchange for the ace. Other rumors stated that Phil Hughes would be in the deal in some fashion. Brian Cashman balked at the offer, wanting to stick with the young pitchers who the Yankees were producing. It marked first time in recent Yankees history that the choice of keeping prospects was made at the expense of acquiring a superstar. Despite having you (Hank Steinbrenner) campaigning for the trade, Brian Cashman officially linked his legacy (for better or worse) and job status to duo of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.

For the moment, Kennedy resides in AAA (he’ll be back tomorrow) while Hughes is out with a rib injury until the all-star break. Neither pitcher has earned a win for the 2008 season. Hughes started with a solid outing against Toronto, but has been truly awful as the season progressed. He was on his way to a demotion before the injury saved him of the embarrassment. Hughes has the potential to be a good, middle of the rotation starter as his reality did not match his press clippings. The clippings stated that Hughes threw in the 95 miles per hour range, but the reality was that Hughes worked between 88-91 miles per hour. His location was often off which resulted in his poor record.

Kennedy was actually worse than Hughes during his stint. Kennedy who does not have overpowering stuff has to rely on location more than any other pitcher on staff outside of Mike Mussina. Kennedy was unable to do that and resorted to nibbling which resulted in pitch counts over 100 over four or five innings. Kennedy earned his demotion and his response was troubling. He stated that he needed to go somewhere where he can pitch where every pitch is not “life or death”. That is not exactly what an organization wants to hear, but he did pitch well during his first start. Now, it seems that Kennedy will be called back up later this week.

Now that Andy Pettitte is going through a bit of a slump, there is panic in New York. Chien Ming Wang has been tremendous and Mike Mussina has been better than advertised, save for his outings against the Red Sox. With just three reliable pitchers, manager Joe Girardi has turned to Darrell Rasner to fill the void of Phil Hughes. Again, panic has reigned supreme in New York.

So, people want the Yankees to go get a pitcher. Joe Blanton of the Oakland A’s is usually the first name to come up. There are a couple of problems with Blanton. First, he’s Joe Blanton. No disrespect is intended as he a fine major league pitcher who can give 200 league average innings with a poor strikeout rate. He will cost more in terms of prospects than he is worth. A’s GM Billy Beane will not part with Blanton without getting a good share of prospects (see the Haren and Swisher deals). Secondly, the A’s are currently in first place. It is doubtful that Beane will trade his pitcher without being out of the race. Blanton should not be an option.

The other top option is rumored to be Astros’ ace, Roy Oswalt. Yes, Oswalt is an ace. He’s a proven big game pitcher, a guy who can dominate a game. If he was acquired, he would be the Yankees best pitcher. The problem is that he will probably come for the same amount of prospects that would’ve landed you Johan Santana. Sure, maybe Melky Cabrera is out, but the Yankees will pay a top price for Oswalt. So, tell me if that makes sense-say yes to Oswalt, but no to the younger, left handed, more dominant pitcher in Santana. Any sane mind will tell you that it does not make any sense.

Sure, there are some free agents like David Wells kicking around. You don’t want your team to bring in another 40 something pitcher who brings his whole unique set of issues with him. It won’t help at all. The trade market is thin; the free agent wire is even thinner. So, what do you do, Big Hank?

You do absolutely nothing. Yes, you heard me, absolutely nothing. Let Kennedy come back up and give him a spot for the remainder of the season. When Hughes gets healthy, do the same thing. For better or worse, your organization made the commitment to them for the season. Your internal options are just as unpredictable. The free agent options may not give you any better and stunt the growth of your youngster. Let them throw and learn. Now, you move Darrell Rasner into a long relief/spot starter role and allow Ross Olendorf to be more of a middle reliever. Suddenly, your bullpen is a bit deeper with a couple of guys who can give you more than one inning.

Yes, the two rookies may fail. You can’t fight that at the moment. If you try to trade them, you are trading them when their value is the lowest. That opportunity passed by the day the Mets agreed to deal their farm system to Minnesota.

Now, why does the “do absolutely nothing plan” work? It’s quite simple. Once Alex Rodriguez comes back next week or the week after, your lineup is suddenly a bit deeper. I bet you didn’t realize how valuable AROD is to your lineup. Your offense is just in a slump. Once Rodriguez starts hitting, that will allow Bobby Abreu to see better pitches. It will have a ripple effect throughout the lineup. I can promise you that Robinson Cano is not going to hit below the Mendoza line for the season. I can almost guarantee you that Jason Giambi won’t either (although I am less sure about that). Your offense has many good games ahead of it. Now is not the time to panic. Trust those guys making over $200 million. Yes, watching the Rays look young and exciting is tough, but it is only May. Experienced talent usually rises to the top.

There it is Big Hank. You don’t have to do one thing to the roster. Give it more time. The offense will pick up and the pitching will work out. If Hughes and Kennedy prove that they cannot be a successful pitcher, then you discuss that with your general manager and scouting department. If they do work out, then you will still have your prospects plus a boatload of money to sign a guy like CC Sabathia next season. Panicking now will cost the 2008 team and the 2009 team. The Yankees are just as talented as any team in the league. They can and will succeed.

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