New York Yankees: 2009 Pitching Staff & Roster

In the second part of his 2009 New York Yankees outlook, Howard Rudolph rebuilds the staff and tallies up the damage.

....and now the pitching staff

SP - C.C. Sabathia:

Sabathia will solidify the rotation and give them a player capable of being a shutdown ace. When you’re scraping Sidney Ponson off your shoe to start, you need to make a lot of moves to your pitching staff.

Prediction – (6 years/147 million)

SP – A.J. Burnett:

Burnett finally put in a healthy season and on a Yankees team and is capable of winning 20 games without any improvement from last year. Without giving up top prospects for Jake Peavy, Burnett is a nice fit here and allows the Yankees to develop their farm system.

Prediction – (5 years/80 million)

SP – Chien-Ming Wang:

Coming off a torn tendon in his foot, having Wang back is like signing a very good free agent pitcher. He will help bring stability back to the rotation if back to full health, which reports are expecting.

SP – Joba Chamberlain:

Durability and injury are concerns, but he has immense potential if he can stay healthy and throw close to 200 innings. Stretching him out over the offseason has to be a top priority.

SP – Randy Johnson/Brad Penny:

Why not? Both Penny and Johnson are risks due to health, but its only a 1 year deal. Johnson is my choice here because he was healthy in 2008 and it would be nice to see him win his 300^th as a Yankee. He also didn’t pitch terribly as a Yankee either (winning 17 each year).

Penny is a better choice if healthy because he is only 31, but shoulder tendonitis and soreness scares me. They still have Philip Hughes, Ian Kennedy, or Alfredo Aceves available to start if either breaks down or isn’t productive, but they are better as fall back options for now. I’d like to see them sign Johnson.

Prediction: Randy Johnson - (1 year/8 million)

The Yankees roster would look like this (Players in BOLD indicate new editions):

C – Jorge Posada/ Josh Bard
1B – Mark Teixeira/Nick Swisher
2B – Robinson Can0
3B – Alex Rodriguez
SS – Derek Jeter
LF – xavier Nady/Hideki Matsui
CF – Johnny Damon/Brett Gardner
RF – Nick Swisher/Xavier Nady
DH – Hideki Matsui/Xavier Nady/Nick Swisher
SP – C.C. Sabathia
SP – A. J. Burnett
SP – Chien-Ming Wang
SP – Joba Chamberlain
SP – Randy Johnson/ Philip Hughes/Ian Kennedy/Alfredo Aceves

Major upgrades and at a total spending spree of $77.25 million in salary for 2009, which would lower their payroll from last year. The Evil Empire is back, See ya Carl Pavano!

Click here to read Howard's ideas on the Yankees starting lineup.

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