Yankees manager Joe Girardi believes that the biggest offseason priority is the starting rotation.
Thank you for stating the obvious, Joe.
The Yanks 2011 pitching rotation consisted of ace CC Sabathia, followed by rookie Ivan Nova, veterans Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon and the always shaky A.J. Burnett, with a couple of Phil Hughes starts thrown in.
As an ace should, Sabathia led the staff with 19 wins and a 3.00 ERA. Nova finished with an unexpected 16 wins and a 3.70 ERA, while Garcia recorded a surprising 12-8 record to go along with a 3.62 ERA.
Bartolo Colon was solid in the first half of the season, but digressed as the season went along, finishing with an 8-10 record and a 4.00 ERA. While Burnett did pitch a satisfactory Game 4 in the ALDS, giving up one run on four hits over 5 2/3 of work, it's hard to forget how bad he's been during the regular season.
Burnett made history this season when he became the first starter in the Yankees' history to go back-to-back seasons with an ERA over 5.00 in more than 150 innings pitched.
There's no doubt that the Yanks need to update their starting rotation. Excluding Hughes—who made only 14 starts in 2011 and wasn't effective enough to be considered part of the starting rotation—the average age of the Bomber's starters this past season was over 32 years old. Aside from the young and promising Nova, the remaining four starters are still over 30 years old.
Minor league phenoms Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos appear to be the future of the Yankees pitching, with Hector Noesi making a strong push to become a starter in 2012.
With Sabathia possibly opting out of his deal and Garcia and Colon entering free agency, the Yankees definitely need to make a strong push for Texas Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson.
The biggest question for the Yank's rotation coming into spring training will be if Burnett and Hughes can return to old form.
If Hughes can pitch the way he did in 2010 and they're able to keep Sabathia and sign Wilson, the Yankees will have one of the most improved—and possibly best—rotations in the league.
(All stats compiled from ESPN)
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/889528-new-york-yankees-pitching-rotation-main-priority-in-2012
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