Brian Cashman’s claim the Yankees are not going to trade for a starting pitcher tells me the following:

1) The market for even the likes of Ted Lilly is very expensive.

2) They believe internal options like Sergio Mitre, Ivan Nova, David Phelps, and Zach McAllister are not that big of a drop off.

3) They are serious about acquiring a reliever (Joakim Soria) and want to use available prospect depth on that front

Is this the right move? The Yankees have worked hard to develop pitching depth and should reap the rewards of that labor. Why should the power of the Yankees system be only expressed in the form of a trade? Even without Andy Pettitte the foursome of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, and Javier Vazquez could get the job done. Could Mitre or the kids be any worse than other team’s fifth starters? Will they be any worse than Joba Chamberlain from a year ago? I think the answer is obvious.

That brings me to A.J. Burnett. Although I never liked the contract, Burnett undoubtedly was worth the risk for the Yankees. I felt he would give them 2-3 good years and a team with their financial power shouldn’t worry about the backend of the deal. Carl Pavano never prevented the Yankees from making a move. With that said, it’s time for A.J. to put the pies away and grow up. CC Sabathia is a workhorse, but can’t do it alone. Remember, Phil Hughes is on innings limits and everyone holds their breath waiting for the roof to cave in on Javier Vazquez. The truth of the matter it’s been Burnett, not Vazquez, who has come up small in the Yankees rotation.

It’s time to earn that $16.5 million dollars. We know that Burnett is a streaky pitcher, but he needs to make sure the next five weeks are good A.J., not bad A.J. If not, the Yankees rotation will look awfully thin. Ironically just a couple of weeks after many thought acquiring Cliff Lee seemed like gluttony.

The one person that could make Brian Cashman’s move to “spurn” the starting pitching trade market look good is A.J. Burnett. Does he have it in him? I guess we will find out.



Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Brian Cashman, New York Yankees, Sergio Mitre