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Verducci: Yanks Need a Lefty Starter


By Mike Silva ~ February 26th, 2011. Filed under: Mike Silva, New York Yankees.

On Friday, Joe Benigno interviewed Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated on WFAN. During the segment, Verducci opined the Yankees currently do not have enough starting pitching, and they should try to acquire a left handed starter. He points out the heavy lefty hitters on the Red Sox (Gonzalez, Crawford, Ortiz) as the main reason to focus on a southpaw when looking to acquire a pitcher.

Some names mentioned by Verducci that could be available were Joe Saunders, Jonathan Sanchez, John Danks, Mark Buehrle, and of course Francisco Liriano. Reports earlier today indicate the Yanks continue to look at Liriano this spring.

Other than those lefties, Chris Carpenter could potentially become available later this season. We have heard rumblings that Brian Cashman is working hard on getting something done before the start of the season.

I am not sure it’s necessary to have a left handed starter, but rather one that gives them quality top of the rotation performance for the most reasonable prospect package. I suspect Liriano will not come cheap and at least one, possibly two, of Banuelos, Betances, and Brackman will have to be in the package.

The best chance to acquire a starter before the season may be Liriano, but at what cost?

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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6 Responses to Verducci: Yanks Need a Lefty Starter

  1. matthew
    February 26th, 2011 at 9:06 pm

    Those “b” prospects aren’t going to get Liriano.

  2. stunna4885
    February 26th, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    matthew your a moron. those aren’t b prospects their among the best starting pitching prospects in the game.

  3. Bill
    February 27th, 2011 at 12:48 am

    I would NOT trade more than one of our top pitching prospects in a package. If we cannot build something around our young talent which includes only one, I will take my chances and watch the young studs develop!

  4. Tim
    February 27th, 2011 at 8:09 am

    I would not give up any of Brackman, Betances or Banuelos for Liriano considering he is a health risk.

    It took Liriano three years to get over the last injury. Shut down last week with shoulder issues. One good season is not a trend in my book.

    A package of lesser but still good prospects of which the Yankees have plenty, but no way would I send those three or Montero, Sanchez for Liraiano.

  5. Stu B
    February 27th, 2011 at 9:40 am

    Trading Brackman or Banuelos for a guy like Liriano or Carpenter is Doug Drabek for Rick Rhoden all over again.

  6. Steve S.
    February 27th, 2011 at 11:59 am

    A Liriano deal wouldn’t happen until mid-season. The Twins are expected to compete in the AL central and won’t raise a white flag until at least the July 31st trade deadline, if then. They’re a good match, the Twins need an outfielder (Gardner) and plenty of bullpen help which the Yanks have in excess (Joba, Robertson, Killer Bs). But most teams will patch together a bullpen over the course of a season and wait to see how their internal options work out before looking to make a deal. The only way to sell trading Liriano to the Twin fan base is to make it a win-now move, where they deal off an asset to fix some big problem on the team. That won’t happen until mid-season.

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