Even though Andy Pettitte is retiring, and the Yankees will truly miss him in the rotation, the Yankees still have starting pitchers capable of holding their own until the trading deadline.
They will be without his patented stare down, has always clutch play in big-time games, and one of the best pick-off moves of all-time, but he is retiring in a classy way. He is not continuing to play past when he is still productive and is retiring before Spring Training which is what a former Yankee was not able to do. It was unfortunate that Cliff Lee choose to pitch for the Phillies instead of the Yankees, but they were wise to sign Freddy Garcia and even Bartolo Colon to minor league contracts. Since there were not many free agents worth signing it made sense to gamble low even though these two have not had great success recently. Ivan Nova is another candidate for the starting rotation. He had a 4.50 ERA in seven starts, pitching much better in the beginning.
If Freddy Garcia can replicate his stats from last year with the White Sox, where he won 12 games, had a 4.64 ERA, 89 strikeouts and pitched 157 innings then that would work as the number five starter. Apparently, Bartolo Colon pitched very well in the winter league, and during the 2009 season for the White Sox Colon made 12 and had a 4.19 ERA. Out of the two Garcia is surely the better option since the Yankees can count on him to last longer into games than Colon.
The Yankees have some promising young pitchers in the minor leagues but they need to count on new pitching coach Larry Rothschild helping AJ Burnett to revert back to his 2009 form. Last season he had a miserable campaign, but if he can improve on his 13 wins, 4.04 ERA and 195 strikeouts from 2009 the Yankees rotation will be less of an issue. The team also has one of the best minor league systems in the majors with the restocked farm system under Cashman.
Some of the pitchers that should be able to contribute soon include Manuel Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Andrew Brackman, D.J Mitchell and Adam Warren. Brackman (25) is the most experienced of the bunch, having recovered from Tommy John surgery like Betances. Betances, who is from New York City, showed a lot of promise last year, is only 22 and has a fastball in the mid to upper 90's. It is probably worth calling on him at some point this season.
Not having Pettitte in the rotation makes it weaker for sure, but they should be able to upgrade come July, when a team has fallen out of the playoff race. The Yankees will be able to use one or more of their talented minor leaguers in a trade for a solid pitcher. At least the Yankees should be able to count on a very deep bullpen to help limit the length that the back-en of the rotation has to pitch.
