It started out as a normal Friday the 13th. The Yankees had the same 5 starters, Jesus Montero & Hector Noesi were still Yankees and the Yankees were a team that looked as if they were going to make it to the playoffs--maybe. But in one late night hour on Friday night Brian Cashman pulled the plug and turned the Yankees from drab to fab by adding 2 new pitchers: Hiroki Kuroda & Michael Pineda, wiping out the possiblity for a Roy Oswalt or Edwin Jackson pinstripe experience. The Yankees soon went from being a possible playoff team, to becoming the favorites to make the World Series.

So I know what you are thinking. Why did Cashman use Jesus Montero in a trade for Michael Pineda? Simple reason actually. One was there was no way that the Yankees were going to get King Felix. It wasn't happening. And two, Cashman felt that there were other catchers in the Yankees farm system that would have been able to catch defensvely. Montero's weak point was that he wasn't the best defensive catcher like the other catchers on the team, Ex: Austin Romine, Russell Martin and former Yankee Jorge Posada.

The Yankees now have a new dilemma though. They have 7 starters and 5 spots on the rotation which would mean that the 2 pitchers that aren't going to the rotation are either going to go in the bullpen or are going to a different team. The players that are competing for a spot are Freddy Garcia, A.J Burnett & Phil Hughes and one of them could get the coveted honor of representing the Yankees in the 5th spot of the rotation. Now, it's going to be a drama filled Spring Training as the tensions wll rise and the pitchers will feel as if they have to battle to keep their jobs. I've got my heart set on A.J winning the 5th spot. Is there a reason that I feel this way? Well, Burnett had a good 2009 but a poor 2010 & 2011. It seems to be that it feels lke the bounceback year in 2012 if he can control his anger and throw strikes that are not over the plate that can go HR distance. 

Looking into 2012 the Yankees seem to be a strong World Series favorite and I can agree with that, but as of right now let's just take the 2012 journey one step at a time and see where it gets us. A 28th championship would be nice, but let's focus on getting into the playoffs with the team we have, okay?