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Getting younger in Yanks' rotation high priority

Shaun Powell

June 22, 2008

The Yankees don't havewhat it takes to win big this year. What they're doing is seeing if they'll have what it takes to win big next year.

Sorry if this sounds as if the Yankees are building for the future. Excuse me if this comes off as though this season is being used as one big audition, but guess what? This season is being used as one big audition, in the context of a championship run.

Understandably, any kind of concession, whether reasonable or not, goes counter to the Yankees way of doing things, especially with this payroll and ownership's thirst for October bling. Stubborn and proud and rightly spoiled, the Yankees will continue believing that winning the World Series is their birthright.

Yet, most important for the future health of the Yankees is constructing a firm and reliable pitching rotation that'll allow them to realistically envision championship No. 27, which has been on hold now for seven years and counting.

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Without such a rotation, and without a genuine ace to lead the way, the Yankees will experience more first-round flameouts while trying and failing to hit their way to a World Series. They've tried that formula already and look what it got them: millions flushed on a payroll that ultimately disappointed, silly attempts to breathe life into the careers of once-great pitchers, and very short stints in autumn.

Winning big is all about being blessed with a solid rotation, which isn't that complicated, and finding the right pitchers to form one, which can become very complicated.

Let's properly assume that Andy Pettitte, who'll try to prevent the Yankees from getting swept by the Reds today, is well into his twilight. Even if the Yankees bring him back next year, he's not an ace, he's probably not even a front-end starter anymore, and it's doubtful that his ERA will ever drop below 4 and change.

Same goes for Mike Mussina. He's off to a great start, but nobody expects him to keep this up, not at his age and with his mileage.

Pettitte and Mussina are pitchers from the past. They're not the future. At this stage in their careers, they're not the pitchers the Yankees need if winning championships is to remain the goal of this organization.

But at the moment, besides Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain, there's no young starter the Yankees can say, with conviction, definitely will be in the mix next season.

Chamberlain? Well, so far, so good with his shift from the bullpen. But he still must prove, over time, that he's a true starter who can last deep into games, let alone ace material. Plus, he has pitched against mostly lightweights so far. Let's wait until he punches out a number of quality hitting teams before anointing him as an elite pitcher.

Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy? Who knows. Before Kennedy and Hughes prove they have the stuff to become mainstays in any future rotation, they must demonstrate they have the stuff to be major-leaguers.

Darrell Rasner? Hey, he hasn't been all that bad. But does anyone really expect Rasner to take the Yankees to a World Series?

The latest to audition was Dan Giese, a first-time starter who received a handful of ovations yesterday at Yankee Stadium when he took the injured Wang's regular spot in the rotation. If nothing else, he earned himself another start.

"The goal for me," he said, "was to go deep into the ballgame. I wanted to make my pitches and just keep surviving from one inning to the next."

He did more than that. He had great command, good composure and only two bad throws all day: one to second baseman Robinson Cano, an error that ruined a double-play ball; the other to Edwin Encarnacion, who smacked a two-out, two-strike pitch for a two-run single that broke up a scoreless game in the seventh inning.

"His location was great," manager Joe Girardi said. "A solid day."

The Yankees lost, 6-0, which only amplified their need to keep searching for pitching. Although the team has enjoyed an offensive tear lately, taking its cue from Alex Rodriguez, yesterday was exactly the kind of game the Yankees lose in the postseason, when their hitters turn cold and look for pitching to bail them out.

"Offensively, we're not going to score eight runs every game," Girardi said.

So the search continues. For every Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees must sift through six or seven Kei Igawas.

Remember, this hunt for October began with the signing of Carl Pavano. If you recall, that audition didn't go so well.