Yankees Roundtable

First we had the addition of weekly power rankings, now I am proud to introduce the newest addition to our blog, weekly Yankees Roundtable. Each week I'll propose a Yankees oriented question and Steven Glauber Jeff Winston and myself will answer. You should be familiar with Jeff from his previous work here last year, The State of the Yankees. Steven is another highly qualified author who's work can be found at Ampeater.

This weeks question was: What are your biggest worries about the Yankees?

Me: If I had to rank them I would do it as follows: 1) Starting pitching, 2) Age/health, 3) Catching. Sabathia is our only healthy starting pitcher that's doing well. Burnett and Vazquez simply just blow, and Hughes has a 4.71 ERA since June. If/when Andy gets back he's no guarantee to actually be effective, and in the other spots we are relying on Ivan Nova and Dustin Mosley. Health on the non-pitching side I'm worried about Arod, and age wise I'm worried about Jeter and Posada along with Arod continuing their declnies which ties into my last concern. Posada can't throw runners out and he's no lock to stay healthy. Cervelli as a fulltime catcher is scary for a team looking to win a championship. With all that said, the Yankees are still in first but the Rays are right there and it's safe to say my confidence for a repeat has dropped if not dramatically then at least a sizeable amount.

Jeff: First and biggest concern for the Yankees, like you Ben, is the starting pitching. Particularly the starting pitching situation for the Yankees as they hopefully enter October baseball. As you eluded to, what starter does any Yankees fan feel comfortable with on the mound outside of Sabathia? Burnett and Javy have been nothing short of horrible over the past month or so, but hopefully Pettitte comes back from injury soon enough. Still, even if Pettitte returns to form, do Yankees fans feel comfortable with CC, Pettitte and question marks? I only don't mention Hughes since I think he'll be in the bullpen for the playoffs (with the whole innings limit thing). I also feel worried about starting pitching for the future, not so much the Yankees ability to bring in that free agent, but their ability to develop young starting pitching. Hughes has been strong, but inconsistent of late, and Joba has been a complete mess, and has only amounted to a middle reliever. The Yankees system additionally lacks in that "young and upcoming" category that the Yankees had with Hughes/Joba/Kennedy a couple of years ago.

Another big concern of mine is the future of the organization now that Steinbrenner has passed. I realize that the organization is now being taken over by his two sons, but they have always had their father as a safety net to ensure the "win comes first" attitude. Whether the Steinbrenner sons will continue this attitude, or try and do their own thing with the organization will be seen in the coming years.

In response to your other two concerns, while age/health are a problem, the Yankees injuries this season have been minor compared to other teams (Red Sox), and the Yankees are even 12-0 this season when Alex Rodriguez isn't in the lineup. Players who eventually retire can also be replaced in free agency, via the Steinbrenner doctrine. And regarding the catching situation, I do hope/believe that Austin Romine is the Yankees' catcher of the future, as I think Montero will eventually DH or be traded for his value.

Steve: Like Ben and Jeff, I'm most concerned with starting pitching. Vazquez admitted that he's piled up a ton of innings on that arm and those 4 MPH on his fastball might just be gone for good. I thought the Yanks might just be dragging their feet with Pettitte 's injury so he could come back strong for the stretch run, but the recent setback is troubling. AJ Burnett starting against playoff opponents is horrifying. Maybe with some rainouts and bomb threats CC can go in every game.

I'm not concerned with the Yankees' Steinbrenner-less future at all. If anything, the Boss's passing gives Cashman--who has proven time and again to be a capable if not excellent GM--a little breathing room to operate on his own. I'm sure Hank and Hal will do their best to perpetuate the overblown win-at-all-costs manifesto the papers and fans love to shout out, but it's Cashman's team. He almost always targets the right players in trades and throws money at the right free agents. The farm system has been consistent enough over the last decade where I'm not too concerned with the well running dry.

What I am concerned with, and Ben hinted at it, is the money shituation with Arod. The Yanks are about to hand out some charity contacts to the living legends pretty soon. Mo and Jetes are class acts so their contracts should turn out relatively team-friendly, but the rules kinda go out the window when we're talking about these guys. Arod's contract is ridiculous. I think the team is due to pay him $40 mil in his age 52 season, or soemthing like that. Oh, and he also receives incentive bonuses (several millions) for each milestone he limps past and, presumably, every misguided relationship decision he makes (Madonna? oof). Whatever he does, he keeps the Yankees rolling in cash for years to come, so it's hard to argue the economical standpoint. Jeter and Mo will retire before it really hurts the team. But once those guys are out, Arod might start referring to himself as "The Core" in interviews.

I want to thank Jeff and Steve for helping out with the Yankees Roundtable. I hope you guys enjoy it and I look forward to contuing this with them on a weekly basis.