New York Yankees Are Treating 2011 Like 2003: Team Forced to Be Thrifty
February 1, 2011 · Nick Poust · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
In 2003, Mark Prior won 18 games with the Chicago Cubs.
That same year, Freddy Garcia won 12 games for the Seattle Mariners, while Bartolo Colon won 15 for the Chicago White Sox.
Andruw Jones was also in his prime, smacking 36 homers and driving in 116 runs for the Atlanta Braves.
Eight years later, these four players are New York Yankees.
Jones, on his fourth team in four years, has seen his batting average and playing time sharply decrease after a successful career with the Braves. Prior, who hasn’t appeared in the major leagues since 2006, is trying to work his way back from multiple arm injuries.
Colon, who didn’t pitch in the majors in 2010, and Garcia, who made 28 starts for the White Sox after throwing 129 innings over the previous three seasons, are on their last legs.
All four are trying to extend their careers on a winner, but while they may have something left to give, I can’t help but find their signings humorous.
Out of this group, I especially want Prior and Jones to succeed. Given where his baseball journey has taken him, Prior making 30-plus starts and winning 18-plus games would make me happy. Jones hitting 30-plus homers as an everyday player would also bring a smile to my face. But the likelihood of this happening isn’t great. Yet New York may have to rely heavily on them, along with Colon and Garcia.
Jones fills a hole left by Marcus Thames, but signing these three pitchers is a hint that the Yankees believe Andy Pettitte is retiring. The durable left-hander is well behind his usual schedule, so if he was to return, it would most likely be midseason. Without him, they have CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett. This means the back end of their rotation is wide-open.
Prior may return to his old form. Colon may, too. And Garcia might build upon his respectable 2010. But they can’t be counted on. Prior is young in major league experience, but who knows how he will respond coming off a flurry of injuries? Garcia and Colon are veterans of 13 and 11 years respectively.
So what can the Yankees expect, especially considering the American League is powered by offense and Yankees Stadium is hitter-friendly? In 2009, over-the-hill veterans John Smoltz, Paul Byrd and Brad Penny made a substantial number of appearances for the Boston Red Sox. They didn’t pan out, and their signings mirror New York’s.
The reason the Yankees looked in the direction of Prior, Colon and Garcia is because they missed out on their main targets this offseason. Cliff Lee spurned them, they missed Jorge De La Rosa and Jake Westbrook and they didn’t upgrade their offense significantly, with the likes of Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford going elsewhere.
For once, a big splash wasn’t made, though reliever Rafael Soriano should be tremendous setting up closer Mariano Rivera.
Waiting for Pettitte has hurt them. They had hoped he would sign on to return a couple of months ago. Then they could have given the fifth spot of the rotation to either Ivan Nova or Sergio Mitre and turned their attention away from starting pitching. Yet he’s remained at home thinking it over.
Knowing this, New York had to go on under the impression he would remain with his family in Houston altogether, declining their invitation for one more go-around. The crop of pitchers starting pitchers wasn’t deep in the first place, so by this time the pickings on the free-agent market had slimmed greatly. There wasn’t much left on the market besides Prior, Colon and Garcia.
The signings of these three pitchers and Jones are humorous because for once New York has to settle. They have one of the highest payrolls in the game, and despite handing out lucrative contracts every offseason, they always seem to have enough left over to keep doling out more and more cash. Therefore they are unaccustomed to signing this many players to minor league contracts.
Still, what has remained the same this offseason is the age. New York continues to get older. That can’t sit well with their fan base, the thousands upon thousands of demanding New Yorkers who didn’t expect this offseason to be built around signings that would have been extraordinary in 2003.
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