Yankees Should Look Into Trading For Cliff Lee
July 12, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
All of the rumored “trade for a pitcher” talk has mostly been about Roy Halladay. However, if the Yankees don’t land Halladay for whatever reason, the Yankees need a backup plan.
I am making a strong suggestion for the Yankees to try and trade for Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee.
Now, I know he’s 4-9, but don’t let that record fool you. Cleveland has probably been the biggest disappointment team of 2009 and have a lot of their players on the block, and for the right price, Lee may be on there as well.
So despite the lousy record, he still has a 3.47 ERA with 93 strikeouts and 33 walks with a 1.39 WHIP in 127 innings, which are outstanding numbers. But because of lousy run support, Lee’s numbers don’t look of a Cy Young winner as he was in 2008.
Lee has excellent control and great movement on his pitches. He’s not the typical strikeout pitcher, but will get the strikeouts when needed. But his biggest advantage is he pitches deep into games, something the Yankees need, especially with Joba Chamberlain’s struggles of 2009.
And now I am going to make a suggestion, Joba needs to come out of the rotation before Aug. 1, because it’s time for the Yankees and Joe Girardi to start realizing that Joba is not dominating in the rotation like they hoped for. Lately, he’s not even been a good starter, he’s been a lousy one.
Some are still going to preach patience with Joba, as he is only 23 still, but Joba’s wins this season have been few and far between with only four. He’s not striking out as many batters as you would think while his walks are piling up too; 78 strikeouts to 42 walks. His ERA has jumped from a 3.70 in late May to a 4.25 as of his last start against the Angels.
Here’s Joba’s latest problem; the Yankees are giving him leads, and he is squandering them. Just look at his last two starts. First against Toronto, the Yankees took a 4-0 lead and Joba imploded in the fourth inning as the Blue Jays scored eight runs off him. Luckily, the Yankees came back to win that game, otherwise, Joba loses the game. He only lasted 3 2/3 innings.
His latest start against the Angels, the Yankees are leading 5-1 and Joba imploded again, surrendering the lead and the Yankees end up losing 10-6. Joba only lasts 4 1/3 this time around and allows five runs.
It’s now getting harder for the Yankees to keep Joba in the rotation because of starts like these. If the Yankees want to get Joba back some of his value, he needs to be sent back to the bullpen and re-gain the hard-throwing fastball that has been hit. So by putting Joba back in the bullpen, you need to replace him, which is where Lee would come in.
Lee would be a perfect fit in the Yankees rotation. He’s pitched well at the new Yankee Stadium as he showed in the first game ever played there, going six innings and allowing one run and picking up the win.
As an Indian, Lee will continue to lose games despite pitching extremely well. But as a Yankee, he could continue to pitch well while having the Yankee offense score a lot of runs for him and watch his record go back to respectability.
If I were Brian Cashman, I would be asking Indians general manager Mark Shapiro what it would take to land Lee. Even if they are unsuccessful in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, getting Cliff Lee in a rotation with CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte would strengthen it for a second half run.
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