Yanks In Trouble

On February 4, Andy Pettitte officially announced his retirement. The Yankees' second best starter behind CC Sabathia and most reliable playoff performer is done. Pettitte had a phenomenal career and will go down as a legendary Yankee. But, this also means the Yankees are in serious trouble.

More often than not, the Yankees are the favorites on paper going into a new season. Right now, they are not even the best team in the AL East. The Red Sox made a huge splash in free agency this off season by acquiring Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. Yankees countered that by losing the Cliff Lee sweepstakes to the Phillies, signing injury prone pitcher Mark Prior, and signing catcher Russell Martin, who hit a stirring .248 last season.

New York will not make much noise next year unless they make a move for another dependable starter. The Yankees' all star offense can potentially carry them into the playoffs, but pitching will ultimately decide how far they advance. In 2009, the Yankees won the title because their starters excelled in the playoffs. Last season, the champion Giants swooped in out of nowhere and surprised most of the baseball world by relying mainly on their dominant pitching staff. In the ALCS last year, the Yankees lost in six games because their suspect pitching was hammered by a potent Ranger offense. Newly retired Andy Pettitte was the only Yankee starting pitcher who performed well in the series.

CC Sabathia has proven he can be the ace of any pitching staff. After him, there is a severe drop off in the rotation. Phil Hughes, second in line behind CC, is entering just his second full season as a starter in the majors. A.J. Burnett may be the most erratic athlete in the history of sports. On any given night, he is capable of putting on a dazzling performance or being breathtakingly atrocious.

Last decade, the Yankees went through an eight year championship-less period. This was mainly due to management valuing high profile sluggers, like Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi, more than consistent and dependable pitching. Hopefully they learned from the past, or another long drought may be on its way.