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  • February 01, 2008 12:14 PM ET

What Will be the Most Important Factor for the New York Yankees this season?

thejetstolehome: hiatus? (20-9-4) vs rstowe (226-67-17)
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I think this season's success for the New York Yankees depends mostly on the starting rotation.

Last year it was a shaky starting rotation that led to a shaky bullpen which led to a horrible start of the year for the Bronx Bombers. We all know the lineup can mash and that the bullpen is pretty secure (Rivera, Chamberlain--for now, Britton, Ohlendorf, the addition of Albaladejo), but it's the rotation that will have to excel.

Chien-Ming Wang struggled in the second half of last season, Mike Mussina is coming off what is aruably his worst season, Andy Pettitte had an alright season but showed flashes of inconsistency and is no spring chicken anymore, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy look like studs...but you never know with the young guys.

If the Yankees rotation gets out to a slow start this year, so will the Yankees. In the American League East, a slow start could mean the division title is lost already. If the starters get off on the right foot, backed up by an all-star lineup and manageable bullpen, then the Yankees will succeed.


I say it will be injuries and how the Yankees can overcome them.

The shaky starting rotation you talked about was mainly due to injuries. The Yanks started 10 rookie starting pitchers in the first month and a half of the season.

Outside of the starting pitching (which has most of the youth), the rest of the team is older and there aren't many guys in the minors or on the bench that are great players looking for a starting job. So, if the starters get injured (ARod, Jeter, Posada especially) get injured, how the replacement guys play will determine where the Yanks are in the standings.

The Yankees were the best team in baseball from Memorial Day on because they dealt with their injuries very well from that point on. They dealt with the injuries before Memorial OK, not great and they were 14 games out because of them.

Get rid of the injuries or deal with them better like they did in the 2nd half and the Yanks should be good to go.


What happened last year was an incredibly freakish thing. It has to be for Carl Pavano to be the Opening Day starter, amirite? Every team battles with injuries all year, and they all just happened to come at once for the Yankees.

Derek Jeter hasn't missed more than 8 games since 2003, and the same could be said for A-Rod going all the way back to 2000. Posada's games played per year has been pretty steady as well, with no spikes or dips. I think those guys are going to be alright for injuries sake.

As it stands right now, without injuries, the Yankees' rotation is decent at best. Two guys will be going for their first full season ever (Hughes/Kennedy), two are aging (Mussina/Pettitte), and one is coming off a crappy second half (Wang). Without the lineup the Yankees have behind this rotation, it would be in some serious trouble.

The chances of the Yankees having a mass injury plague like they did last year is very small. The chances that their rotation underperforms is pretty big and MUCH bigger than the chances of fluky, mass injuries.


Yes, the starting rotation is young and needs to perform well for the team to succeed but.....

an injury to either ARod, Jeter or Posada would be devastating to the team and no amount of starting pitching would fix that. There is currently no one who could step in for one of those 3 and produce at even remotely decent enough to make up for them missing time.

As for any team, the most important thing to success is lack of injuries, followed by production of starting pitching, then the bullpen, then the offense.

Injuries can make or break a season, while sub-par pitching (especially with the Yankees offense) can be dealt with.


If one of those guys got hurt, the rest of the lineup could more than make up for it. Though they obviously don't have the names, Wilson Betemit has great potential and the recently signed Morgan Ensberg has shown flashes of brilliance and they can fill in nicely. There is a veritable All-Star at just about every position for the Yankees and in injury on the field/in the lineup can be made up for.

Unlike the lineup, there really isn't anyone to pick up the slack for the Yankees in the rotation. Wang is not a bonafied ace. He would probably be a second starter on most other teams and despite having an alright ERA, his 19 wins the last two years can be accredited to the Yankees excellent lineup. Andy Pettitte is defintely not a stopper anymore and Mike Mussina is just not really Moose anymore. Hughes and Kennedy look great but are still young and for them to be relied upon this season would spell doom for the Yankees. I believe they'll have solid seasons and contribute, but they can definitely not carry the team.

In short, an injury ot the lineup can be made up for, a poor performance by one or more starters could prove disastrous.


Right now the Yankees have a 6 man rotation (Wang, Pettite, Mussina, Kennedy, Hughes and Chamberlain) plus they have Igawa in the Bullpen. Right there are 7 starters, so a bad start/performance by one means one of the other 6 can make up for it.

Imagine if ARod got hurt last year (especially in April/May), the Yanks would never have climbed out of the cellar they were in EVEN with bad pitching.

Injuries are always the key to whether a team wins or loses, everything else comes after.

Comments (24) Add A Comment

February 1, 2008  12:14 PM ET
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good luck, stowe.

February 1, 2008  12:23 PM ET
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Same to you jet

February 1, 2008  12:31 PM ET
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I don't think it's the whole starting rotation, I think it's how their young pitchers (Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain) develop. Wang and Pettite will be fine in the 1-2 spots, but the back of the rotation is where I have concern.

February 1, 2008  12:37 PM ET
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the most important factor for EVERY sports team is injuries.

February 1, 2008  12:41 PM ET
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In Baseball doesn't always come down to pitching?

February 1, 2008  12:45 PM ET
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Bucky - offense wins the regular season, pitching wins in October.

February 1, 2008  12:48 PM ET
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I wish I had seen this earlier. I would identify 2 issues specifically: Rotation youth (the viability of a rotation including neophytes Huges & Joba, and Wang to a lesser extent) and the rotating DH/1B. I'm sure you guys are touching on it.

February 1, 2008  12:49 PM ET
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I think any team has to prepare for injuries to their key players, which is why I identified those 2 trouble spots above. That rotation has dynasty written all over it (once you throw Kennedy, not Mussina, into the mix) in a year or 2.

February 1, 2008  12:57 PM ET
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Dizzle--i think Moose will be out of the rotation by midseason and put into long relief. at that point, Chamberlain will transition into a starter and the rotation after the All-Star break will be: Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain. Moose and Igawa will be the long relievers/mop up guys, Abaldejo, Britton, Hawkins, and Farnsworth will the short guys, and after Chamberlain moves into the rotation Edwar Ramirez could be brought up to be the 8th inning guy. however, that's only if he hones his fastball in the minors.

the 1B/DH problem got slightly solved when Andy Phillips was let go. that means there will probably be a two man platoon at 1B--Minky/Betemit--with Damon and Matsui platooning LF/DH and Giambi thrown in as the DH as well. however, playing Giambi at first wouldn't be a horrible idea. his splits when playing 1B are head and shoulders above his DH splits, and that really does free up a spot for Damon or Matsui to take over the DH spot permanently. though Giambi's defense is terrible, 1B is hardly the most important defensive position.

February 1, 2008  01:01 PM ET
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good luck stowe. gotta love a quick, clean TD.

February 1, 2008  01:07 PM ET
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Thanks jet. Love those quick TDs as well.

February 1, 2008  01:08 PM ET
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I think it will come down to the performance of the pitchers, how will joba do? will the young starters really have a good season? will the bullpen be able to get the ball to Rivera?

February 1, 2008  01:08 PM ET
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you're a good TDer, stowe. good to go up against one of the greats.

February 1, 2008  01:09 PM ET
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Thanks jet. Its always good to TD against someone who has a clue.

February 1, 2008  01:24 PM ET
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I sent to this the Yankee group so hopefully we'll get a lot of votes when it disappears into TD Oblivion in a couple of minutes.

But, I did not ask for votes just sent the link.

February 1, 2008  01:30 PM ET
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^^^^^^^ to this, this to whichever makes more sense in a dyslexic world

February 1, 2008  01:33 PM ET
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stowe, i'm gonna send it to a different Yankees group. it hasn't been active in a while though so idk....but we'll see.

February 1, 2008  01:35 PM ET
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no problem.

February 1, 2008  01:35 PM ET
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There all Yankee fans, and I'm not worried about who votes for who in this one.

We both made great arguments so there isn't any obvious Idiotic TD Voting going on.

 
February 1, 2008  01:38 PM ET
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truth. i'm going away for the weekend to visit my GF (she bought us both NFC Champion shirts. she rules =)) so i won't see the result of this til Monday when i get back. oh snap.

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