Starting pitching may be the determine the Yankees World Series aspirations
The Yankees should have more than enough offense, anchored by outfielders Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to be one of the best, if not the best team in baseball this season.
Pitching not so much.
Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (San Diego Padres), who was also the American League Cy Young recipient in 2018 (Tampa Bay Rays), is a free-agent. Should the Yankees go all in to try to win their first World Series since 2009 by making an offer to Snell he can’t refuse?
Represented by powerful agent Scott Boras, reports surfaced weeks ago that Boras was seeking a nine-year, $270 million contract for the star hurler. Spotrac.com lists the Yankees as having the highest payroll in baseball as of today at about $290.5 million. Signing Snell would lift it well over $300 million. The general consensus within Major League Baseball circles is the Yankees will not be the team to surrender to the high asking price for Snell.
As their starting rotation is currently constructed, three weeks from opening the season on March 28, in a four-game set against the Houston Astros on the road, the Yankees have the fourth best odds to become World Series champions among the 30 Major League Baseball teams according to Las Vegas sports books. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros are all above the Yankees.
Each of those teams boasts a better starting rotation, statiscally and empirically, than New York. While the Yankees have their own 2023 Cy Young winner in Gerrit Cole, who was sensational last season, the reliability of those behind him is suspect. Cole, a unanimous selection, became the first Yankee since Roger Clemens in 2001 to capture the Cy Young—an honor bestowed on each league’s best pitcher as voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
In 33 starts, he went 15-4 with 222 strikeouts. Cole’s 2.64 ERA was the second lowest in all of baseball, trailing only…
Yes! Snell’s 2.25.
Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes were expected to be cornerstones of the Yankees rotation last season but experienced injury plagued campaigns. Rodon, who was signed to a six-year, $162 million deal in December of 2022, was hampered primarily by a left forearm strain and made just 14 starts. Shoulder issues limited Cortes to only 12. Long Island native and former Met Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt round out the top five in the rotation.
The Yankees will ultimately need more.
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