What Today's 10-5 Yankee Loss To The White Sox Taught Me

If tonight's loss to the White Sox taught me one thing, it's this: Sergio Mitre is not the answer. He shouldn't even be in the mix. The problem is that, as of right now, there aren't any other options. I exchanged a few texts tonight with my buddy and he was basically trying to tell me that Cashman messed up big time for not getting a starter. I'm fully convinced that the only way the Yankees were getting a SP was if they dealt Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Austin Jackson, or Jesus Montero. The Mariners reportedly wanted A-Jax for Washburn. Sorry but no thank you.

There wasn't any SP on the market, except for Halladay, that I'd deal any of those guys for. None of the names that were tossed around (Washburn, Arroyo) struck me as a must get. It's easy for those of us on the outside to say that Cashman messed this up. But really, how do any of us know what went down? From the sounds of it, everyone tried to rake Cash over the coals. I'm glad he didn't make any silly moves. I like to think that Cashman is a pretty smart dude. He's going to find an answer to the small problem that is the Yankees 5th starter. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But it'll be soon.

If you think about it, has the Yankees 5th starter really provided the team with anything this year? 9 starts from Wang = 11.38 ERA. 7 starts from Hughes = 5.45 ERA, 4 starts from Mitre = 7.90 ERA. 1 start from Aceves = 8.11 ERA. Collectively, those 4 have made 21 starts. Their combined line is 5-8, 85.2 IP, 122 H, 79 ER, 36 BB, 61 K, 8.30 ERA. Granted, Wang makes those numbers a lot worse. If you remove CMW, it's 4-2, 51.2 IP, 65 H, 36 ER, 19 BB, 39 K, 6.27 ERA. What place are they in again? Oh yeah. They're in first with the best record in the American League.

The Yankees 5th starter is a problem. But it's certainly not a big one.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie