Cliff Lee vs. Phil Hughes to night at Yankee Stadium is one of the match-ups of the season, conditions permitting.
Thunderstorms are forecast to have passed, but a slippery field still may be a concern, what with all the ongoing tears of joy over the Yankees having developed and kept Hughes, their first superior starter since the 1994 arrival of Andy Pettitte, plus all the drooling over Lee from 50,287 in the stands and 25 in the Yankees dugout.
Up in general manager’s suite, however, Brian Cashman vows to keep a farm system from ever again running dry, so odds are that Lee, the upcoming free agent, will not become a Yankee until November or December. If Cashman let CC Sabathia go to Milwaukee in mid-2008 at the painful expense of the Yankees missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993, the GM will resist the urge to put his thumb in the pie, never mind A.J. Burnett continuing to take them in the face, and no longer for laughs.
With a more condensed postseason schedule coming this October, it likely will not be possible this time to go through a World Series using only a three-man rotation. But Sabathia, Hughes, Pettitte and Javier Vazquez can drive the Yankees to the Canyon of Heroes and Burnett may yet be redeemable besides.
With Vazquez’s deal expiring and the Texas homestead beckoning Pettitte, plus Lee’s apparent commitment to put himself on the market this winter rather than agreeing to an extension as a condition of a trade, it makes the most sense for the Yankees to buy, not rent. However pricey may be an analyst’s hourly fees for Burnett, at least the Yankees will not be billed Jesus Montero or Austin Romine. So the most cost-effective way to proceed is to continue rolling with the current rotation, which still is fourth in the American League in ERA (3.90).
The upcoming need to limit young Hughes’ innings adds some urgency to Burnett returning to competency, but despite it all, the Yankees start the homestand leading the Red Sox by 1½ games and the Rays by 2½. Thus, it would take a serious slump or a devastating injury to Hughes, Pettitte or Sabathia to change the plan and put the Yankees in position to have to outbid the Mets, among others, for Lee.
Whatever chips Cashman decides to put in play likely will be used for bullpen or bench help. Thanks in part to a bone-headed decision to first step on first by James Loney on Colin Curtis’s grounder Sunday night, there was nothing wrong with the Yankees bench in that ninth inning in Los Angeles, but a more experienced bat undoubtedly is a priority.
Chan Ho Park’s struggles, Joba Chamberlain’s inconsistency, and Boone Logan’s inexperience cry for another arm and even a bullpen as deep as last season’s would, too. Everybody always can use another reliever, leaving the Mariners with leverage even with the Yankees not at the front of the line to pull the lever.
If teams continue to prove no longer as willing to trade good prospects for rentals, Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik can always take the two first-round draft choices, one of which Cashman will be willing to sacrifice if he has kept his best chips or potential Yankees.
That may not make it an easier for fans accustomed to instant gratification. Their teeth may grind closer to the nerve with each Burnett start, but in the meantime they should enjoy Hughes against Lee.
Until the divorce comes through on Lee’s shotgun marriage to the Mariners, looking isn’t cheating.