New York Yankees Inside Pitch
by Sports Xchange
In a worst-case scenario for the Yankees, CC Sabathia goes to San Francisco, Anaheim or Milwaukee, A.J. Burnett ends up in Atlanta, Derek Lowe opts for another team and Andy Pettitte is unwilling to accept a pay cut.
That would leave the Yankees with a rotation made up of Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and ... a whole lot of headaches.
The Yankees could hope Phil Hughes rebounds and surprises them with the type of success they originally planned. They could hope for the same for Ian Kennedy, though that scenario might be even more unlikely than the one for Hughes, who has long been thought of as a major player for them. In between, they would patch the rotation together much like they did last season -- their first without a playoff trip since 1994.
Factor in the Yankees' likely decision to let Bobby Abreu walk, and you can't even be sure who will bat third -- only the most important spot in the lineup.
While the prevailing thought around the Yankees is they can't fall back too far for too long because of their enormous bank account, both by their own decisions and possibly one by Sabathia, their money won't just bail them out this year.
As the winter meetings give baseball its latest chance to finally warm the hot stove, the Yankees will have as much at stake as anyone, if not more.
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