Cashman: Next 3 Weeks To Determine Post-Season Rotation
Via Wally Matthews –
General manager Brian Cashman said every Yankees pitcher not named CC Sabathia or Mariano Rivera is “auditioning for a role” in the postseason.
The size of a player’s paycheck, he said, will have no bearing on how or if he is used in October.
That means rookie right-hander Ivan Nova, with all of 24 innings pitched in the major leagues, has as much of a chance of starting a playoff game as A.J. Burnett, who is in the second year of a five-year deal that pays him $16.5 million a season.
“Everything will be decided in these last three weeks,” Cashman said Wednesday night. “The guys who we think give us the best chance to win are the guys who are going to pitch.”
The GM refused to speak about individual pitchers and their status for the postseason. He did say if Nova pitches well over the final 22 games of the season, in which he is likely to make four starts, Cashman would be inclined to trust him with a postseason start.
“Aside from CC, nothing is guaranteed for anyone,” Cashman said. “Some guys who are starters now may wind up pitching out of the bullpen. We’ll make that determination based on how well they perform down the stretch for us.”
Wow. And, to think, all this time, I thought it would be the manager, Joe Girardi, who decided what pitchers would start for the team in the post-season.
Wow. And, to think, all this time, I thought it would be the manager, Joe Girardi, who decided what pitchers would start for the team in the post-season.
———-
You’re reading too much into this. No manager in baseball has complete, 100% autonomy over such decisions. GM’s and managers work together and I’m sure Girardi will have a co-chairmanship of the playoff pitching roster search committee.
I’d bet willing to bet real money that Cashman and Girardi have already discussed this, and that Girardi agrees. If, in fact, he’s not the one who decided this, and then, together, they decided to let Cashman play “bad cop”.
Well, if Pettitte shows he’s healthy, he’ll be in the rotation, too.
Right now, I’d say it will be CC, Andy, Phil, and AJ getting the starts, with a pen of Logan, Joba, Mo, Javy, Wood, and David. That’s 10. Pick one, or two, out of Mitre or Nova or Mosely or Chad. I’d probably go with Mosley and Chad if we are taking 12, and take Nova over Mitre if we are going with 13. 13 is unlikely because… We’ve got our 8 regular starters… DJ, Robbie, Tex, A-Rod, Nick, Jorge, Gardy and Grandy, The bench/DH’s will be Lance, Thames, Pena, Cisco and Kearns. That’s 13. So I’d guess Nova is on the bubble.
Some possibles…. Drop Javy and take Nova… I can see that, and frankly it makes some sense, but only if you think you might need to give Nova a start.
Give Nova the 4th start over AJ? Very unlikely unless AJ blows up in his first post season start. But, if AJ did blow up, I’d prefer to run Nova out there as a starter over Javy right now. On the other hand, Javy has done pretty well in long relief and it’s more likely we’ll need a long man than a 4th starter. And, you always have Mosley as a desperation starter.
at this point and time the roster that i would trust the most would be:
cc-pettitte-hughes-nova
mo-joba-robertson-logan-mitre-wood-gaudin/vazquez
posada-cervelli
tex-cano-jeter-arod-nunez-berkman
swisher-granderson-gardner-thames-kearns-golson
if burnett bombs his next 2/3 starts they should try him quickly in middle relief or something – if that doesnt work, just keep him off completely. vazquez has done well in long relief, but i dont trust him starting.
#15 wrote:
Javy coming out of the pen gives me nightmares of ’04…
@ Evan3457:
I’d further bet that Dave E., Hank, Hal, the Ghost of George, and every Steinbreener relative will be in on the decision. Cashman does not make decisions in a vacuum. This will be heavily discussed every day up until the PS rosters have to be finalized.
I believe Girardi stated that Nova WON’T be on the PS roster. Cashman may be bailing him out, as I believe unless 2 of Javy/AJ/Phil look much better, Nova may indeed see the PS (of course, only if he continues his excellence).
We don’t know how Andy will be. That’s still a big question.
We know bad/good AJ is probably only good to Win half his starts.
I personally believe Phil is getting tired. He hasn’t pitched much more then 100 innings since 2006.
The truth is a good decision can’t be made until the last minute.
OldYanksFan wrote:
Bingo.
I wish what Cashman was saying was true but there’s no way they won’t have AJ start. Not w/ the money they’re paying him. At best he has a 50/50 chance of winning a PS game. Plus, he insists on not using Jorge – a potent bat lost.