The Yankees agreed to sign closer Rafael Soriano to set up Mariano Rivera for the 2011 season. The deal is said to be worth $35 million for three years. That is way too much for a set up man! There’s a lot of risk involved in this signing. Who’s to say that Soriano will continue to dominate as a set up man in the Bronx? Soriano has played in Seattle, Atlanta and Tampa Bay so far in his career. These places are not exactly pressure cookers.
While it is true that the Yankees are in need of relief pitching, they really needed to focus on improving their starting rotation. According to Baseball Reference, the Yankees finished in the lower tier of the American League in save percentage at 68% in 2010. In addition, the Yankees starting rotation averaged six innings pitched per game in 2010 and consequently finished second in cheap wins in the American League. A cheap wins consists of a starting pitcher recording a win while pitching less than six innings or allowing more than three runs. These statistics show that although the Yankees were able to win 95 games in 2010, their pitching outside of C.C. Sabathia barely had anything to do with their success. In fact, it was the Yankees pitching that prevented them from advancing to the World Series in 2010.
The likelihood of such scenario reoccurring for the Yankees is slim, so I don’t see the Yankees making the postseason in 2011 with a rotation that includes Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre. The Yankees not only missed out on a bunch of viable free agent pitchers to fill out their rotation but they just stood there and saw their most hated rivals, the Red Sox, acquire a bunch of star power to their roster to ensure themselves a division title. Part of the Yankees inability to secure any arms for their rotation has to do with the waiting game that they are in with Andy Pettitte. The veteran lefty is not sure about whether he wants to come back for 2011 or finally call it a career. Unfortunately for the Yankees, it appears that Pettitte is not ready to come back just yet. And so now the Yankees are forced to go back to the drawing board.
Rafael Soriano has become, without a doubt, the Yankees’ biggest offseason addition. While the reliever’s ability to pitch is not in question, his ability to pitch in New York might be. Soriano’s lone appearance at the New Yankee Stadium went well recording a save against the Yankees as a member of the Rays. Having said that, an inning pitched is not much of a sample size. Soriano is going to have to deal with the New York media and the pressures of pitching in the Bronx.
The signing of Soriano was done more out of desperation than necessity. The Yankees once again threw money at the problem. Last time I checked, there is nothing wrong with spending a lot of money on a set up man. Ownership has every right to spend their money the way they see fit. The Yankees would have been in better shape if they had thrown money at a free agent starting pitcher or acquire one via trade. Opting to sign a starting pitcher would have allowed the Yankees to sign two or three more available arms to fill out the bullpen for just about the same amount of money they gave Soriano. Instead, ownership felt that the team needed a big splash signing in order to remain a legitimate competitor in the American League East. If the Yankees want to continue to build a contender for 2011, it would behoove them to sign a veteran starting pitcher or two before Opening Day.
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