Guest Author - David Landry
Last week Yankees fans everywhere were shocked when pitching phenom Phil Hughes left an active no hitter in the seventh inning due to a hamstring injury. This had been the third hamstring injury for a Yankee starter in 2007. Yesterday, Roger Clemens appeared during the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium to announce that he would be returning to pinstripes after a three year absence. This could be a turning point for the bombers, whose potent offense has been nullified by weak pitching.
Hamstrung Staff
So far this year, the Yankees have seen three of their regular starters and two replacements go on the disabled list. Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Phil Hughes went down with hamstring injuries; Carl Pavano is probably out for the season with an elbow injury; and, Jeff Karstens fractured his right leg and will probably be back in July.
The good news for the Yankees is that Wang and Mussina are back and Pavano won’t be coming back. With the addition of Clemens, the Yankees will have a relatively old rotation consisting of Wang, Mussina, Pettite, Clemens and Igawa. Clemens is 45, Mussina is 38 and though Pettite is “only” 35, he has a history of back problems. Igawa has been erratic, so he may find himself in the pen when Hughes is mended. This points to an expensive and potentially fragile rotation.
The Yankees have a number of good young arms coming up through their system, but Hughes and Karstens are the two most ready for action. Karstens is on his second trip to the DL, so you can expect the Yankees to treat him gingerly.
Rocket fuel is expensive
Clemens is not coming cheap. His deal is a pro-rated $28M that is going to bring him $18M for a season that will start around the beginning of June. This is similar to the seasons Roger has been putting in with Houston. It will also move the Yankees to just under $200M mark again and will result in an additional $9M in luxury tax payments to MLB.
Will Clemens make a difference?
If Clemens stays healthy, the Yankees will be a much better team for having him. The real question is whether he will have the same success with American League line-ups that he’s had in the National League. His ERA for the last two years has been 2.30 and 1.87. With stronger line-ups top to bottom, American League teams should fare better against him, though I expect him to be effective. It won’t be a bargain for the Yankees, but that’s irrelevant to Steinbrenner with the Yankees 5.5 games behind Boston and no other prospects for dramatic improvement.
