Yankees Need to Decide on Starters

As Yankees GM Brian Cashman peruses the all-you-can-eat buffet known as the Winter Meetings in San Diego, he has a choice, and he knows that he has to eat. Since he traded Shane Greene as the Yanks’ part of the Didi Gregorius trade, he’s short a starter, with healing from injuries being the primary off season work for the staff. Should he go for the prime rib/lobster row containing high-priced pitching like Max Scherzer and James Shields; or should he opt in for the chicken/meatloaf line of retreads and fill-ins (and former Yanks) like Brandon McCarthy, Chris Capuano, or Justin Masterson?

Sounds like the buffet should be in Las Vegas not San Diego.

The jury is very much out on the direction Cashman will go. According to several reports (New York Daily News, ESPN), the Yanks are in on Scherzer. (Of course, rumors abound that the Yanks are in on every big pitcher, but sources are dubious, as every agent knows the easiest way to jack up a price is to claim that the Yanks are bidding.) After virtually trading closer David Robertson for Andrew Miller and saving a couple of million dollars; banking Derek Jeter’s $12 million and getting Gregorius for about half a million; Cashman is sitting ahead on budget, looking at a major dice roll.

• Will Scherzer or Shields last through their long and expensive contract?
• Should I bank on my young (not including CC Sabathia), talented, MASH unit of a pitching staff?
• With young prospects showing well, are there trade possibilities for David Price (along with the major contract that will follow) or Cole Hamels?

Whether it’s the buffet or the casino, Cashman will have to live with the choices he makes and he’s not showing his cards.