Yanks Go Yard Mailbag – Issue #1

Here at Yanks Go Yard, we stride to provide you with some form of entertainment during the offseason. What better way to do that than with a mailbag? Over the course of the last week or so, we have collected questions from you – the readers, and I’m here to answer them.

Sep 4, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher

(30) pitches during the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Yankees won 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

What is the Yankees plan for a closer next year? Do they plan on signing a free agent or trading for someone. D-rob is a better set up man than closer

It goes without saying that losing Mariano Rivera will leave a tremendous gap in the Yankee bullpen. That said, I do think that David Robertson can be effective in the closer role, with somebody like Shawn Kelley setting up for him. If, for some reason, the team does not feel comfortable going that route, then they can always look towards free agency.

Grant Balfour will be a free agent this winter, and he has had success over the past few seasons, being the closer for the Oakland Athletics. Over the two years that he has spent locking down the ninth, he has saved 24 and 38 games, respectively. It wont cost a lot of money to sign him, and it could provide some peace of mind knowing that a somewhat experienced closer is taking over.

What do the Yankees plan to do for a closer next season? Do they plan on seeing who is available on free agent market or making a trade? How about starting pitching situation?

This question is very similar to the last one, so I’m not going to delve into the closer situation and repeat myself.

As for the starting pitching, there is a lot that the Yankees can do to solidify their rotation.

Without signing a free agent, next year’s rotation looks like CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, David Phelps, Michael Pineda, and Adam Warren. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not all that confident in that. You may have noticed that I didn’t include Hiroki Kuroda in there, that’s because his future is uncertain. It’s been reported that he either wants to rejoin the Yankees, or go back to Japan. We’ll see what happens.

I am a big supporter of signing Masahiro Tanaka from Japan, who just went 23-0 in his latest season. In fact, a little while back, I explained why the Yankees should go after him.

Aside from Tanaka, there are players like Matt Garza, Ervin Santana, Bronson Arroyo, Bartolo Colon, Chad Gaudin, Roy Halladay, Dan Haren, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tim Lincecum, Scott Kazmir, Ricky Nolasco, and Jason Vargas on the market. All of these players could fill holes in the rotation, and they would all cost a varying amount of money to get. It all depends on whether or not the front office decides to open their wallets.

And if all else fails, they can always bring back Phil Hughes. (I’m kidding.)

Is it worth trying to resign Curtis Granderson in free agency?

This is a tough one because Granderson, when not injured, has been a home run machine in his time with the Yankees. Therefore, there are going to be teams out there who will go hard after Grandy. Most recently, the Chicago White Sox have been linked to him. I’m not sure what Granderson is looking for in terms of money and years, but he has expressed his interest in staying with the Yanks. Whether this means he’ll give them a discount remains to be seen, but if all else fails, the Yankees can give him a qualifying offer and take the draft pick from another team.

So is Granderson worth resigning? I’m going to say yes, because he’s a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium, and he’s an above-average defender. Will they resign him? That’s up to Brian Cashman & Co.

That’s going to do it for this first issue of the Yanks Go Yard mailbag, but be sure to leave a question in the comments. You can also send us a question on Facebook, Twitter, or by e-mailing us at yanksgoyardfs@gmail.com.