Yankees: Starting pitching will be the top priority this offseason

There are a lot of reasons why the Yankees are home right now instead of playing in the ALCS, but the main reason is that their starting pitching simply wasn’t good enough. Now that the offseason is underway in the Bronx the front office’s number one priority this offseason will be to improve the starting rotation heading into 2019.

Heading into the ALDS the Yankees had their starting rotation lined up just as they had hoped for after taking care of the A’s in the AL Wild Card game. Boston killer J.A. Happ in Game 1, postseason star Masahiro Tanaka in Game 2, staff ace Luis Severino in Game 3 and clutch veteran CC Sabathia in Game 4.

On paper it looked like a recipe for success but that all changed after Happ didn’t make it out of the third inning in Game 1’s loss. Tanaka stepped up as he always does in October to help lead the Yanks to a win in Game 2, but Sevy and Sabathia both delivered clunkers in Game’s 3 and 4 and just like that the Yankees season was over.

Over the course of the four games, Yankee starters combined for only 13 innings, pitching to an awful 10.38 ERA. The Yankee bullpen’s 4.91 ERA during the series wasn’t much better but that’s mostly because of the 10 runs they gave up in Game 3’s blowout loss, a game in which none of their top high leverage relievers pitched in. Other than that the pen was as good as advertised but unfortunately they never got to pitch with a lead other than in Game 2.

Had the starters been able to give the Yankees more length and limit Boston’s offense in the early innings this obviously could’ve been a much different series. Having the best bullpen in baseball is a great thing to have but as we saw it doesn’t mean much if your starters can’t hand them the ball with a lead. That’s why come this offseason you can expect Brian Cashman and company to upgrade the rotation by any means necessary.

One thing we know about next year’s starting staff is Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino will be back. However, who will fill those final three spots is anyone’s guess right now but you can be sure there will be some changes.

Sonny Gray likely won’t be back after a miserable year and a half stint in pinstripes that saw him go 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA in 41 appearances. Brian Cashman said this past Friday that the Yanks will be looking to trade Gray this winter to give him a fresh start somewhere else. There’s a chance CC Sabathia won’t be back either. CC could sign another one-year deal to serve as a fourth or fifth starter but the Yankees will look to add a couple of front of the rotation arms before they consider bringing him back.

One of those arms could be J.A. Happ who was outstanding for the Yanks down the stretch before his poor start in Game 1 at Boston. Happ should be higher than CC on the Yankees preferred target list because even at 36 years old he’s still at the top of his game and he’s shown he can handle pitching in New York.

Ideally, the Yankees would like to resign Happ and add another ace type like left-hander Patrick Corbin to really give them an elite starting staff. Corbin established himself as an ace for the Diamondbacks in 2018 and he should be in line for a big payday as he enters free agency for the first time at 29 years old.

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Corbin would fit perfectly atop the Yankees rotation because he’s a groundball pitcher who also strikes out a ton of hitters (career high 246 K’s in 18). He’s also left-handed which bodes well for him and any other southpaw pitching at Yankee Stadium because they can neutralize the damage to the short porch in right field.

The Yanks should be the favorites to sign Corbin because they have the money to get him and he also grew up a Yankees fan in Clay, NY a suburb of Syracuse. Earlier this season he talked about how much he’d love to play for his childhood team so I’d be shocked if the Yankees don’t get him.

The Yankees could also choose to give one of their rookies like Jonathan Loaisiga or Justus Sheffield a crack at that final rotation spot if they choose not to resign CC. Their two of the Yankees top three prospects per MLB Pipeline and each could provide a lot of upside at the back end of the rotation.

You also never know what Cashman has up his sleeve in terms of possible trades because you know he’s always looking for young, controllable starters with power stuff. He might make a move for someone we never knew was even on the Yankees radar and it could pay big dividends.

The Yankees are just days into their offseason planning so we’ll have to wait and see how things play out. However, one thing we know for sure is that changes need to be made because last year’s starting rotation is not going to cut it if the Yanks want to reach their goal of winning a championship.

Resigning Happ would be a good start but adding an All-Star like Corbin could be enough to put them over the top.