Overview of Yankees Rotation with Improvements

                 At the beginning of the offseason the Yankee rotation was the weakest part of the team. But has it changed with the moves that GM Brian Cashman has made? Or is it still the spotty question mark it was going into the offseason?

1. Masahiro Tanaka:

2014: 13-5/2.77 ERA/136.1 IP/144 SO

Masahiro Tanaka was the talk of the baseball world in first half of the 2014 season before he was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL, and was out till the end of the season with the exception of 2 starts. Tanaka is definitely the Yankees ace, no doubt about it but the real question is if he can recover to what he was before he was injured, and if his UCL will fully snap after just pitching a couple games. If he is able to this it will be a big turning point for the rotation; however the Yankees should work on shortening his workload from the going 7-8 innings he pitched last year.

2015 Prediction: 17-11/2.65 ERA/ 219 IP/ 233 SO

2. Michael Pineda:

2014: 5-5/1.89 ERA/76.1 IP/59 SO 

Michael Pineda has never seemed to be able to stay healthy since he was traded for top Yankee prospect Jesus Montero in 2012. Last year was his first season pitching for the Yankees; it was short, and filled with pine tar talk, but was still hopeful. He managed to post an impressive 1.89 ERA in that small amount of time; however the Yankees shouldn't place their hopes on him to be healthy for all of the 2015 season.

2015 Prediction: 15-12/3.56 ERA/176 IP/146 SO

3. CC Sabathia:

2014: 3-4/5.28 ERA/46.0 IP/48 SO

I'm not worried about CC Sabathia in the slightest. Now his glory days are over, and I doubt that he will ever return to full for, but I think that he will come back and put up solid average numbers, perfect numbers for the middle to lower end of a rotation.

2015 Prediction: 11-12/3.89 ERA/189 IP/158 SO

4. Nathan Eovaldi:

2014: 6-14/4.37 ERA/199.2 IP/142 SO

Eovaldi is a guy with a bunch of talent and nothing to show for it. He was acquired in the trade that sent Martin Prado and David Phelps to the Marlins. He manages to show his talent in small spurts throughout the season however he is not consistent. If the Yankees manage to turn him around and get him to his full potential then he could possibly be their number 2 or 3 starter.

2015 Prediction: 14-12/ 3.54 ERA/196 IP/173 SO

5. Chris Capuano/ Ivan Nova:

2014: 3-4/4.35 ERA/97.1 IP/84 SO

2014: 2-2/8.27 ERA/20.2/12 SO

Chris Capuano will likely compete for the rotation in Spring Training with Manny Banuelos. Whoever wins the rotation spot might have to give it up after Ivan Nova is done rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery. But that is dependent on the rest of the rotations ability to perform; it might make sense if the rotation is doing well to temporarily move Nova to the bullpen.

2015 Prediction: None considering that there are multiple people able to win the rotation spot.

Options

Manny Banuelos: If Banuelos managed to get back to the potential he had before his Tommy John Surgery, then there is no doubt at all that Banuelos should win the 5th rotation spot. His ceiling was predicted to be in the 2nd or 3rd rotation spot.

Brandon Beachy: Very low risk high reward type of free agent. If he were to pan out it would greatly benefit the Yankee rotation and strengthen it. With how injury prone Beachy has been the Yankees could most likely sign him to a 1 year deal

James Shields: Shields would be the most expensive of all these options but he would be worth it. Shields would easily be in the number 2 spot in the rotation and allow some flexibility and insurance to the rotation if Masahiro Tanaka were to get injured or not fully recover from his partially torn UCL. Shield's high ground ball rate would be an advantage in Yankee Stadium which is what the Yankees need.