Hamels Is the Best of Scherzer and Shields

             Max Scherzer and James Shields are the best pitchers on the free agent market, but are they worth the payday? The former CY Young winner Scherzer is a definite ace, and boy does he know it looking for a 7-8 year contract north of $200M. He is probably worth what he is asking however the Yankees don't need an ace, so why pay for one? Shields would make more sense being more of a #2 starter with the ability to take over and be an ace. He is looking for a more reasonable 4-5 years between $100M-$120M. Now he is really worth it during the regular season proving to be a real workhorse. However his only problem is that he is a terrible postseason pitcher with a career 5.46 ERA in 11 games. With how much Shields costs the main point of signing him should be to get to the postseason. He would do a great job getting them their however he would do a terrible job pitching for them when they get there. With both of these pitchers having their ups and downs which one is the best? Which one would be best for the Yankees to sign and have in the rotation in 2015? The answer is neither of them, the answer is Cole Hamels.

Cole Hamels has been on the market for some time. All of the trades involving him have seen to just fall right through. This is probably because the Phillies GM is Rubin Amaro Jr who is known for overvaluing his players and asking too much for them, if the Yankees where to trade for Hamels it would cost top prospects such as Gary Sanchez, Ian Clarkin, and Eric Jagielo. If the Yankees where to eat up the majority of the contract however the cost would be lower considering he has 4 years 90M left on his contract.

Hammels the best option for the Yankees?

Even with the cost of Hamels being high he would still be worth it considering the Yankees need for another strong starter. Hamels is a definite mix between Scherzer and Shields. He has the same ability as Scherzer being an ace, and is great in the postseason with a career 3.09 ERA in 13 games, plus he was the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP. He also brings the same workhorse quality that Shields brings with not having pitched less than 200 innings since 2010, and hasn't pitched less than 180 innings since 2007. He brings around the same cost that Shields has left on his contract with only 4 years $90M left on his contract. Hamels would be a way better option than Scherzer or Shields and he would fit perfectly into the Yankee rotation. 

Cole Hamels Is Willing. Are the Yankees?

              The Yankees are getting younger with every trade that GM Brian Cashman makes, but is a trade for Cole Hamels worth the prospects? The Yankees biggest need right now is a starting pitcher, and neither Max Scherzer nor James Shields seems to be a perfect fit for the Yankees. Scherzer wants "ace money" and they don't need an ace so why pay for one, and Shields has the right price but his terrible postseason record makes him a questionable target. Hamels is the best of both these pitchers, being that his postseason ERA is 3.09, he was a NLCS and World Series MVP in 2008, and the remainder on his contract is around the same amount James Shields is looking for. The problem with the Hamels trade doesn't seem to Cashman, but Phillies GM Rubin Amaro Jr. He is known for overvaluing his players, which typically ends in the deal falling through, remembering the Marlin Byrd deal that fell through last year because Amaro Jr wanted to get top prospect Aaron Judge in return. So expect to see top prospects given up if the deal does go through such as Gary Sanchez, Eric Jagielo, and Ian Clarkin. 

Scherzer Is the next Sabathia

Scherzer the future CC Sabathia?

           With all of the buzz surrounding Max Scherzer, GM Brian Cashman is still going against signing him. The Yankee fan base seems to be for it as they believe that he will solidify a flimsy rotation, and he probably will. However looking at this in the long run, it will be another failed contract. Just look back to 2009 when the Yankees signed former CY Young winner CC Sabathia to a 8yr/$182M contract. Now fast-forward to the 2014-2015 offseason and there is former Cy Young winner Max Scherzer who is looking for a 7-8 year contract north of $200M. If the Yankees sign Scherzer they might win a World Series like they did with Sabathia but with 3-4 years left on the contract he could will most likely start to break down and become the new CC Sabathia. Even though Scherzer has about 1000 innings less than Sabathia when signed with New York, he is the type of pitcher that relies on a mid-90's fastball to carry him. Now even with a 1000 innings less than Sabathia, when he reaches his mid-30's he won't be able to keep his fastball in the mid-90's. He will have the same having to adjust to a low velocity problems Sabathia is having eventually, and considering how much he relies on his power pitches he won't be able to make the adjustment. Just look at his former teammate Justin Verlander. He has the exact same pitching style as Scherzer and he has been terrible his last two season. Signing Scherzer would be a terrible deal in the long run.

Why Trading for Tulo Is a Mistake

         Many Yankee fans want to see Troy Tulowitzki starting at shortstop Opening Day for 2015. But doing that would be a big mistake and waste of prospects. With how often Tulowitzki is injured it makes no sense to add yet another injury prone player to the infield. It would be perfectly fine to have Didi Gregorious at shortstop considering he is young, has a lot of potential, and is a defensive wiz. But having risking having Tulowitzki at shortstop is just a heart attack waiting to happen, he has averaged only 88 games in the last three seasons. Now is it worth it to have only a little over half a season worth of production, for giving up the best prospects we have like Luis Serevino and Aaron Judge? I don't think it is, even if he is going to give the best numbers in the league for that half season it would be better to be average for a whole season than great for half. 

Will Eovaldi Perform?

Can Eovaldi perform to his potential?

             Being the main player in the trade that sent Martin Prado and David Phelps to the Marlins in exchange for Nathan Eovaldi, Garrett Jones, and Domingo German, can Eovaldi turn things around and realize his potential to be a number 2 starter and possibly even an ace. He has been compared to Angels ace Garrett Richards who turned things around last year going 13-4 with a 2.61 ERA. If Eovaldi can make that same change then the rotation will be a big turn around and could be the best in the division. Eovaldi's fastball averages mid to high 90's, his change-up and cutter are mainly the problem and hitters bat over .450 against them. His slider is his best pitch and hitters bat .214 against it. The main reason Garrett Richards was able to have his success was he eliminated the use of his change-up which was the pitch that Eovaldi said he will continue to use. If Eovaldi wants to perform to his potential he will need to make changes to his approach.

Sabathia Just Needs to Be Average

Can CC Sabathia make a comeback?

            With CC Sabathia coming off two bad years, and a shoulder injury the Yankees need him to be healthy all if not the majority of the 2015 season. But he doesn't need to be the dominant ace that he was in 2012, but an average workhorse that can put up a 3.65 ERA and 180-200 innings. If he can do this, then he would be perfect for the 2 or 3 spot in the rotation. If he can make a comeback and dominant like he used to then great, it would be perfect to have a top 1&2 combos like the Mariners or the Dodgers. However the odds of that happening are very slim, even though Sabathia says "I can still dominate." One of the things that could possibly happen is the last two years have been him adjusting to his lowered velocity and working on a two-seam, sinker, and more breaking balls. If so then he should look better than he did before. One option for Sabathia is if he is unable to comeback and pitch a whole game is moving him to be a long-relief pitcher out of the bullpen.

Yankees Should Sign Emilio Bonifacio

       

Bonifacio right for the Yankees?

   With Marin Prado gone the Yankees have lost their main utility man. Emilio Bonifacio would be a perfect fit for the Yankees considering he can play almost anywhere. Bonifacio can do almost anything consisting of pinch hitting, pinch running, defensive substitution, and start in place of players to give them the occasional day of rest. With Bonifacio being able to play all of the Yankees questionable positions like SS, 2B, RF, 3B, and CF. Now not all of those positions need to be filled but a couple of them are played by injured prone players such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Chase Headley, and Carlos Beltran. Considering how durable Bonifacio has been able he would provide good insurance in case someone was to get injured.