The New New York Yankees

To the regret of many a baseball fan, the New York Yankees are back. After, by New York Yankees standards, a miserable season (during which they accumulated a record of 89-73 and failed to clinch a playoff berth), the Yankees have made quite a splash in the 2008 Free Agency period. At the conclusion of the 2008 regular season, there was no debate as to what was the demise of the Yankees, and what the Yankees must do going into the off season. Despite scoring 4.9 runs per game in 2008, the Yankees were unable to even clinch a playoff berth, all because of their sub-par pitching staff. Enter C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. After signing Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million contract, the Yankees acquired one of the premiere pitchers in the MLB. In 2008, Sabathia produced a 17-10 record with a 2.70 ERA. However, his record of 17-10 certainly does not do justice to his dominance. After being traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers, Sabathia racked up a dominating 11-2 record, including seven complete games, four of which were shutouts (one which was one questionable "hit" from a No-Hitter). While it has been argued that his production with Milwaukee was a product of the weak-hitting of the NL, no one can argue the control, and power with which C.C. pitched with (without even mentioning that he pitched for eight years with the Cleveland Indians, where he was also a premiere pitcher). For these reasons, there is no reason to lead me to believe that Sabathia will be a flop in New York, or even disappoint. 

While not as large a name as Sabathia, Burnett adds yet another (drastic) upgrade to the Yankees bullpen. After leading the AL in strikeouts  in 2008 (with 231), and compiling a record of 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA (accomplished in the A.L. East; home to the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Yankees), Burnett signed a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the New York Yankees. Burnett now joins a staff that includes Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees ace who is one year removed from a dominating 2007 campaign where he compiled a 17-9 record and a 3.70 ERA, the previously discussed C.C. Sabathia, the young, "ceiling-less", Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy, who now, because of a star-studded, excellent pitching staff, should flourish, or at least, improve from last year and be a more-than-suitable fifth-pitcher. Because of my previous blog post, you all know what I think about the Yankees extravagant spending, but there is no doubt that it has been a success, as the Yankees should now be able to leave the embarrassment of the 2008 season behind, and begin the 2009 season, in which, because of the drastic reformations, they are now my pre-season pick for World Series Champs.