The Yankees are on the hunt for help in their starting rotation ahead of the 2016 season, and the top of the free agent market is elite, but expensive. Zack Greinke and David Price are the top available names, but both could be in line for long contracts worth $200 million or more. The Yankees already owe $20 million or more to five players, only one of whom, Masahiro Tanaka, is younger than 33.
The Yankees don’t flex their financial might the way they once did in the late 90s and early 2000s, so they’ll explore cheaper options. Here are three such players.
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Wei-Yin Chen
Chen, 30, has none of the buzz of Greinke and Price, but he would add depth to a rotation that is chock full of injury risk. Tanaka has been playing with a fragile UCL since late 2014, and at some point he is going to need Tommy John surgery. CC Sabathia is recovering from alcoholism, and hasn’t been a quality starter since 2012, and Michael Pineda has never logged more than 171 innings.
Chen is not an ace, but a consistent, left-handed starter who has been durable in his four MLB seasons. One concern is that Chen’s FIP has been higher than his ERA in each of the past two seasons, and his strand rate has hovered near 80 percent, both indicators of impending regression. Still, he has been a winning pitcher in the AL East for several years, and won’t be counted on to spearhead the rotation.
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John Lackey
Lackey is no spring chicken, but he is a World Series champion, and someone who might serve as a mentor for New York’s promising young players. At 37 years old Lackey pitched to a 2.77 ERA last season for the Cardinals, and was crucial to them withstanding an early season injury to ace Adam Wainwright. He’s been downright resurgent since 2013, and has made at least 29 starts in each of the last three seasons.
Durability is priority No. 1 for any additions the Yankees make to their staff, and Lackey provides it in spades.
Ian Kennedy
Kennedy was a highly-touted Yankees prospect once upon a time, and a homecoming makes sense for both sides. Kennedy will be discounted coming off a mediocre season in which he posted a 4.21 ERA for the Padres, but there are some signs his bad season was fluky. His HR/FB rate spiked to 17.2 percent, up 10 points from 2014, and his xFIP (3.78) was much friendlier than his ERA. IT was also more in line with a pitcher who struck out more than a batter per nine, and saw no significant increased in his line drive or fly ball rate.
Homer-prone pitchers struggle in Yankee Stadium, but Kennedy is not particularly homer-prone. 2015 encompassed a lot of bad luck for Kennedy, but his misfortune could wind up being a steal for the Bronx Bombers.
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