The Yankees finished their 2014 season with major holes in their pitching rotation...and with Spring Training around the corner, very little has changed.
Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia sit at the top of the rotation, but there are lots of questions behind them. While New York could have bolstered their rotation with big-money moves for Max Scherzer or James Shields, GM Brian Cashman knows how much money is already locked up in bad contracts...and the team wants to let a few of those expire before they start handing out massive checks again.
Max Scherzer was the consensus pick for the best free agent pitcher available this winter. He's now headed for the Washington Nationals on a seven-year, $210 million deal. James Shields remains available, but the Yankees are reportedly sitting this one out, content to let another team pick up the paycheck and sign the 2011 All-Star.
On Tuesday, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark listed all the reasons why various teams aren't in on Shields, and he concludes that the Yankees are just looking for a different kind of player (younger, cheaper) right now. The matter of Shields' 6.35 career ERA at the new Yankee Stadium apparently doesn't help either.
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