The Yankees’ starting rotation is not in great shape. Masahiro Tanaka is a fine number one, but there is a quick drop-off in performance with Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda. The former is maddeningly inconsistent, and the latter is coming off his first good season since 2012. Beyond them? Who knows. It’s a hodgepodge of uneasy names, with Luis Severino, Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell, and Adam Warren all in the mix.
2017 seems to be shaping up as another development-focused year for the Yankees, and that’s fine. However, the team is ostensibly hoping to compete as well, and Hal Steinbrenner loves to prattle on and on about having a “championship-caliber club.