The What If 5th Starter Candidates

At this point in the Hot Stove season, the Yankees are pretty much set. They could still add a starter for some rotation depth or bring some position players in in minor league deals to add depth in AAA, but for the most part, the team on paper now is probably going to be the team on Opening Day. Since the real options for the fifth starter’s spot are so grim, I thought it’d be a fun–if not slightly sadistic/masochistic–exercise to go over the options that were once a possibility, but aren’t any more. This won’t include guys like Cliff Lee or Andy Pettitte who would just push others (read: Ivan Nova) back to the fourth/fifth spots.

The first one that comes to mind is Joba Chamberlain. This path is worn, so we won’t walk down it again. By know, you know where I stand on this.

Alfredo Aceves, without back injury, would definitely be up for this spot. The jack-of-all-trades was a starter in Mexico and the minors and had a wide array of pitches at his disposal. This may’ve been a stretch after missing pretty much all of 2010 but I think hew would’ve been worth the try; he’s definitely a better option than Mitre.

If not for injuries, we could be talking about Alan Horne in a rotation spot. He was great in 2007 with the Thunder but just couldn’t stay healthy or effective after that. Horne didn’t pitch at all in 2010.

Aside from Joba Chamberlain, the most perfect candidate for this spot would’ve been Ian Kennedy. Despite an unceremonious departure from New York, Kennedy still has some upside and definitely passes the Better Than Mitre test. With a 3.80/4.33/4.28 ERA/FIP/xFIP triple slash last year in 194 innings, Kennedy proved he can be at least an average pitcher somewhere in the Majors (2.4 fWAR, 2.7 bWAR). As much as I like Kennedy and would love to have him around, I’d still do the trade that sent him to Arizona and Austin Jackson to Detroit while bringing Curtis Granderson to New York.

The combination of the very cool part of the Hot Stove season–and the desperation to see ANYONE but Sergio Mitre in the fifth spot–has brought us to this…contemplating guys who could’ve helped the team if they were still in the organization. At this point, I have to wonder (like RAB did yesterday) if Mitre really IS the best option out there. The Serg isn’t going to be making much money this season and if he sucks, he can always be relegated back to the long-man spot or he can be let go without much of a financial hit. The Yankees are ready to throw the Sergio Spaghetti to the wall and see what sticks. What’s the worst that happens? He sucks as badly as Javier Vazquez did in 2010 and the Yankees cut him loose. What’s the best that happens? He proves himself worthy as a good groundball guy and the Yankees get some value. I’m not counting on that best case scenario, but considering the costs and the alternatives, I will no longer be irate if the Yankees end up trying it out.