Boston Red Sox should be aware of the threat from New York Yankees – MLB News
Brian Cashman has taken huge steps to strengthen the Yankees’ starting rotation. The Yankees have signed on free agent right handed Hiroki Kuroda to a one year $10 million contract. Just a few days ago, the General Manager brought right handed Michael Pineda into the Yankees side in exchange for Jesus Montero. The 22-year-old Pineda is one of the brightest prospects of 2011 season and he was an All Star as a rookie last season.
“His secondary stuff and his third (pitch), changeup, is actually a really good pitch,” catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. “He’s able to consistently throw it for strikes. I think he can do it, and I think he’s going to be a key for our success this year.”
Yankees’ pitching unit is looking very threatening to other teams such as Boston Red Sox. With seven starters in Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia, the Yankees have the ability to create problems for any striker in Major League Baseball.
With so much happening in the Yankees’ starting rotation, the Red Sox general manager, Ben Cherington is also expected to make an aggressive move by bringing in the free agent Roy Oswalt, who has a great amount of experience at this level. Oswalt has performed consistently in the last few years, reaching the 200 inning mark in five of the seven big league seasons.
“If we can continue to add to it as the season progresses, when we see what our needs are, when we see what any strengths or weaknesses are, I think we’ll be fine. I don’t think there’s any rush to do anything before we at least see the team in spring training,” Valentine said.
However, Cherington is a very clever campaigner and he will not make a knee jerk move just to counter their arch rivals. He will probably wait for the right moment as he can always make in season additions later in the year. If the Yankees realise they need to change their game plan, they can bring more pitchers into the team from Triple A league.
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