Pavano is the Opening Day Starter?!?!

Well looks like Wang will be starting the season on the DL because of a Hamstring Pull. According to the Yankees it’s not a sever pull but it’s enough that they are not going to take any chances with the staff ace. This leaves the opening day start in question because Andy Pettitte’s back was barking a few weeks ago and he has slowly been recovering. The Yankees for see him being able to start the season and this was likely a mild set back for Andy but the smart move is not to rush him back to the mound. Moose has been roughed up this spring but is looking better each outing he pitches. The Yankees could send him out on short rest to pitch his last spring game to get him ready for the opener but with Moose’s age and his rough spring it is smart of them not to want to push things. Who does this leave then?? Iggy could start the season for us but I doubt the Yankees would really go that route. For the most part they have tried to leave the expectation for him low thus keeping the pressure on him to a minimum. Throwing him out there for the season opener could be disastrous if he struggles. That leaves Carol “Holy Crap I’m not Injured Yet!!” Pavano folks and YES believe it or not he is the most likely candidate although in my opinion the least deserving one. If you ask me the Yankees should give the nod to either Jeff Karastan or give the ball to Super Prospect Phil Hughes for the day. Why not?? Karastan has earned the spot in the rotation to replace Wang while he is on the DL. Mind you the opener is normally reserved for the Ace of the staff or one of the vets but that option is not available to the Yankees so why not give it to somebody that has earned a shot at the bigs. With Hughes you simply tell him that it is just for the one start, and there’s a chance to show the fans why the Yankees are so high on him. Basically you’re telling him look just go out there and soak it all in and just have fun. The First game of the season is probably the least important game of the year. Hell the first week is really not all that important. I mean most likely by the end of the week the Nationals will be on top of the NL East because they won 4 of their 6 games that week. They’re not going to stay there we all know that. So why not give the ball to one of the young guns just for some fun??


All this aside Wang’s injury is actually in a strange way a good thing. Considering there is likely to be other injuries to the Rotation this year. Andy is known for injuries during the season, Moose’s age dictates he will spend some time on the DL and Pavano is a miracle every time he takes the mound with out an injury. With this said it gives the Yankees time to see what their young arms can do for them while it is early in the season. Karastan has had a good spring, Rasner was not far behind him, Sanchez is likely to follow, Olendorf, and Hughes would be available as well. With Wang on the DL the Yankees can flip flop threw them in the early part of the season see who has success, who needs some work and who is just not ready yet. I’d rather we do this now then lets say in August when the season is much more on the line and the games mean a lot more. Add this to the increase in the trade value of many of these young arms if they have some success. This also could help increase Pavano’s trade value as well. If he gets off to a fast start and Karastan or one of the other young arms pitches exceptionally well the Yankees will have no real reason to keep Pavano around once Wang comes back. With the good start his trade value will be much better then what it is right now and the Yankees will get a much better return for him.


I’d be lying if I said, I was not concerned about Wang starting the season on the DL, but consider this. Last year the Yankees went threw a lot of injuries to the roster early in the season. When August came around we had found ourselves a break out rookie in Melky, and Wang had stepped up in the rotation as our ace. Buy August guys like Matsui, Shef and Moose where well on their way back to the team and off the DL. Meanwhile teams like the Red Sucks, Angels, White Sox and others were suddenly experiencing injuries to key members of their team. All of them eventually started to fade badly and by September they were virtually out of the race (the Angels hung in there a bit longer thou). The point here is that it is much better to suffer these minor injuries now than to get hammered by DL filled rosters halfway through the season. Just be thankful it’s not Pavano that is injured right now. With Wang we know he will be back on the team by the end of April, with Pavano it would have been the season and we would have lost a chance to trade him away.


Till next week...


The Yankees Fan