Look Out, Phil, You Might Be Driven Off For Cliff

The New York Post has reported that the Yankees are on the verge of acquiring left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee from the Mariners. Lee would be an awesome addition to the Yankees's rotation. Imagine, for a moment, a playoff rotation with CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Andy Pettitte, and A.J. Burnett. The Yankees would be unbeatable. Additionally, they wouldn't have to worry about Lee going to another playoff-bound team. Since every game against Lee seems to end in a big, ugly, L for the Yankees, facing him twice in a five-game series would be bad.

However, the main positive in acquiring Cliff Lee would be sending Phil Hughes to the bullpen. Hughes has an innings limit this year and likely won't last the rest of the year in the starting rotation. Plus, no team can win in the playoffs with a stinky bullpen and, frankly, the Yankee bullpen has stunk this year. With the exception of Mariano Rivera, of course. Joba Chamberlain hasn't been able to get the job done as the setup man this year, and he's one of the better ones. Hughes would add stability to the bullpen and a sense of security for the starters - they won't need to pitch eight innings to ensure a win.

Sending Hughes to the bullpen has its downside, though. Hughes is among the league leaders in wins this year, and has clearly won a spot in the starting rotation. The Yankees have tried using pitchers as yo-yos before and it hasn't worked out well. See Joba, who was all built up to be a starter before the Yankees shoved him in the bullpen during spring training. While we believe Joba belongs in the bullpen, the Yankees treated him unfairly by pushing the starter idea until the last minute and then suddenly changing their minds. He has struggled since then. Hughes seems to be more mature than Joba and will probably be better able to handle being placed in the bullpen, but we don't know him personally, so we can't say for sure. All we can say is Hughes had better have a guaranteed spot in the rotation come spring training. We don't want to see him messed up like Joba.

Then again, the Yankees don't have to trade for Cliff Lee because they have a nugget of a left-handed starter already in their minor leagues. Oh wait, Brian Cashman's stress ball probably wouldn't be able to handle another Kei Igawa call-up.

Hydra
6-4-3 double play... Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!