The New York Yankees are in dire need of starting pitching. So far their top 3 are: C.C Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Phil Hughes. Ivan Nova is penciled in as number 4, but I don't think he'll be holding that very long. Yankees have signed former 18-game winner Mark Prior to a minor league contract, and I think if he shows anything close to his former self he will be placed in the hurting rotation. The Yankees are looking to add another project pitcher also. They have been recently linked to Justin Duchscherer, Jeff Francis, and Jeremy Bonderman. All of them once had bright futures that have been hampered by injuries, but only one of them should be signed by the Bronx Bombers, as a starter anyways.
With Andy Pettite doing his best Brett Favre impersonation waffling over retirement, the Yankees only having one left hander in their rotation, which of course is their ace Sabathia. Of the three pitchers, there is only one left hander. This left hander happens to be the only one of the three to win 15 or more games as well, winning 17 in 2007. This left hander was also the highest pick of the three in his respective draft at 9th overall. This left hander goes by the name of Jeff Francis. The Yankees need another decent lefty in their rotation that could slide in the 3rd or 4th spot.
At age 30, Francis is the second youngest pitcher the Yankees are reportedly looking at. The injury he is coming back from is the least serious of the three. He had arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder to repair in torn labrum in 2009; he tried to pitch through the injury in 2008. In comparison, Duchscherer has had season-ending hip surgery, bicep and shoulder problems, back problems, and battled clinical depression at one point. Bonderman had procedures to remove a blood clot in his axillary vein and was placed on the DL indefinitely in 2009 for reoccurring shoulder pain.
Francis does not have the best career ERA of the three or the most innings logged. Those honors go to Duchscherer and Bonderman, but there are reasons why the other two hold them over Francis. Duchscherer has the best ERA, 3.13, because he came up as a reliever in spacious Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and has only started 34 games in his career. Bonderman has the most innings logged because he's started the most out of all of them, 193, and started his career at the age of 20. Francis has started 149 games and has a career ERA of 4.77, which is not that bad considering he pitched his entire career so far in home run haven Coors Field.
Reports suggest that the Yankees want Duchscherer the most, but it isn't known whether they want him as a starter or reliever. His best year in the Majors came as a set-up man to Huston Street. The Yankees are well under 200 million dollars in player salaries, a total they usually succeed every year, and could certainly afford all three if they really wanted them all. But I think it would be in their best interest to sign Francis for the middle or back end of the rotation and Duchscherer to compete for the set-up job with Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson. Duchscherer could then be a long reliever, spot starter, or even enter the rotation if he loses the set-up job. Whatever happens, the Yankees need pitching and they need it bad if they want to make the playoffs.
References:
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6010831
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=6038
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Francis
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=4816
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Duchscherer
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=5436
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bonderman
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