The New York Yankees biggest concern heading into the 2016 season appears to be pitching right now both in their starting rotation and bullpen. After trading away both Adam Warren and Justin Wilson, the relievers are lacking while the health of the starters is unknown. The Yankees have yet to make any serious moves for pitchers this offseason as manager Joe Girardi admits there is cause for concern at this point in the year.
The Yankees have a lot of question marks in the starting rotation. CC Sabathia is coming off a stint in rehab. Masahiro Tanaka is coming off elbow surgery. Ivan Nova has yet to fully recover from Tommy John surgery. Nathan Eovaldi had surgery in the offseason and Michael Pineda was inconsistent at best last season. The starting rotation was tied for 18th last year in the league with a combined ERA of 4.25. While Luis Severino is a star on the rise, Girardi admits the team needs to make adjustments.
"Yeah, I think there's a concern because of health, when you think about (Masahiro) Tanaka coming off an injury, (Nathan) Eovaldi coming off an injury, CC (Sabathia) with a knee he's had to deal with. Michael Pineda, that was the most innings (160.2) he's thrown after a substantial period of time," Girardi said, via the New York Daily News. "There is some concern. We had a lot of concerns last year and the guys did OK for us. You can go into spring training with five starters that are locked in and you can still have concerns. You'd better have depth."
The Yankees have options should they feel the need to make adjustments. According to the New York Daily News, the Yankees could still make a serious run at Wei-Yin Chen. The team showed interest in him before at the start of the offseason, but cooled off once big-named pitchers began to ink deals. Chen would be a huge upgrade for the Yankees, but his contract demands might be too high for the team to meet.
Trades could be available as well. According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com, Tyson Ross and Carlos Carrasco could be available in a deal that might include someone like Nova and Brett Gardner. They could be solid options for New York. The team had fleeting interest in trade deals for both Julio Teheran and Jose Fernandez. Those deals did not pan out, but if the Yankees were willing to trade big on those players, they could easily opt for smaller trades for Ross or Carrasco.
