Now Is The Time

Papi is hurt, Manny is hurting, Schilling and Dice-K are out and Beckett hasn't been lights out.

Now is the time for the Yankees to make a run and get themselves back in contention.

The question is, can they do it with this current roster?

Unfortunately no. {Update: As I'm typing this Chien-Ming Wang goes down with what might be a serious ankle injury)

The Yankees still need a lights out starting pitcher. I was on the Johan Santana bandwagon this off-season and in hindsight the Yankees made the right choice by not trading for him. It's far too risky to give a pitcher a 5 to 7 year contract (See Zito, Barry)

This year however the Yankees can "rent" a Cy-Young caliber pitcher for just over half the season.

Of course I'm talking about C.C. Sabathia.

I say "rent" because it would be in the teams best interest to not resign C.C. if he is acquired and before you call me crazy hear me out.

Theres a good chance that C.C. will break down at some point in the next three or so years, he's a big guy with a lot of miles on him. Giving him a Zito sized contract would be a tremendous mistake. That contract will look tremendously foolish in the fourth to sixth year.

So, why would the Yankees trade top level prospects for a rental of C.C.?

Well the reasoning is two fold. One, C.C. gives the Yankees a chance to have a deep post-season run. A rotation of C.C., Wang (cross your fingers), Pettitte, Moose and Joba all of a sudden looks really dominate. In a short playoff series, in theory, Joba could go back to the 8th inning and serve as a dominate set up man again.

Secondly, If the Yankees were to hypothetically let C.C. walk at the end of the year they would acquire two very valuable draft picks. Remember draft picks are insanely valuable for a team like the Yankees. They can afford to pay players out of slot and with an extra two first round picks you could be looking at adding another two studs to our farm system (and in turn replacing whoever we trade for C.C.)

Now the Indians are not a dumb baseball organization. They know how the free agency system works and know they have two first roudners coming their way if they let Sabathia walk. Because of this they will certainly demand three top flight prospects.

So how can the Yankees make such a trade work?

How about: Kennedy, Cano and Tabata

Before you punch me in the face repeatedly let's be realistic.

Kennedy, peaks as a number three type starter. Tabata, while still very young for his level but he hasn't developed any sort of power. What he has developed are character issues and his "love for the game" has come into question.

Cano would be the big chip in this deal. It would be rough to part with a young infielder with pop and plus defense but, Cano simply is expendable. I've never been a Cano fan and I've always believed that when teams got a deeper scouting report on him he would falter. He has ZERO plate discipline and teams are exploiting it.

Now again remember that while parting with these three is a tough pill to swallow (especially fore a rental) it's one the Yankees can afford.

Again, when you factor in the two first rounders would we get back it's almost a wash. On top of that don't forget that the international signing period has just started. The Yankees always sign top flight international talent that will deepen, our already deep, farm system.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?