PINEDA A COSTLY TRADE

The Yankees acquired a pretty darn good pitcher in Michael Pineda, only to see their investment increase in cost by the mere fact that the guy is now sidelined with a bum shoulder! Sidelined is one thing, but sidelined for a year is another, with the benefit of a single toss!

The Seattle Mariners traded for Montero because of their anemic hitting, getting a future all-star for a future all-star. Barring any injury to Montero, the Yanks have lost both a hitter and a pitcher.

What does this do to the starting rotation? Where does the replacement come from and what does it do to Phil Hughes and the pressure to bear on him?

Big contracts for pitchers are a crap-shoot, you never know what will happen if you are a GM.

SPEAKING OF WHICH

The other New York team, the Mets, have their own pitching woes with an enigma named Pelfrey. As any baseball fan knows, a sore elbow could be a sign of fatigue or worse, the end of a pitching career!

Mike Pelfrey has been by and large a disappointment the past few years, and this season he looked like he had turned the corner on his way to greatness, pitching extremely well.

At first the fear was that the soreness in his elbow would require surgery, but now it looks like it may not be a s bad as it seems. When he was evaluated after a pitching masterpiece last Saturday, the soreness raised alarms that the season may be over, in the press that is. Now there is some thinking that he may not need surgery, and that he may have had this condition all along, and that it is the result of his changing his pitching approach where he is now throwing more over the top! Time will tell.

There seems to be a rash of injuries early on this season with a great many teams without the full roster playing. The Phillies seem to be the most snake bit, the Mets seem to be picking up where they left off, and even the Washington Nationals, sitting alone in first place have it a bit. Is the season too long, with the inclusion of Spring Training? Maybe a shortened schedule with it staring later would help the injury  problems, with an emphasis on conditioning lasting longer in preparation rather than skills at the onset of spring training.

That’s all I wrote, folks!