The New York Yankees 2011 pitching staff became just a bit clearer today. The Yankees traded long reliever spot starter Sergio Mitre to the Milwaukee Brewers and signed veteran starting pitcher Kevin Millwood to a minor-league contract.
Mitre was one of four pitchers contending for a rotation spot when Spring Training began. He has a career record of 13-29 with a 5.27 ERA in seven big-league seasons. He was 3-6, 5.03 in two seasons with the Yankees. In trading Mitre the Yankees acquired outfielder Chris Dickerson, 28. Dickerson has appeared in 173 big-league games and has a .267 career batting average with eight home runs and 35 RBI. With Curtis Granderson possibly shelved for Opening Day and Colin Curtis having suffered a shoulder injury the Yankees can use the outfield depth.
Millwood, 37, went just 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA for Baltimore last season. For his career he is 159-137 with a 4.11 ERA. He will likely start the season at Class AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
This means in all probability that Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon are all making the Opening Day pitching staff. The Yankees have not announced which two of those three will be in the starting rotation, but Nova and Garcia are expected to get those spots with Colon pitching in long relief.