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The New York Yankees stood pat this season at the MLB Trade Deadline for the first time in 13 years, kicking the tires on a plethora of pitchers but not pulling the trigger on trades for any of them. Does that make them a deadline winner or loser? Only time will tell on that one.
What I can tell you is that I believe strongly that the Yankees made the right decision. Seattle ace Felix Hernandez was not available, and none of the pitchers who were on the market would have been a significant upgrade over what the Yankees currently have.
Ubaldo Jimenez? A 27-year-old version of A.J. Burnett -- a guy who's production and frustrating inconsistency don't match the talent and stuff he possesses. Hiroki Kuroda? A decent 36-year-old National League starter who would have been a huge gamble in the American League East. Wandy Rodriguez? An adequate lefty starter, but nothing special.
None of these guys were worth giving up the best of the Yankee farm system for. Or pushing Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon aside in the rotation.
It would have been nice to pick up a solid No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia. I said all along the Yankees needed another top-flight starting pitcher to make a serious World Series run, but that guy was not on the market. So, the Yankees will see if Colon and Garcia can continue to revive their careers. They will see if they can get a good post-season stretch from Burnett. They will go to a six-man rotation for one turn this week to see if Nova (9-4) can offiicially bump Hughes, having a miserable 2011 season, from the rotation.
Beyond that, the Yankees will continue to develop their young talent. Banuelos may even see the big leagues as a reliever this season, having just been promoted to AAA.
With Rafael Soriano back and Alex Rodriguez returning soon the Yankees are adding to an already winning group. As for October, we just have to wait and see.