Tabata was a child. He should have never been asked to start the year in AA. He wasn’t ready for it physically and as a 19 year old being thrown into an arena where he was clearly overmatched (and he was for most of the season) and has teammates 3-5 years older than he is, it’s not a stretch to think he wasn’t quite ready emotionally either.

Now how he reacted can’t be blamed on Cashman, but I do blame him for putting him AA ball when he really should have played at least half a season in HI A.
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He already spent a FULL SEASON at High A, hitting .307. You wanted him to spend another half season there? Physically you do put him at the next level. Maybe emotionally he didn’t or couldn’t handle it, but Cashman’s job doesn’t or shouldn’t include “babysitter,” just as Theo shouldn’t have had to babysit Manny.

Last year, even with Wang out, Joba missing time and ZERO contributions from Phil, we were 8th of 14 in ERA, However, if with look at DIPS (defensive independent) ERA we see:
ERA DIPS Team
3.82 4.20 …TB
4.01 4.09 …Boston
4.28 3.94 …Yankees

Of 14 AL teams, we were 13th in DIP% (DIP ERA/ERA). TB was first. Simply put, while the numbers above may not be 100% accurate, there is no doubt that our denfense makes our pitching look worse then it was. There was a long article on this in THT, stating how much defense is underrated when talking about Pitchers ERA.

As an aside, Steve Goldman thinks our issues are (in order):
Defense, Offense, Pitching… and I agree.

I don’t necessarily think anyone is putting Lowe, or Burnett for that matter, on the same tier as Sabathia. I think people are merely pointing out that of the available free agents, they constitute the three best starters available. Sheets is obviously in that conversation, but because of a gnarly injury history, he is a much greater risk than Lowe. I think the same can be said for Burnett.

bURNETT has better stuff but far worse control. Burnett is also much more unreliable in his best years giving huge performances one day and huge blowouts the next. Before last season, burnetts contract was already considered a major bust in fanchise history and although he pitched 200 innings last season he pitched to the tune of a 1.342 whip which is only mediocre and a 4.07 era which is ok.

Derek lowe had a 1.6 whip in his last year in boston with a 5.4 era and no injury in 180 innings – this was just ineffectiveness. He had a 1.42 whip the year before showing signs of decline. Lowe is 35 already. He did well in LA putting up mainly 200 plus innings with era under 4 but that will not be replicated in the AL East. He has weak stuff giving up about a hit per inning and survives on control. And he is no mike mussina. I think if he comes to NY we can expect 180 innings but an era in the high 4s or even low 5s. That is not acceptable if he is making number three type money and signing for four years. Not to mention, he is signing from 34 to 39 – not exactly prime time. We can expect a slow breakdown and he will only get less effective with age.

Sheets is 30 and pitched 200 innings 4 of his last 7 years. He has had multiple injuries but all unrelated. He has a tear of a muscle in his elbow from late last season which will heal by the spring. He is injury prone but when he is on, he is lights out. He put eras under 4 every season since 2004. He is a master of control with nasty stuff walking 47 in 198 innings last season. He walked 32 in 237 innings one season. His whip has been under 1.2 5 out of the last 6 seasons posting a 1.09, 0.98, 1.15 and 1.06.

Mussinas whip last season was 1.22 last season for comparison. In his best years, he strikes out about a batter per innings usually slightly less than that. He only gave up 17 homers in almost 200 innings last season – wang is considered the best in the game at that and gave up 9 in 200 last season. Outside of a strange injury history which could be attributed to bad luck for the most part, there is nothing not to like about sheets. And he has soo little suitors due to his latest injury and stigma that he is thinking about a one or two year deal with incentives. Talk about buying stock when the stock is down, this would be considered a gold mine to some investors. I would get sheets in a room lock the door and not let him leave until he is signed if i were cashman. Of course, cashman has his plan A and plan B as well as his big three to figure out.

Lowe is an innings eater in the NL. You know what you are getting with lowe is right – you are getting an era between 5 and 6 and a whip over 1.4 or even 1.5. You are getting a guy who doesnt have the talent to pitch in the AL East. You are getting an over the hill NL West pitcher. You are getting an older starter when the yanks have said for years that they are trying to get younger. Take a look at Lowe’s last two years in the AL eAST WIth the redsox and expect those numbers when he comes back with the yankees a couple of years later. Why do you think he left the AL? He couldnt pitch here anymore. He wont be an innings eater just like Igawa is no longer an innings eater. You need to get talent over the ability to throw 200 mediocre to horrendous innings. Sheets is a far better play than lowe right now.

Not if your offense isn’t up to the task of scoring enough, that high an ERA is only acceptable if your team can still out score those runs given up. With the loss of Abreu and Giambi, unless the Yankees add a bat then he isn’t going to be an innings eater.