[Triumph36]

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You wouldn't trade two league average players for the best pitcher in a league which is dominated by pitching?

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I don't know why I'm discussing this with you. But Hughes/Melky are essentially playing for almost free. Both are worth big contracts on the open market.

You're trading a ton of cost controlled years of MLB average players who could develop into star level talent for... the right to a pay a premium to the best pitcher in baseball? And aren't these contracts given to premium pitchers almost all huge flops? Have young pitchers not shown dominance (Verlander, Liriano, King Felix, Joba, Carmona etc etc)?

Whatev.

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The problem, as I see it, has to do with contention for the World Series next year. If the Yankees put both Hughes and Joba in the rotation (or Hughes and Kennedy), both of those guys will be on strict pitch counts/innings counts all year. This means the bullpen will be in games early, leading to a fatigued bullpen. The Yankees will have a very difficult time competing in October of 2008 with a bullpen beat up from a season of overuse - just look at what happened to the Mets down the stretch.

Now it could shake out several ways but having Wang and Santana averaging almost 7 innings a start will go a long way to nullifying the 5 - 6 averages that Hughes and Chamberlain put up.

If the Yankees don't acquire Johan Santana, their chances for a 2008 World Series are not great in my mind. Their chances go up for future World Series bids - but keep in mind that the Yankees' position players are almost all in a decline phase. They almost certainly should not hold on to all 3 young pitchers as a result, despite the fact that they are cost controlled, etc. These are the Yankees.