Time to Phil Up?

By Mike Hoffman

Profantasybaseball.com

The Yankees went out and spent $200 million on pitching this offseason to shore up their staff. The Yankees did what the Yankees do; throw money at the problem instead of trying to build from within. The rotation was supposed to be CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Chein-Ming Wang, and Joba Chamberlain. This pretty much signaled the end (for now) of the home grown youngsters that the Yankees have been hyping for years. Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy were suddenly stuck in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre waiting for the trade deadline to be packaged together in a deal for another aging vet that brings a twinkle to Hank Steinbrenner’s eye. Then the season started. CC is off to his customary slow start. AJ is proving to be what he was with Toronto and Florida, sometimes dazzling, sometimes garbage. Pettitte has proved his worth. Chamberlain is transitioning into a starting role quite well. Wang, has just been awful, and has since been placed on the DL. This opened a spot for the post-hype sleeper, Philip Hughes. In 2007, Hughes was supposed to save the Yankees, not only on the mound, but in the front office’s wallet. At 20 years old, he was going to start the year in the rotation and not carry a nine digit price tag. He shined in the Minors in 2005-2006, posting a 21-7 record with an ERA of 2.18 while striking out 261 batters in 232.1 innings. In his second start of 2007 he pulled a hamstring and was out for three months. He ended the year with a respectable 5-3 record. In 2008, he was again slowed by injuries, missing significant time with an oblique injury. Why should you target Phil Hughes? His overall career numbers are not all that great and he has missed major time to injury the past two seasons. That does not sound like a pitcher that I would want on my fantasy roster. Here is why you want him. He was once a highly touted Yankee prospect. He is still only 22 years old and is off to a very strong start in AAA (3-0, 1.86 ERA, 19 Ks). He has the top prospect pedigree and some Major League experience. The Yankees are in the top 10 in scoring so he will have some run support. He was drafted too high in 2007, and again in 2008. This year he was likely forgotten, so he is available on the waiver wire. A few strong starts (he just finished a six inning gem against the Tigers as I write this), and all of that hype will come back. Nothing makes fantasy trades more lopsided than hype. I am not saying that you have to trade him. You can certainly hold onto him as he just may put up stellar numbers all season. I am saying that he may have more value in a trade than he would on your roster for the rest of the year. Just keep in mind that his spot is not secure in the rotation if Wang comes back healthy. He has missed major time to injury each of the last two years, and he does not exactly have great Major League numbers. (I feel like I have said that before)