As a diehard Yankee fan, I want to believe Joe Lemire's contention on
SI.com that "it's been hard not to overrate what the Yankees have done on the field." In his recent
Power Rankings, Lemire placed the Bombers at No. 1. But as a sportswriter, I have to take issue with Lemire anointing the Yanks as the league's best because he bases his ranking in large part on the possibly transient pitching of
Bartolo Colon and
Freddy Garcia.
"[G.M. Brian Cashman's] bargain-basement signings of starters Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia look genius," Lemire gushes -- and he's right. At this point in the season Cashman's decision to sign the former aces-turned-castoffs looks pretty damn good. But both Colon and Garcia have extensive injury histories and are on pace to pitch far more innings than anyone can reasonably expect. Check out their innings counts from the past five years:
Colon2007: 99.1
2008: 38.0
2009: 62.1
2010: 0
2011: 66.1
Garcia2007: 58.0
2008: 15.0
2009: 56.0
2010: 157.0
2011: 56.2
Colon has thrown more innings so far this year than the last two years
combined, while Garcia is coming off a 2010 season where he nearly tripled his 2009 output and is on pace to throw even more innings this year. Yankees fans have seen the devastating dead arm effects of a major innings bump already this season in
Phil Hughes, who is not expected to return until after the All-Star Break. It's not a stretch to say that Garcia or Colon -- or both -- will have significant declines in production in the second half of the season. And with Hughes's return an uncertain prospect at best, the Bombers could very well find themselves with major pitching concerns come August.
The Yankees are certainly playing better than many prognosticators expected. But baseball's best? That's a real stretch.
