Nothing that the Yankees do from now until Friday at 4pm is going to drastically change the makeup of the starting rotation. They're not going to get Cole Hamels, David Price or Jeff Samardzija because those guys are going to cost them the prospects that they refuse to part ways with, not to mention the fact that there are a bunch of other teams out there vying for the same guys with deeper and richer farm systems.
It's time to forget about those guys and start watching the guy on the mound tonight because he's going to be the one taking the hill in Game 1 of the World Series. There were times this year where it looked like Michael Pineda was going
to step in and become the ace of the staff but he has not taken to
that role. On his best day he may be just as good as Tanaka but he has
far too many shaky ones. Masahiro is the head honcho here. I'm just going to take that little piece of information in my brain that knows his arm is hanging on by a thread and I'm going to store it away until Thanksgiving because right now this guy is picking up a head of steam. He's 3-0 in his last three outings and has gone at least 7 in each of them. This is who he is. In 33 career starts he's 20-8 with a 3.10 ERA. When he's healthy he's one of the best pitchers in baseball and when he's on top of his game he can go bumper to bumper with anyone on this planet.
With about 9 weeks left in the regular season, this team is so very close to being the team to beat headed into the playoffs. The Royals still have that tag, especially after the splashes they've made in the last couple of days acquiring Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist. The Yankees can separate themselves from the Royals with the front of their rotation because when they're hitting their stride, a Tanaka-Pindeda 1-2 punch may be the best that the big leagues has to offer.
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