Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang suffered a mid-foot sprain of the Lisfranc ligament and a partial tear of the peroneal longus tendon of the right foot, and will be out of commission deep into the summer. There‘s an extremely realistic chance Wang may not pitch again this season, and the Yankees will have to find a way to overcome this devastating blow to the pitching staff. Yankee fans who haven’t appreciated Wang’s ace efforts in the past certainly will during his tenure of the DL. The Yankee organization has a handful options internally, but Brian Cashman has stated he doesn’t want to rush prospects such as Dan McCutchen or Alan Horne, and rightfully so after Chase Wright and several other prospects were rushed last season. Cashman stated per the WFAN that Dan Giese will get the nod on Saturday and several other options such as Kei Igawa will be evaluated if Giese doesn’t pan out. Ian Kennedy will also be ending his DL stint in the near future and will be presented with an opportunity to play a bigger role for the pitching staff. The Yankees can experiment with pitchers internally and if they aren’t effective the organization can assess the situation come July and evaluate alternatives available on the trade market. It should be noted that mega aces are rarely traded midseason, because the asking price is traditionally above and beyond normal, as supply is low and demand is extremely high. Additionally, the market for aces resembles that of a monopoly, especially this season as CC Sabaitha maybe the only available ace, and his availability is extremely far from a guarantee with the Indian’s in contention for the wild card. Filling Wang’s void will assuredly be no easy task, but Chien-Ming Wang was discovered due to injuries, and given the depth of the Yankees minor league pitching there’s certainly a chance the issue can be resolved internally.
The Yankees face a daunting challenge ahead in filling ace Chien-Ming Wang’s void.
Posted by zachirsch 