Unfortunately for the Red Sox, though, there's always something, and for the Yanks, it could start with pitcher Jon Garland.
Despite losing two-time 19-game winner Chien-Ming Wang to a season-ending injury earlier this year, New York's rotation hasn't really missed a beat. (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Brian Cashman's $900 billion investment in A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia is paying off. Shocker.) Regardless, heading into October, the Bleacher Report suggests that it couldn't hurt for them to add one more solid arm to shore up the rotation.
That's where Garland comes in.
The 29-year-old cleared waivers on Thursday, making him eligible to be traded prior to the Aug. 31 deadline. Right now, his 2009 stat line with the Diamondbacks isn't very impressive — 6-11, 4.42 ERA — but just a couple of years ago, he and Chicago's Mark Buerhle comprised one of the most feared tandems in baseball as they led the White Sox to a World Series crown.
Between 2005 and 2006, he went 36-17 with a 4.00 ERA in 64 starts. He struck out 227 batters and walked 88. In the 2005 postseason, he went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts. He throws a lot of innings and he's still young.
He could certainly help out a team in need of one more reliable bottom-of-the-rotation starter — especially considering the fact that, just a couple of years ago, he was a bona fide top-of-the-rotation star.
He is due to make $6.25 million this year and has a mutual $10 million option for 2010. If the Yankees, or anyone else, acquired him, they'd take on about $4 million of his salary.
Right now — with the Yanks taking a proceed-with-caution approach to Joba Chamberlain and a lack of clarity about how to proceed with Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin — extra backup in October is a must.
Garland has already been to the mountaintop. His arm may not be quite the same as it was the last time he was up there, but it wasn't too long ago. Adding him may be a risk, but it's not a stupid one.
