Though the New York Yankees year ended with a disappointing playoff loss at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, there were some positives to take away from the season though not enough to eliminate the sting of an early playoff exit. The starting rotation, a question mark from the onset of the season, proved to be a yearlong problem, though Freddy Garcia(notes) and fellow veteran Bartolo Colon(notes) were pleasant surprises. As Phil Hughes(notes) and AJ Burnett(notes) stumbled, Garcia and Colon provided much needed support. On November 24, the Yankees and Garcia agreed to a one-year deal worth $4 million in base salary. The Yankees hope the former free agent pitcher has another productive season in him.

Last year the Yankees signed Garcia to a minor league deal before the start of spring training in a deal worth only $1.5 million in total. The right-hander was a long shot to make the team, but he not only made the club, he won a spot in the rotation in spring training. In one of the biggest surprise performances on the year for New York, Garcia was 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA on the season. Though he tired by the end of the year, posting a season high 7.36 ERA in September, almost double any other month, Garcia still finished the year with 96 strikeouts in 146.2 innings pitched recording only his second full season since 2007.

Garcia is 35-years-old and counting on a repeat performance next season may be asking too much, but considering the other staff issues, Garcia is worth the risk. With AJ Burnett going 11-11 on the season with a 5.15 ERA and Phil Hughes posting a hefty 5.79 ERA and 5-5 record, Garcia is the least of the Yankees’ worries. The question is can New York depend on Hughes or Burnett next year?

The Garcia signing leaves the Yankee rotation as it was to start the 2011 season with: CC Sabathia(notes), Ivan Nova(notes), AJ Burnett, Garcia and Phil Hughes. Considering last years troubles, New York will be wise to bring in another starter. While I was happy with his performance last year, re-signing Garcia needs to be the beginning not the end. The Yankees’ rotation still needs help, as more question marks remain, Hughes and Burnett, than sure things, Sabathia.

Unfortunately, Andy Pettite is gone and Cliff Lee(notes) isn’t coming, so the Yankees need to keep looking.

_________________

Vonda Menard has been a New York Yankees fan for over 25 years. Her stepfather first brought her to Yankee stadium as a young child, where she fell in love with Don Mattingly, and the Yankees. She makes the pilgrimage from Connecticut to New York yearly, to expose her boys to the same experience.

　

Sources:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story

http://www.hardballchat.com/2011

http://mlb.mlb.com/team

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com

http://www.baseball-reference.com

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 19, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Girardi has been searching for some answers for his jumbled starting rotation for weeks, hoping someone would emerge to back CC Sabathia.

With a month and a half to go before the postseason, the old Phil Hughes is showing signs of coming back, just in time.

Hughes allowed just two hits in 7 2/3 innings and Russell Martin hit two home runs to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

“He’s pitched really well and it seems like he’s getting stronger, too, as we go,” Girardi said. “He got off to a slow start, and then he got hurt, and he’s rebounded pretty since coming off the DL.”

Hughes (4-4) gave up one run, walked three and struck out two in his longest outing of the season. Martin hit a solo homer in the third and a two-run shot in the sixth, his fourth career multihomer game.

Mark Teixeira added two hits and three RBIs for the first-place Yankees.

Hughes is 3-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his last four starts, and the 25-year-old appears to be finding his stride after a tough start to the season. He missed much of the first three months with right shoulder inflammation that sapped his velocity.

The fastball has shown more zip, but it’s his confidence with his changeup and curveball that is making the difference now.

“I can’t look back at the beginning of the year,” said Hughes, who won 18 games last year. “That’s over and done with. I have to make the most of what I have left.”

Kevin Slowey (0-1) gave up six runs on nine hits with four strikeouts for the Twins.

Trevor Plouffe hit a solo homer in the first inning, but Hughes put the Twins on ice the rest of the way.

The right-hander retired 14 straight hitters at one point and continued to mix all of his pitches effectively, something Girardi has been imploring him to do of late.

“If you have weapons, to me there’s no reason to keep them in your back pocket,” Girardi said before the game. “The best thing is to go out and use them.”

Girardi has mixed and match a slew of veterans behind Sabathia to get the Yankees to this point, including Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova.

Slowly but surely, Hughes has been improving each time out and making a push for postseason consideration.

“It’s not even my focus, playoffs or the next rotation around or who is going to be the guy left out,” Hughes said. “I’m happy with the way the last few starts have gone and that’s really all I think about.”

Hughes built on his confidence against one of the weakest lineups in baseball. After giving up the homer to Plouffe in the first inning, he only allowed one runner past first base, when he walked two in the seventh.

Luke Hughes had the only other hit of the game for the Twins, a single in the eighth.

Phil Hughes got plenty of help from his offense, which took a few innings to get revved up before hammering Slowey.

Martin tied it up in the third and Robinson Cano followed with an RBI double in the fourth to give the Yankees the lead.

Curtis Granderson’s double hopped over the first base bag in the fifth to score another run and Derek Jeter’s pretty slide at home beat Joe Mauer’s tag to make it 4-1.

Martin’s no-doubter in the sixth chased Slowey, who made his first full start of the season.

“I really tried to simplify my approach,” said Martin, who struggled with a back injury earlier in the season. “See the ball. Hit the ball. That’s really all I’ve been doing.”

After going 13-6 in 2010, the right-hander lost a competition for the final spot in the rotation out of spring training and then chafed at being placed in the bullpen. After six appearances, he went on the disabled list on May 25 with an abdominal injury and took two months to work his way back.

Slowey started the game on Sunday in Cleveland, but it was rained out after two innings.

“Not a good baseball game,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Pretty much dominated by Hughes. Two hits up on the board pretty much tells you what we did due to his performance.”

Notes

• The Twins honored closer Joe Nathan before the game for becoming the franchise’s career saves leader in their last home game on Aug. 10.
• The Twins announced that the game that was rained out on Sunday at Cleveland will be made up as a day-night doubleheader on Sept. 24.
• Teixeira’s three RBI gave him 1,000 for his career.
• New York LHP Pedro Feliciano, on the disabled list because of a tear in his left shoulder, could pitch for the first time since spring training next week in a Gulf Coast League game. The reliever threw 26 pitches in batting practice Friday at the Yankees’ minor league complex in Tampa.
• Yankees backup INF Ramiro Pena, who had an appendectomy on July 18, is fielding grounders and may start batting practice next week.
• Francisco Liriano (8-9, 5.12) will take the mound for the Twins on Saturday against A.J. Burnett (9-9, 4.61). Burnett snapped a seven-start winless skid in his last outing against the Royals, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing three runs. It was his first victory since June 29. Liriano has pitched past the sixth inning just once in his last six starts, going 2-2 with a 6.12 ERA in that span.
• The Yankees announced that RHP Ivan Nova will start the series finale on Sunday against Nick Blackburn.

Read More: yankees schedule, yankees news, Freddy Garcia (P – NYY), Phil Hughes (P – NYY), New York Yankees, New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins, Aug 19, 2011 8:10 PM EDT

(Sports Network) – Phil Hughes makes his case to stay in the New York Yankees rotation this evening when they continue a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

Hughes, who could be the odd man out when Freddy Garcia returns on Saturday, has won his last two starts, but is just 3-4 on the year with a 6.55 earned run average. He beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday by holding them to a pair of runs and four hits in six innings.

“It’s hard enough to pitch a really good game when you have a clear conscience so I knew I couldn’t let anything distract me,” Hughes said.

He is 3-3 with a 4.28 ERA in seven games since returning from the disabled list in early July.

Hughes has faced the Twins three times (one start) and has yet to record a decision against them, pitching to a 3.68 ERA in those outings.

New York opened this set with a win on Thursday, as Mark Teixeira finished 2- for-3 with a two-run homer, two runs scored and two walks, carrying the Yankees to an 8-4 win.

Nick Swisher added a two-run shot and Andruw Jones hit a mammoth solo blast for New York, which won for the sixth time in eight games to stay atop the AL East standings by a half-game over Boston.

---

---

CBSSports.com wire reports
July 17, 2011

TORONTO — An 18-game winner and an All-Star in 2010, Phil Hughes had to wait until July for his first victory of 2011.

Hughes pitched six effective innings and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Sunday.

“It’s not 18 but it’s a start,” Hughes said. “It’s a good feeling.”

Brett Gardner had three hits and Curtis Granderson finished with three RBI as the Yankees salvaged a split in the four-game series after being outscored 23-8 over the first two games.

“It’s really important, especially in our race and with what we’re trying to do, to be able to come back and tie this series,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Four-game series are tough and the way we got started off, it wasn’t pretty.”

Making just his fifth start of the season and his second since missing 84 games with a sore right shoulder, Hughes (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits to win for the first time since Oct. 2, 2010, at Boston.

“I thought he took a big step today and that’s what we wanted to see from him,” Girardi said.

Armed with a new-look curveball, slightly faster than his old one, Hughes struck out five and walked two. He threw 80 pitches, 51 for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 8.44.

Hughes learned quickly how well his retooled curve was working when he used it to catch Eric Thames looking for the second out of the game.

“I knew right out of the chute it was going to be a good pitch for me,” Hughes said. “I struggled a little bit locating it, got a little lazy with it in the middle innings but overall I felt like there was some improvement there.”

Most important, though, were the strikeouts and swings and misses at his fastball.

“It was jumping out of his hand today,” catcher Russell Martin said. “From what I’ve seen in the past, that’s what he’s usually doing. Just knowing that he can throw it by guys has to feel good for him.”

Before the game, Girardi said having a healthy Hughes on his staff was akin to a midseason acquisition.

“You’re adding a quality starter to your rotation if you can get him back,” Girardi said. “It’s almost like making a trade.”

Hughes, however, saw things a little differently.

“I was here April 1 so if anything I look at it as trying to make up for some lost time,” he said. “I should have been here and winning games for us and I wasn’t.”

Gardner posted his second straight three-hit game, going 3 for 4 with a walk, two stolen bases and three runs scored. The speedy outfielder now has stolen 12 straight bases without being caught, and is hitting .625 [10 for 16] since the All-Star break.

Cory Wade pitched the seventh, David Robertson worked the eighth and Boone Logan finished for the Yankees.

The Yankees scored four times in the fourth to open a 5-1 lead. Nick Swisher hit a leadoff single and came around on a one-out double by Martin. Eduardo Nunez singled Martin to third and Ramiro Pena hit a sacrifice fly to center. Gardner grounded a single to right before Granderson capped the rally with a two-run double.

Carlos Villanueva (5-2) lost for just the second time in 10 starts since joining the rotation in late May, giving up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

The Yankees added a run in the seventh against Luis Perez when Granderson scored on Robinson Cano’s sacrifice fly.

Toronto’s Jose Bautista missed his third straight game with a sore right ankle. Bautista, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, hit off a tee before the game and could return Tuesday against Seattle. The Blue Jays are off Monday.

“His absence in the lineup is a hole to fill,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “He’s our leader, he’s our most productive offensive player. That’s not to slight anyone who’s in the lineup right now, but that’s a substantial loss when he’s not in there day in and day out.”

Gardner scored New York’s first and last runs of the day. He singled, swiped second and scored on Swisher’s base hit in the first. He pulled off a similar trick in the ninth, reaching on a walk before stealing second and scoring on Granderson’s single.

The Blue Jays tied it at 1 when Edwin Encarnacion hit a leadoff double and scored on Travis Snider’s single to left in the second.

Notes

• The Yankees are a major league-best 28-5 in day games.
• With New York in the midst of eight consecutive games on turf, SS Derek Jeter got the day off and Mark Teixeira moved from 1B to DH. Jorge Posada started at 1B, Nunez was at SS and Pena started at 3B.
• Posada played in his 1,790th game, moving past Bill Dickey into sole possession of eighth place on the Yankees’ career list.
• Reliever Jason Frasor made his 453rd appearance with the Blue Jays, moving him past Duane Ward into first place on Toronto’s list.
• New York recalled OF Chris Dickerson from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned OF Greg Golson to Triple-A.

CBSSports.com wire reports
July 17, 2011

TORONTO — An 18-game winner and an All-Star in 2010, Phil Hughes had to wait until July for his first victory of 2011.

Hughes pitched six effective innings and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Sunday.

“It’s not 18 but it’s a start,” Hughes said. “It’s a good feeling.”

Brett Gardner had three hits and Curtis Granderson finished with three RBI as the Yankees salvaged a split in the four-game series after being outscored 23-8 over the first two games.

“It’s really important, especially in our race and with what we’re trying to do, to be able to come back and tie this series,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Four-game series are tough and the way we got started off, it wasn’t pretty.”

Making just his fifth start of the season and his second since missing 84 games with a sore right shoulder, Hughes (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits to win for the first time since Oct. 2, 2010, at Boston.

“I thought he took a big step today and that’s what we wanted to see from him,” Girardi said.

Armed with a new-look curveball, slightly faster than his old one, Hughes struck out five and walked two. He threw 80 pitches, 51 for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 8.44.

Hughes learned quickly how well his retooled curve was working when he used it to catch Eric Thames looking for the second out of the game.

“I knew right out of the chute it was going to be a good pitch for me,” Hughes said. “I struggled a little bit locating it, got a little lazy with it in the middle innings but overall I felt like there was some improvement there.”

Most important, though, were the strikeouts and swings and misses at his fastball.

“It was jumping out of his hand today,” catcher Russell Martin said. “From what I’ve seen in the past, that’s what he’s usually doing. Just knowing that he can throw it by guys has to feel good for him.”

Before the game, Girardi said having a healthy Hughes on his staff was akin to a midseason acquisition.

“You’re adding a quality starter to your rotation if you can get him back,” Girardi said. “It’s almost like making a trade.”

Hughes, however, saw things a little differently.

“I was here April 1 so if anything I look at it as trying to make up for some lost time,” he said. “I should have been here and winning games for us and I wasn’t.”

Gardner posted his second straight three-hit game, going 3 for 4 with a walk, two stolen bases and three runs scored. The speedy outfielder now has stolen 12 straight bases without being caught, and is hitting .625 [10 for 16] since the All-Star break.

Cory Wade pitched the seventh, David Robertson worked the eighth and Boone Logan finished for the Yankees.

The Yankees scored four times in the fourth to open a 5-1 lead. Nick Swisher hit a leadoff single and came around on a one-out double by Martin. Eduardo Nunez singled Martin to third and Ramiro Pena hit a sacrifice fly to center. Gardner grounded a single to right before Granderson capped the rally with a two-run double.

Carlos Villanueva (5-2) lost for just the second time in 10 starts since joining the rotation in late May, giving up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

The Yankees added a run in the seventh against Luis Perez when Granderson scored on Robinson Cano’s sacrifice fly.

Toronto’s Jose Bautista missed his third straight game with a sore right ankle. Bautista, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, hit off a tee before the game and could return Tuesday against Seattle. The Blue Jays are off Monday.

“His absence in the lineup is a hole to fill,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “He’s our leader, he’s our most productive offensive player. That’s not to slight anyone who’s in the lineup right now, but that’s a substantial loss when he’s not in there day in and day out.”

Gardner scored New York’s first and last runs of the day. He singled, swiped second and scored on Swisher’s base hit in the first. He pulled off a similar trick in the ninth, reaching on a walk before stealing second and scoring on Granderson’s single.

The Blue Jays tied it at 1 when Edwin Encarnacion hit a leadoff double and scored on Travis Snider’s single to left in the second.

Notes

• The Yankees are a major league-best 28-5 in day games.
• With New York in the midst of eight consecutive games on turf, SS Derek Jeter got the day off and Mark Teixeira moved from 1B to DH. Jorge Posada started at 1B, Nunez was at SS and Pena started at 3B.
• Posada played in his 1,790th game, moving past Bill Dickey into sole possession of eighth place on the Yankees’ career list.
• Reliever Jason Frasor made his 453rd appearance with the Blue Jays, moving him past Duane Ward into first place on Toronto’s list.
• New York recalled OF Chris Dickerson from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned OF Greg Golson to Triple-A.

An 18-game winner and an All-Star in 2010, Phil Hughes had to wait until July for his first victory of 2011.

Hughes pitched six effective innings and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Sunday.

“It’s not 18 but it’s a start,” Hughes said. “It’s a good feeling.”

Brett Gardner had three hits and Curtis Granderson finished with three RBIs as the Yankees salvaged a split in the four-game series after being outscored 23-8 over the first two games.

“It’s really important, especially in our race and with what we’re trying to do, to be able to come back and tie this series,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Four-game series are tough and the way we got started off, it wasn’t pretty.”

Making just his fifth start of the season and his second since missing 84 games with a sore right shoulder, Hughes (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits to win for the first time since Oct. 2, 2010, at Boston.

“I thought he took a big step today and that’s what we wanted to see from him,” Girardi said.

Armed with a new-look curveball, slightly faster than his old one, Hughes struck out five and walked two. He threw 80 pitches, 51 for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 8.44.

Hughes learned quickly how well his retooled curve was working when he used it to catch Eric Thames looking for the second out of the game.

“I knew right out of the chute it was going to be a good pitch for me,” Hughes said. “I struggled a little bit locating it, got a little lazy with it in the middle innings but overall I felt like there was some improvement there.”

Most important, though, were the strikeouts and swings and misses at his fastball.

“It was jumping out of his hand today,” catcher Russell Martin said. “From what I’ve seen in the past, that’s what he’s usually doing. Just knowing that he can throw it by guys has to feel good for him.”

Before the game, Girardi said having a healthy Hughes on his staff was akin to a midseason acquisition.

“You’re adding a quality starter to your rotation if you can get him back,” Girardi said. “It’s almost like making a trade.”

Hughes, however, saw things a little differently.

“I was here April 1 so if anything I look at it as trying to make up for some lost time,” he said. “I should have been here and winning games for us and I wasn’t.”

Gardner posted his second straight three-hit game, going 3 for 4 with a walk, two stolen bases and three runs scored. The speedy outfielder now has stolen 12 straight bases without being caught, and is hitting .625 (10 for 16) since the All-Star break.

Cory Wade pitched the seventh, David Robertson worked the eighth and Boone Logan finished for the Yankees.

The Yankees scored four times in the fourth to open a 5-1 lead. Nick Swisher hit a leadoff single and came around on a one-out double by Martin. Eduardo Nunez singled Martin to third and Ramiro Pena hit a sacrifice fly to center. Gardner grounded a single to right before Granderson capped the rally with a two-run double.

Carlos Villanueva (5-2) lost for just the second time in 10 starts since joining the rotation in late May, giving up five runs and eight hits in six innings.

The Yankees added a run in the seventh against Luis Perez when Granderson scored on Robinson Cano’s sacrifice fly.

Toronto’s Jose Bautista missed his third straight game with a sore right ankle. Bautista, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, hit off a tee before the game and could return Tuesday against Seattle. The Blue Jays are off Monday.

“His absence in the lineup is a hole to fill,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “He’s our leader, he’s our most productive offensive player. That’s not to slight anyone who’s in the lineup right now, but that’s a substantial loss when he’s not in there day in and day out.”

Gardner scored New York’s first and last runs of the day. He singled, swiped second and scored on Swisher’s base hit in the first. He pulled off a similar trick in the ninth, reaching on a walk before stealing second and scoring on Granderson’s single.

The Blue Jays tied it at 1 when Edwin Encarnacion hit a leadoff double and scored on Travis Snider’s single to left in the second.

NOTES: The Yankees are a major league-best 28-5 in day games. … With New York in the midst of eight consecutive games on turf, SS Derek Jeter got the day off and Mark Teixeira moved from 1B to DH. Jorge Posada started at 1B, Nunez was at SS and Pena started at 3B. … Posada played in his 1,790th game, moving past Bill Dickey into sole possession of eighth place on the Yankees’ career list. … Reliever Jason Frasor made his 453rd appearance with the Blue Jays, moving him past Duane Ward into first place on Toronto’s list. … New York recalled OF Chris Dickerson from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned OF Greg Golson to Triple-A.