Posted by Kris Pollina on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 5:50 pm

And here we are again. The New York Yankees stumble into the All Star Break with the bitter taste of sweep lingering on their tongues, and the distance between them and the AL East leading Red Sox now stretched out to 3. And as customary for this team since the turn of the century, the Yankees are confronted with the pressing quandary of whether to trade for a hired gun or stockpile young blood.

The last week has made the choice easy. The Yankees management shouldn’t even think about kissing their wives good morning, pouring coffee, or even bathing, really, until they act swiftly on the pitching market and abandon their practice of building their roster as if it were a fantasy lineup.

The guy in my own fantasy league who’s held onto the first place spot since Week 1? An average baseball enthusiastic wouldn’t have heard of half his team. He didn’t go for the big names like everyone else. He went for the enduring talent. It would behoove the Yanks to follow suit.

Despite a rosy pre-season outlook, injuries and unanticipated rebounding struggles have the Yankees’ hurlers mired in a haphazard musical chairs game of pitching roles. Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Chien Ming Wang have all been retrofitted into reliever or starter spots, and the desperate shifting has diluted the caliber of everyone but Hughes.

Instead of subscribing to these experimental permutations of pitching roles, the Yankees need to define their rotation and their pen before their manic role-switching clouds yet another bright talent.

The first half performance should put any lingering questions to bed about the interchangeability of the arms in pen. Starter ? long-reliever. If the Yankees have an ounce of common sense, they’ll lock Aceves and Joba in the pen and throw out the key. Which leaves the rotation at Andy Petitte, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and two gaping holes thereafter.

Which is exactly enough room to fuel the rampant Roy Halladay whispers.

Could the Yankees benefit from the best pitcher in baseball wearing pinstripes? Yes. And even better, they’d be taking him from a division threat, the Blue Jays. But that also means they’d have to deal Toronto a pretty package which would most likely target the best young talent New York has to offer, in the form of players like Chamberlain, Hughes, and/or Melky Cabrera, and budding minor leaguers like Jesus Montero and Austin Jackson. Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli, also nourishing the farm, could be leveraged, too.

But not for Halladay. If the youth is dealt, it will be for another arm. With the rest of the AL East glistening with World Series rings, Toronto’s not about to help the rich get richer, especially the Yankees. Contrary to mushrooming hype, Halladay ain’t the only game in town, and the Yanks have other options that won’t perpetuate their reputation of being trend-obsessed.

It should come as no surprise that the Yankees, being the Yankees will resume their positioning in the Buying Throne of the trading coliseum. And though Cashman et al may make vague murmurs about a cease and desist on hemorrhaging money, it’s a safe bet that if the Red Sox are there, so goes Yankee Universe.

The need to not only regain the #1 division spot, but cushion a lead, means the Yanks will do anything to intercept any possibly threatening trades to contending AL East teams. As long as Boston continues to sniff around Halladay, the Yanks aren’t going to leave, like two girls waiting it out at a bar for the hot bartender to get off work.

The more realistic and advantageous move would be to sidle up to the girl in the bar who takes off her glasses and reveals a surprising stunner. They need to pull up a bar stool next to someone in the Wandy Rodriguez range–solid, raw skill predicated by discipline and control. Halladay may be the most dominating pitcher available, but an expensive big name that’s going to drain the farm system isn’t the answer, especially when there’s currently a bevy of promising arms for a much gentler price.

RHP Dan Haren  (Arizona)
LHP Doug Davis (Arizona)
LHP Jarrod Washburn (Seattle)
LHP Erik Bedard (Seattle)
RHP Aaron Harang (Cincinnati)

The question is, what’s a more compelling factor when tossing out trade predictions–the Yankees’ irrefutable need for pitching, or the Yankees’ unfaltering pattern of lateral moves for streaky sluggers? The former would suggest the Yankees deal Hughes, Joba, and cold cash to Seattle in exchange for Washburn. The latter? Unfortunately, it means we’re looking at 74 games of pitching follies supplemented with respectable power from someone like Matt Holliday, who, while productive, is 100% useless in an already fortified outfield.

As the July 31 deadline looms on the other side of the All Star Break, the Yankees must realize that strong pitching is not a luxury but a mandate. This is New York’s watershed moment that will make or break their 2009 season. But if the Yankees can storm into the 2nd half of the season with a fully populated rotation, they’re going to storm out the 2nd half with their 27th world championship.