Looking to 2010, Part 2 - The Rotation

1 - CC Sabathia
2 - A.J. Burnett
3 - Derek Lowe
4 - Andy Pettitte
5 - Phil Hughes

As I mentioned Wednesday, the Braves seem to be caving on their demands for an impact, ML bat for Lowe; plus they are willing to eat some of his 2010 salary. If the Yankees are able to acquire a horse like Lowe without coughing up a player the caliber of Nick Swisher, that would be a no brainer. The fact that the Braves would add cash is gravy at that point. He's quality, durable pitcher that will be more cost-effective than John Lackey (and not nearly as physically hideous).

As for the five spot, the general thinking is that this would be a three man race between Hughes, Creamy Goodness Aceves, and Joba Chamberlain, and I agree. Basically, I am anticipating Hughes coming out on top. It will be at that point that the Yankees will have to evaluate the Joba Chamberlain situation. As Brian Cashman would agree, Joba is a long term starter. That being said, in this scenario there just isn't room for him in the rotation. His trade value is not optimal, so I have no problem plugging him in to the back of the 'pen on the way to another championship. Unfortunately for some of the younger players, this isn't the fucking Pirates. Winning is a requirement, so trotting Hughes and Chamberlain out in the 4 and 5 slot is not a risk I am willing to take.

Looking to 2010, Part 1 - The Lineup

1 - Derek Jeter - SS
2 - Nick Johnson - DH
3 - Mark Teixeira - 1B
4 - Alex Rodriguez - 3B
5 - Matt Holliday - LF
6 - Jorge Posada - C
7 - Robinson Cano - 2B
8 - Nick Swisher - RF
9 - Curtis Granderson - CF

I will be constructing the entire roster, as I see it, over the next few days, but this is what I think the 2010 lineup should look like. Thoughts?

Update: I took this lineup and plugged it into the Lineup Analysis that Baseball Musings provides. This fucking moster lineup that I put together projects to score 6.269 runs per game, which would come in at just under 1,016 runs over 162 games. I realize that Bill James' predictions are far from perfect, and there is no way that this lineup would play all 162 together, but that's just insane. Fuck Johnny Damon, go get Matt Holliday. (h/t to BDD for the idea)