GIRARDI'S OPENING DAY ROTATION

Earlier today, Yankees manager Joe Girardi named his opening day rotation, shortly after the news about Michael Pineda's shoulder tendonitis was broken. Here is my evaluation of five pitchers slated to open the season.

CC Sabathia: Putting Sabathia first was a given. Sabathia, who is coming off another 19-win season in which he posted a 3.00 ERA and was ranked second in strikeouts and fourth in innings pitched. 

Hiroki Kuroda: Though the 13-16 record didn't show it, Kuroda had a great year for the Dodgers in 2011, as he posted an ERA of 3.07 and only walked 49 batters in 202 innings pitched. In addition to having a number of different pitches in his arsenal, he also throws pretty hard. According to Fangraphs.com, Kuroda's fastball and sinker averaged 92 MPH in 2011, which isn't bad for a 37-year old-pitcher who has been in professional baseball since 1997.

Phil Hughes: Last spring, Hughes came to camp overweight and unprepared to follow up his solid 2010 season. This year is an entirely different story, as Hughes is slimmer and has regained the velocity he lost last season. He has only given up 3 earned runs this spring as of today.

Ivan Nova: Nova, who is going into his sophomore season, hasn't looked very good this spring after a solid rookie year in which he went 16-4 and posted a 3.70 ERA without losing a single game in the second half. We will soon find out whether the infamous sophomore slump has hit him.

Freddy Garcia: One of the biggest surprises in baseball last year was Garcia who posted his lowest ERA in 10 years at 3.62. He began to fade as the season progressed and posted a 4.45 second half ERA. It looks as if he will be the first pitcher sent to the bullpen once Pineda returns.

Though I do like this rotation, I prefer one with Pettitte and a healthy Pineda. The only question is who will be bumped when Pineda and Pettitte return.

TEBOW MAKES UP FOR WHAT SANCHEZ LACKS

There has been a lot written about Tim Tebow becoming a New York Jet, and the effect it would have on current Quarterback Mark Sanchez. Some believe Tebow's presence will hurt Sanchez mentally, therefore hurting his performance. Others believe the competition with Tebow will push Sanchez to perform better. I believe that no matter who starts and who is the backup, they complement each other nicely.

Aside from the fact that Tebow is a better runner than Sanchez, he has other qualities such as his leadership skills and the fact that he seems to improve in the second half of the game.

In the first half, Tebow threw for 400 yards on the season, but in the second half, he threw for 1,291 yards including 961 in the fourth quarter alone.

Sanchez, on the other hand, stays pretty constant throughout the game, but his completion percentage slips from 62.7% in the first half to 50.9% in the second half. Also, his QB Rating goes from 82.9 in the first half to 73.5 in the second.

Though the better quarterback is easily Sanchez, he may not be better overall than Tebow. Jets coach Rex Ryan has openly spoken about Tebow's versatility and his ability to play positions other than quarterback. Maybe we'll see Tebow as a Halfback or a Tight End at some point this season.

I might go so far as to say that Tebow might compete for the starting Quarterback job this coming season, though the Jets continue to deny it. 

YANKEES ROTATION WILL DETERMINE HOW SUCCESSFUL PETTITTE IS

Once Andy Pettitte announced his return to the Yankees, the whole dynamic of the starting rotation changed. The only things we know are that Sabathia, Pettitte, and Kuroda will start, but everything else is up for grabs. The way the rest of the rotation looks will determine how effective Pettitte will be this season.

Ineffective Scenario:

1.     CC Sabathia

2.    Andy Pettitte

3.     Hiroki Kuroda

4.     Ivan Nova

5.     Freddy Garcia

Effective Scenario:

1.     CC Sabathia

2.     Hiroki Kuroda

3.     Ivan Nova

4.    Andy Pettitte

5.     Michael Pineda

The only way Andy Pettitte will be successful is if he pitches from the back end of the rotation. He doesn’t put up numbers like he used to -- like 17 wins and pitching 200 innings per year -- which are needed from a number two. What can be expected, is a solid number four who can average 5-6 innings per start and allow about 3 runs in those innings.

The middle of the rotation should go to younger pitchers like Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda who have better stuff at this point in their careers, but they have had their own issues with fastball speed and control. The reason for saying this is that it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities that the Yankees will expect too much from Pettitte and play him in the number two  slot, the way he was able to do when he returned from Houston to the Yanks in 2007.  Five years later, he’s just too old to expect that much from.