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In the most recent winter offseasons, it seems like the New York Yankees are always targeting pitching.
Heading into this upcoming offseason, Brian Cashman has a lot of question marks surrounding the starting rotation.
CC Sabathia is having his elbow looked at, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte are free agents, Michael Pineda is not expected back anytime soon and Ivan Nova has a lot of doubts surrounding him after a disappointing 2012 season.
That leaves Phil Hughes, and I wouldn't be the least bit shocked if he ends up getting traded sometime in January.
What all of this means is that for the third straight winter, the Yankees will be looking for pitching.
Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York reported that Scott Boras is looking to shop St. Louis Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse to the Yankees.
Lohse went 16-3 in 2012 with a 2.86 ERA, throwing 211 innings in 33 starts for the Cardinals in the regular season.
In the playoffs, Lohse went 2-1 with a 3.98 ERA in four starts. His one loss came in Game 7 of the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants where he only pitched two innings and allowed six hits and five runs.
With the limited options in free agency for the Yankees to look at, Boras will shop his client to the Bombers, who have never seen Zack Greinke as a great fit for the Bronx.
If I am Brian Cashman and the Yankees, I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on Lohse.
Most of his recent success has come from pitching in St. Louis under former pitching coach Dave Duncan. At 34 years old, I think he could be in for a rude awakening against some of the tougher lineups in the American League.
With a 16-3 record and an ERA under three in 2012, Lohse will certainly get a decent deal from a team over the winter, but I don't see it being the Yankees.
There are other options on the market that make sense for the Bombers rotation. Lohse just isn't one of them.
Boras will be trying to over-hype and oversell his client like he is a can't-miss pitcher who can get a team to a championship.
All teams have to do is look at Game 7 and realize that Lohse isn't as great of a "big-game pitcher" that Boras will be attempting to hype him up as.
Hopefully, Cashman will be wise and pass on him this winter.
Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.
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