Mussina to lose his spot?

[BuckFoston]

New York Yankees' manager Joe Torre has hinted that struggling starter, Mike Mussina, might need to pitch better to keep his spot in the rotation.

One possibile replacement is righthander Ian Kennedy, who has a 1.86 ERA in five starts for Triple-A.

Mussina might lost his spot - Rumors - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

You know I would love to see this happen, I would love to see another young talented arm come up to the bigs and see what he has. Mussina has been strugglin lately so I think this would be the right move for the Yankees.

[Veovis]

I love Kennedy as much as the next Yankees fan, but expecting to reach the playoffs with 2/5 of the rotation comprised of rookie pitchers 22 years of age and under is probably not wise. Kennedy is no where near the pitcher Hughes is and we have been watching him struggle to get adjusted to the Show. Can we afford to go through the same thing with Kennedy?

Also you have to look at the innings Kennedy has pitched so far this year, and notice that the Yankees are already skipping his starts and giving him extra days rest to make sure he doesn't go over their innings cap. If he takes Mussina's spot they can't cover for him like that. I just don't think it is wise to risk his future health for a performance that will probably be roughly equal to what Moose will give us.

[love_that_reefer]

I remember Mussina being one of the major factors in that Game 7 in the 2003 ALCS. Mussina came in a relief situation and shut them down. The guy is a pro and understands what the game is about. Torre has got to shake things up.

[nyjunc]

I love Kennedy as much as the next Yankees fan, but expecting to reach the playoffs with 2/5 of the rotation comprised of rookie pitchers 22 years of age and under is probably not wise. Kennedy is no where near the pitcher Hughes is and we have been watching him struggle to get adjusted to the Show. Can we afford to go through the same thing with Kennedy?

Also you have to look at the innings Kennedy has pitched so far this year, and notice that the Yankees are already skipping his starts and giving him extra days rest to make sure he doesn't go over their innings cap. If he takes Mussina's spot they can't cover for him like that. I just don't think it is wise to risk his future health for a performance that will probably be roughly equal to what Moose will give us.

If Kennedy is ready bring him up, Mussina is basically an automatic L at this point. Let kennedy get his feet wet, as long as they feel he is ready it's time for someone to take Moose's spot before he kills our postseason hopes.

[Dry1313]

No to Kennedy, Yes to taking out Mussina.

He honestly can't tough it out. He's way too much of a perfectionist at his age. We need outs, and it doesn't matter if you get one on a bad pitch.

Maybe move Karstens back in? I know he sucked against Baltimore, but so what.

(On a side note, I'd like to see the Yankees take him out for 1 start and give him extra extra rest, then see how he does.)

[Veovis]

If Alan Horne weren't suddenly hitting a wall, I'd say he is a better option than Kennedy. Maybe Steven White? Frankly I think they should just try to work around Mussina whenever possible. I do NOT want to see Igawa again.

[browntown653]

Absolutely no way I would ever start Jeff Karstens ever again. Mussina is awful but due to his salary and his track record Torre isn't gonna take him out of the religion.