Despite slow offseason, Yankees coming back strong

The Yankees are coming off an offseason where they missed nearly every offseason target from Cliff Lee to Carl Crawford, but are still in high hopes and have high expectations for the 2011 season. They lost Andy Pettitte, but brought in some veteran hurlers Mark Prior and Bartolo Colon, who may or may not make the team out of spring training. 

They did, however, bring in catcher Russell Martin who told reporters that he is in the best shape of his playing career. The move should bode well for the Yankees who will likely move Jorge Posada to DHing full time. Not a bad move at this point. 

Yankees ace Phil Hughes said he believes shoulder fatigue and moving away from his change-up attributed to his poor second half season, despite finishing the year 18-8 with a 4.19 ERA. 

"It’s hard to keep something fresh in your repertoire when you’re never using it," Hughes acknowledged. "Then, maybe when fatigue set in and I really needed that changeup to help me get through these games, it just wasn’t there."

The Yankees current rotation consists of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Hughes, and a combination of Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre, Prior, and Colon battling it out for the final two spots. They better pray to 'ole George that their pitchers can stay healthy.