Putting the Pettitte Cart Before the Horse

Andrew Marchand of ESPN NY has consistently been concerned about Michael Pineda‘s velocity this spring. He, along with some other members of the media and blogosphere, have almost comically tracked each Pineda pitch. The thought of sending Pineda down to the minors seemed absurd earlier in spring, but the signing of Andy Pettitte gave the meme a more realistic chance. With the surplus of pitching many writers are trying to figure out the odd man out, and proposing trades and demotions. Marchand suggested in a blog post earlier today the Yankees should not trade Freddy Garcia, and choose between Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes starting the year at Triple-A. I think trading Garcia is a bad idea, but Marchand’s alternative is even worse. I really like Freddy Garcia. He is a guy that has built a long career by adjusting to the physical limitations that Father Time has thrown at him. He went from a power pitcher to someone that relies on control and changing of speeds. His care...