Former pitcher David Cone believes free agency has balanced the pitching between Yankees and Astros: "The Yankees have matched up with Houston"
The New York Yankees and Houston Astros have become rivals over the last half decade, though it has mostly been a one-sided rivalry.
The Yankees are the premier franchise in sports, but they've recently been unable to get past the Astros in the postseason, while the Astros have won two and been to four World Series in the last six years.
They know their primary obstacle, at least for the time being, is Houston. As a result, their goal each offseason is to try and get better than them. This year, that's meant re-signing Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo and bringing in Carlos Rodon.
Former Yankee David Cone believes that, combined with the departure of Justin Verlander to the New York Mets, has balanced these two teams and gives New York a chance to get past them.
.@dcone36 joins Yankees Hot Stove, discussing the reported Carlos Rodón signing, Aaron Judge re-signing with the Yankees, closing the gap on the Astros and more. #YANKSonYES https://t.co/rpbUCQXam1
He said on YES Network:
"If you're a Yankee fan, you're not going to miss seeing Justin Verlander in postseason because he's been a tough customer. In my mind, I think the Yankees have matched up with Houston in the rotation."
He continued:
"Obviously, you subtract Verlander and then you add Rodon on our side and you figure out, 'Hey, maybe they've caught up rotation side.' I don't think that the Yankees are done yet."
Verlander was one of the top pitchers in all of baseball last year, winning the American League Cy Young. For New York, it's clearly addition by subtraction there.
However, as Cone mentioned, they also made addition by addition with the Rodon signing. They are poised to have a better rotation now, which has been their downfall before.
Who has the better rotation: New York Yankees or Houston Astros?
The Houston Astros have had one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball recently. Even without Verlander, they are still deep.
However, the New York rotation wasn't bad and it now features two legitimate aces. Here's how they line up:
- Gerrit Cole
- Carlos Rodon
- Nestor Cortes
- Luis Severino
- Frankie Montas
For Houston:
- Framber Valdez
- Cristian Javier
- Lance McCullers Jr.
- Luis Garcia
- Jose Urquidy
It's still a deep rotation, but so is the one in New York, and they have two aces while the Astros may not quite have one.