Sergio Mitre: Possible Fifth Starter, or Trade Bait?

While March Madness has taken over everyone's lives the past week, all is relatively quiet in the world of baseball. The Yankees made cuts today, sending Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, Colin Curtis and Reid Gorecki to the minor league complex. But the big question is, who will be the fifth starter?

Sergio Mitre has caught the attention of everyone, especially after his stellar performance against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which he allowed two hits and struck out seven in five innings. But there has been some rumblings that either Mitre or Chad Gaudin will be traded at the end of spring training. Now if you look at spring training stats, Mitre seems to be the better pick. But if you look at spring training stats, Jon Weber should be the next Babe Ruth.

In a case like this you need to look past the spring training stats. Gaudin may have an ERA around 8, but his track record is much better and he is more reliable than Mitre in the long-run. If you're looking at Mitre as the fifth starter, you have to compare him to Hughes. Hughes has been the face of the Yankees farm system the last few years, and he has been groomed to be the next starting pitcher.

I think, in the end, what will benefit the Yankees in the long run is that Gaudin stays and Mitre gets traded, while Hughes gets the fifth spot in the rotation.

Today's game was rained out, but they will have an intrasquad game tomorrow because they need several pitcher to throw.

Just saw this on espn.com: Joe Mauer of the Twins has agreed to an 8-year $184 million contract extension.