The carousel-like Yankees pitching rotation has spun again, leaving Shawn Chacon as today’s last-minute starter against the Angels. Chacon was acquired from Colorado in a trade Thursday night for a pair of minor leaguers and represents the freshest Band-Aid GM Brian Cashman has placed on the back end of his battered staff.
Chacon, 27, was 1-7 this season with the Rockies, the worst team in baseball. Also known as pitchers’ purgatory because of the thin air in Denver, Chacon comes to the Yankees toting a relatively low 4.09 ERA for a guy who last won a start April 23.
“I know that’s a tough place to pitch for anybody and [it’s good] to get to opportunity to not have to pitch there every day,” Chacon said of the hitter-friendly confines of Coors. “That’s going to be probably a pretty good thing for me. I never saw any pitchers leave Coors Field and become worse pitchers.”
It would be hard for Chacon to get any worse than he was.
In his lone win this season, an 8-6 triumph against the Dodgers, Chacon allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings, which is about how long his starts went on average this season. Last year he was the Rockies’ closer, finishing that dismal campaign with a 1-9 record, 7.11 ERA and nine blown saves in 44 opportunities. There is a chance he’ll return to the bullpen once all the Yank starters return from injury.
“I’m starting [today],” Chacon said. “Hopefully we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
In exchange for Chacon, with all of two wins to his credit in the last two years, the Yankees shipped minor leaguers Ramon Ramirez and Eduardo Sierra to the Rockies. The Yankees get someone to fill a uniform for today’s start and Chacon gets to start fresh with a new team in a new league.
“It was exciting,” Chacon said. “I pretty much knew I was going to get traded in my heart, but I didn’t know where. When I heard Yankees, it was pretty darn exciting.
“It’s an opportunity for me to come in and try to run with it.”
Most important to Chacon, who admitted he was sad to leave many family and friends in his native Colorado, is a chance to play for a contending team.
“On a personal level, there were a little bit of hard feelings,” he said. “But on a business and professional level, there’s not a better place to be.”
The American League has been unkind to Yankee pitchers who come over from the NL. Chacon said yesterday he’s not worried about making the switch that players like Carl Pavano and Randy Johnson initially had trouble adjusting to.
“Not at all,” he said. “I don’t get to face a pitcher in the nine-hole, but I’m not apprehensive at all.”