Where do Yankees turn now that Lackey and Halladay are off the market?

Although the deals have not been finalized or officially announced, it appears John Lackey will indeed sign with the Boston Red Sox and Roy Halladay will be traded to the Philadelphia Philles. Those two men were the top starting pitchers available this offseason.

The Yankees have said all offseason that adding at least one starting pitcher was a priority. They did re-sign Andy Pettitte, but they would still like to add another starter to the rotation. This would allow them to keep either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes in the bullpen.

Where do you think the Yankees will look? There are rumors floating around that they are very interested in free agent Ben Sheets. Sheets is coming off an injury and did not pitch last season. However, before being injured, Sheets was one of the best pitchers in the National League. Yes, he is another guy that has spent his entire career in the pitchers league. Do you think he will be as good if he came to the American League?

Justin Duchscherer is another name floating around. He too is coming off an injury that kept him from pitching in ’09. While with the A’s, Duchscherer excelled both in the bullpen and as a starter. If his arm is strong enough, teams will certainly be looking at him as a starter once again.

The question is, how much money are you will to spend on a “risk” pick up like this. Both players are coming off injuries and have not pitched in at least a year.

I think its worth the risk. The Yankees have other pitchers capable of starting if needed: Chamberlain, Hughes, Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre. So, take a chance on a guy like Sheets or Duchscherer. Maybe you will get lucky and they can regain the dominant form they had pre-injury. They would only have to be back end starters since the Yankees already have Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte.

Do you take the risk, or do you take a chance on someone that is not coming off injury, like Jason Marquis or Joel Piniero? What would you do?