Even as they stood by as Robinson Canó left for Seattle, the Yankees were quite busy in the 2013-14 offseason. They added a few free agent bats in the form of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltrán. On paper, all of those signings would hopefully add to the Yankees’ offense, after a 2013 season that I will charitably call “anemic.”
However, there was still a pretty gaping hole in the rotation. Ace CC Sabathia had a down year in 2013 after undergoing surgery the previous offseason. Andy Pettitte had retired. Michael Pineda had missed the previous two seasons after the Yankees had acquired him.