Michael Pineda - what you're missing:

With Michael Pineda being diagnosed with an ulnar collateral tear in his elbow, his immediate future is up in the air*.  None of us know what the length of his absence will be, but for the sake of discussion, let’s assume the worst:  If he’s gone for an extended period, what exactly do you the Yankees need to replace?

Almost all references from Simpleton Summer Camp (the Yes Network), mass media and fans refer to his inconsistency.  Lots of strikeouts, but lots of home runs and runs allowed.  Of course, because of the nature of Simpleton Summer Camp and the fans, the very significant and relevant issues of his body language and how he wears his hat arise.

(Pinches bridge of nose…)

If you are indeed among the camp of not liking his body language, how her wears his hat, or his inconsistency, here’s what you need to know:

Three and a half seasons, in my mind anyway, is a good enough sample size to judge what a player is going to give you, inconsistencies aside.  In Pineda’s case, here’s what he’s given you – in other words, here’s what you need to replace:

Among American League starting pitchers between 2014 and 2017, with 500 innings pitched over that span, Pineda is:

• 9^th in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) among 27 who fit the criteria.
• 5^th in strikeout percentage (only behind Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Chris Archer, and David Price – ever hear of those guys?).
• 2^nd in strikeout to walk ratio, behind Chris Sale only.

On an open market, his performance over those 3 and a half seasons would be worth $78 million.

The Yankees have paid him $14 million over that time.

And it should go without saying, if you’re one of 27 pitchers who are good enough to be run out there every 5th day for 3.5 years, that alone makes you one of the best in the league.

So great, you don’t like Pineda.  Replace him.

Find an available pitcher who’s going to be among the best in the league in categories over which he has control:  Missing bats and not putting anyone on base himself.  And oh, by the way, that pitcher needs to play for $64 million under market value.

In other words, get Tampa to trade Archer or Cleveland to trade Kluber to the Yankees for the equivalent of Jesus Montero.  Remember him?  The guy for whom the Yankees acquired Pineda, who isn’t in baseball anymore.

I get it.  As a fan, Pineda can be frustrating.  But as fans we tend to believe our eyes, which are poor judges of performance – follow the numbers, and Pineda is a very tough player to replace.

Thanks to Fangraphs and Baseball Reference for the stats.

*UCL issues do not have a standard treatment.  Short term rehabilitation may work, sometimes Tommy John surgery and a long recovery is required.