5 Reasons TO Be Worried About The 2011 Rotation

1) CC, ace or not, is coming off knee surgery and the heaviest workload for any pitcher over a 4-year period, and will probably need his innings monitored accordingly.

2) Phil Hughes most likely won't, and isn't ready to, make the jump to become a legitimate #2 pitcher, regardless of how much he improves his secondary pitches.

3) Andy Pettitte seems to be leaning more towards retirement rather than returning, and even if he does, you can pretty much pencil him in for 2 DL stints in 2011.

4) A.J. Burnett is still A.J. Burnett, which means he's the maddeningly inconsistent pitcher he's been his entire career, even before he came to New York, and flat out isn't worth the money he's being paid.

5) No matter how good Larry Rothschild is, he can't be good enough to get 60 league average starts out of Nova, Sergio Mitre, or any of the other options in Triple-A.  And replacement options for those guys in the free agent and trade markets are dwindling at breakneck speed.

5 Reasons To NOT Be Worried About The 2011 Rotation

1) CC, and his 40 wins over the last 2 seasons, is still the ace.

2) Phil Hughes will have a full year of experience under his belt, no innings limitation, an offseason and Spring Training to work on improving his secondary pitches, and is still only 24.

3) Andy Pettitte hasn't officially retired yet.

4) A.J. will have his rumored divorce finalized so he won't be getting beaten by his wife anymore, and he really can't be any worse than he was in 2010.

5) If anybody can improve Phil's cutter and change, fix what plagues A.J.'s location, and maximize Nova's stuff to make him a competent 5th starter, it's Larry Rothschild and his track record of success.