This is why Yanks should have traded for pitching

Some great news for Boston and Tampa baseball fans: The Yankees' already thin rotation is looking like even more emaciated today.

Picking up Pudge Rodriguez and Xavier Nady could have been a big waste of time if the Yankees' starting pitching staff looks like this in September:

Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes and Dan Giese.

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Rookie sensation Joba Chamberlain went on the disabled list with an injured right shoulder on Wednesday, and now the beleaguered starting rotation has lost arguably its top two pitchers (Chien-Ming Wang's return is a longshot this season). There's no word yet on exactly what's wrong with Chamberlain, but seeing renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews is never a good sign.

Kennedy is a good prospect, but he's also a soft-tosser who was knocked around pretty hard this spring in the Yankees' rotation. He'll likely get some starts in the near future. Darrell Rasner is struggling and will be replaced by Giese in the rotation for now. And Hughes should be back fairly soon to aid veterans Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina, but he also struggled earlier this season.

Even with no more setbacks, that doesn't seem to be enough pitching to catch the Rays and Red Sox. If Chamberlain doesn't come back in a couple of weeks, it's time to consider the Yankees a playoff longshot for the first time in a decade.