The New York Yankees have spent almost $400 million to secure a potent offense for 2008 and beyond, but have they paid emough attention to their pitching needs?

The New York Yankees secured a fearsome lineup for the 2008 season simply by retaining veterans Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. They also locked up future Hall of Fame closer, Mariano Rivera, for the final three years of his career. The team also bid farewell to an aging, steady-handed skipper named Joe Torre, and welcomed in a young, fiercely competitive successor in Joe Girardi.

But many pundits and spin doctors in the baseball media have already begun to attack the Bronx Bombers for spending too much money on hitters and a closer without addressing their alleged weaknesses at starting pitching and middle relief. These critics (e.g. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports) should be boiled in oil. Their attacks are not only premature, but they also ignore the realities of the situation in the Bronx just a few weeks ago.

So let's recap what happened, and then intelligently analyze the team's pitching needs.

Joe Torre's Exit and A-Rod's Opt-Out Almost Toppled the Apple Cart

As soon as the Yankees season ended, things began to change very quickly. The Yankees were a franchise in flux that had many moving parts to secure, and they each had to be addressed in the proper order.

First, the team had to resolve its managerial situation quickly, which it did. They offered Joe Torre a contract that would have made him the richest manager in baseball history if he made it to the World Series in 2008. Even if he didn't make the playoffs, the offer still would have made Torre the highest paid skipper in the majors. Torre rejected the offer, called it an insult, and then signed a new deal with the Dodgers. The Yankees then quickly interviewed managerial candidates and signed Joe Girardi

In the middle of the team's search for a new manager, Alex Rodriguez opted out of the three remaining his contract. Prompted by his agent, Scott Boras, A-Rod refused to even talk to the Yankees unless they made a first offer of at least $350 million. Since the Yankees had already represented that they would not negotiate with Rodriguez if he opted out, the MVP seemed, in the words of the Egales, "Already Gone."

Yankees Quickly Sign Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera

Knowing they were in danger of a mass exodus from the Bronx, the team quickly exercised Bobby Abreu's option, and retained one of their most productive batters for the 2008 season at his 2007 salary. Then they went strong after Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, primarily because each player is still among the best in baseball at his position, and also because these two formed the battery for each of the Yankees last five pennants and their three most recent World Series titles.

Then they somehow got A-Rod back. And for $75 million less than superagent Scott Boras had demanded "just to talk." In the process, they they serendipitously turned A-Rod into a fan favorite and also might have have finally lessened the influence of one of the game's most negative and disruptive agents.

That's a lot of activity. A lot of activity. For anyone to say that the Yankees have failed to address what Tim Brown calls their "Horror Show of a Pitching Staff", well, those folks just haven't been paying attention. There was the small matter of keeping the franchise together that had to be handled, and the new Yankee brass did a pretty good job.

But now, it is time to address the pitching situation.

The Yankees Now Have the Time and Opportunity to Improving Pitching

Cotrary to what Yahoo's senior baseball writer avers, the Yankees pitching staff is far from a "Horror Show." While there are a few holes in the rotation and in middle relief, the team can solve them rather quickly with a little good fortune and a few key moves. But whay they have right now ain't so bad.

Chien-Ming Wang is a solid pitcher. He makes almost all of his starts and he's won 19 games in each of the last two years. Philip Hughes looked like the real deal in 2007, especially in the crucial months of September and October, when he was 3-0 with an ERA of 2.37. Hughes is also a lock for the starting rotation.

Then, things get a little bit tricky. Andy Pettitte, who has won more than 200 games in his career and who posted a 15-8 record in 2007, is considering retirement. But Pettitte still has a $16 million offer to pitch for New York in 2008. If he does return, the team will have a very strong 1-2-3 punch, and won't need to sign another starter via trade or free agency.

They should be able to find two more good starters to round out the rotation from a group that includes Joba Chamberlain (0.38 ERA and 34 Ks in 24 IP), Ian Kennedy, Mike Mussina and maybe even Kei igawa (who never got a fair chance in his debut MLB season).

If Pettitte Retires, The Yankees Will Need to Add a New Star

If Pettitte does not return, however, the team's starting rotation looks like this: Wang, Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy, Mussina (or Igawa). That's probably not enough. So, if Pettitte doesn't come back, the team will have to get another starting pitcher.

That man could be Johan Santana. It is common knowledge that the Twins' chances of signing the soon-to-be free agent are virually nil, and that the team is therefore seeking to trade Santana this year for young talent and cheap salaries.

Rumors -- for whatever they are worth -- are that the Twins want Melky Carbrera and Ian Kennedy or Phil Hughes in return for their two time Cy Young Award winner. The Yankees should probably not give up Hughes. He is their best prospect as a starter. Moreover, there isn't another team in baseball that can beat the potential Yankee trade offer of Cabrera and Kennedy. (They certainly are a better tandem that Boston's Coco Crisp and Clay Bucholz).

Of course, losing those two players will hurt the Yankees. The team will be defensively vulnerable in the outfield without Melky's speed, glove and rocket arm. But if they can land the best starter in baseball for him and the promising but unproven Kennedy, they will have a dominating pitching rotation.

Wang, Santana, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain are four great starters. Mike Mussina, Igawa or Jeff Karstens could fill the fifth spot. This potential rotation is certainly better than the team's starting five (well, their starting 13 if one considers all of the injuries) in 2007. Wang and Santana can win 37 to 38 games between them. Hughes and Chamberlain can get another 30-32 wins, and their fifth starter and spot men could combine for 16 to 18 more victories. That's 86 to 88 wins, without even counting relief pitchers.

A Santana Trade Leaves Open Center Field

This scenario, of course, leaves the Yankees defensively vulnerable in the outfield. The loss of Melky Cabrera's defense, however, is more than offset by the addition of Santana's rifle. The absence of Carbrera also makes Girardi's job of putting together a lineup much easier. Damon in Center, Matsui in left and Shelley Duncan splitting first base and Designated Hitter duties with Jason Giambi, who for all of his injuries and distractions, is in a contract year and did hit 37 home runs and knock in 113 RBI in 2006.

It's a trade-off, for sure, but no one knows if Kennedy will develop into a long term ace, whil everyone already knows that Santana is a long-term ace.

Finally, the Yankees can use the $16 million salary saved on Pettitte, and use it as a base to make Santana a long term offer. Furhter recall that after 2008, the Yankees will free up an additional $35 million when the contracts of Mussina, Giambi and Kyle Farnsworth expire. That money can also be used to to off-set the big dollars needed to keep Snatana in pinstrioes for the next 5 years.

The Set Up Man

The Yankees have a few options at set up. If by some turn of events they can get Santana and lure Pettitte away from the golf course, they can keep Chamberlain as the eighth inning man, which would effectively cut the game to just seven innings. If Pettitte stays in Texas and Chamberlain joins the releif corps, the team can use a combination of Luis Vizcaino and Edwar Ramirez (both of whom fared relatively well in 2007), but also must add a free agent eight inning man such as Atlanta's Ron Mahay (3-0, 2.55 ERA) or KC's David Riske (2.45 ERA in 69.7 IP).

Regardless of what happens, the Yankees have certainly secured a potent offense for 2008, and they have mot of the parts to have a top five pitching staff. With a couple of bold moves, and a little bit of luck, they could soon be in the top two or three in the American League.

Combine that with the game's most vicious lineup, and the 2008 Yankees could be looking at their first World Series appearance since 2003.