Chien-Ming Wang
Photo: Icon SMI

There’s plenty of angst in the New York media over Chien-Ming Wang’s foot. The speculation runs toward a very serious injury that threatens the rest of Chien’s season:

The injury is to the top of Wang’s foot, the same general area that reliever Brian Bruney injured when he tripped while covering first base in April. Bruney was found to have a Lisfranc injury and is expected to miss a minimum of three months.
Wang has symptoms of the same injury, including swelling and the inability to bear weight on the foot; he left Minute Maid Park on crutches, in a soft cast. Bruney’s injury was in the middle of the foot, and Wang’s is believed to be in the webbing of his toes, between his big toe and second toe.

Here’s some information on Lisfranc injuries. They are generally tough to diagnose, hence the MRI for Wang.
The other thing these stories expect is for the Yankees to overcompensate:

“You’re going to go through injuries, and you’ve got to find a way to get it done,” Girardi said. “But it’s not easy to replace 19 wins.”
As it happens, though, another 19-game winner from 2007 may hit the trade market soon. With their playoff hopes fading, the Cleveland Indians are likely to trade Sabathia, last year’s American League Cy Young award winner, who won again on Sunday and has a 2.21 earned run average over his last 11 starts.
The Yankees were interested in him before Wang’s injury, and their need has become more acute. Sabathia can be a free agent after the season, and the Yankees have the payroll space to afford him and the prospects to obtain him.

I disagree with the idea that Wang is difficult to replace. For one thing, Chien-Ming holds a 4.07 ERA in 2008. That ranks 48th in the majors among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched, between Hiroki Kuroda and Odalis Perez. Those two have a combined 5-11 record, reflecting the poor offense that play behind them.

Aaron Harang
Photo:Icon SMI

Longer term, of course, Wang is a very good pitcher. Since the start of 2005, his rookie season, Wang ranks 18th in ERA among pitchers with 500 innings. Once again, his record is out of whack with the surrounding ERAs. Wang is 54-20, a .730 winning percentage. Hudson and Harang, 17th and 19th respectively, are 50-35 (.588) and 46-39 (.541). On a team that wasn’t an offensive power house, Wang would more likely be 41-33 over that time. So really, the Yankees should be thinking about replacing a fourteen game, not a nineteen game winner.
This is very important. New York could replace Wang with Harang, for example, for a lower cost than Sabathia. Harang holds a cheap contract that goes through 2010 with an option for 2011, and he’s not a Cy Young award winner. Since Jocketty and Baker both have a history of liking veterans, maybe the Yankees could get away with losing fewer prospects by throwing in Bobby Abreu.
On the other hand, there are reasons to trade for Sabathia even if Wang is healthy. If the main reason for a trade is to replace Wang, however, the Yankees should be able to replace his ERA, and likely his wins, without acquiring one of the best pitchers in the game.