BOSTON – The New York Yankees are back in business after a pair of moves that bolstered the pitching rotation. General Manager Brian Cashman delivered a one-two punch to his AL East foes Friday, trading for Michael Pineda and signing Hiroki Kuroda.

Just like that, New York’s rotation is one of the deepest in the game.

Last season, Pineda was a front-runner for the AL Rookie of the Year at the All-Star break. He’s 6-foot-7 and throws close to 100 mph. He’s also very young – his 23rd birthday is Wednesday.

With youth comes inconsistency, which is why Seattle made Pineda available.

He was 1-4 with a 5.12 ERA after the All-Star break, a far cry from his 8-6, 3.03. The Mariners lost 13 of the last 18 games he started. In one start against the Sox, he lasted only 41/3 innings and gave up seven earned runs.

Still, there’s a lot of upside here. He’s big, strong and should improve with experience.

The Yankees will thrust him into the middle of the rotation. He could eventually become that number-two starter the Yanks have beem searching for since adding CC Sabathia three years ago. The Yankees are hoping he’ll be part of the rotation for years to come.

The addition of Kuroda is all about depth. He’ll turn 37 next month and signed a one-year contract. It gives the Yankees a lot of choices in the rotation. After Sabathia, Pineda and Kuroda there is Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia and AJ Burnett.

If you’re a Yankees fan, seeing Burnett at the end of that list will put a smile on your face. Lowering expectations for Burnett will make the Yankees stronger. They may even decide to trade him (if they’re willing to eat a significant portion of his contract.)

If you’re a Red Sox fan, you have to be concerned about this arms race.

The Sox are still strong at the top of the rotation with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz.

After that, they’ll rely on Daniel Bard to make a quick transition from reliever to starter. Carlos Silva, Aaron Cook, Andrew Miller, Alfredo Aceves, Felix Doubront and Vincente Padilla will battle for the final spot.

Is that enough to match up with the Yankees?

There are still several pitchers out there who could help the Sox. Roy Oswalt would probably sign a one-year deal at slightly less than the $10 million that went to Kuroda.

Edwin Jackson and Joe Saunders are available but reportedly looking for long-term contracts.

Signing one of those three would give Boston the luxury of keeping Bard at the back end of the rotation.

Since he hasn’t been a starter since 2007, there’s no way of knowing what he’ll do in the rotation. Aceves wants to be a starter but his versatility makes him an excellent setup man in the bullpen, a pitcher who can fill in with spot starts as needed. Doubront and Miller may be more valuable in a bullpen that is heavily right-handed.

New Sox GM Ben Cherington did a good job rebuilding the back of the bullpen by adding Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey.

He added Cook and Silva in the hopes of creating more depth in the rotation. We’ll have to see if that’s enough.

In 2011 the Red Sox used 10 starting pitchers, a reminder that quantity is important. Quality is more important.

In one day, the Yankees raised the stakes with the addition of two strong pitchers.

Now we’ll wait to see if Cherington adds anything to the pot or stands pat.

Tom Caron is the studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on the New England Sports Network. His column appears in the Press Herald on Tuesdays.

 

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