Marc Rzepczynski

The fifth spot of the rotation is usually the most volatile one, and teams can go through any number of pitchers in the last spot over the course of a season.

Ineffective, injury-prone or young pitchers usually find themselves bringing up the rear of the rotation, and short spouts of poor performance will get a pitcher pulled out of the rotation quicker than its more established members.

With free agents flying off the board and the Cliff Lee bombshell dropped on Philly, the hot stove is sufficiently stoked. So let’s keep that fire roaring with more prospect talk.

This series on prospects will cover a wide range of players as well as positions. We’ll cover sleepers as well as some of the more obvious stars of the future.

After losing the first game 3-2, the New York Yankees need to win Tuesday night against the Blue Jays at Rogers Center.

The Tampa Bay Rays have caught up to tie in the standings, and the Boston Red Sox are still very much alive.

Translation...inter-division games can kill a team’s chances for playoff berth, so the Yankees cannot lose this series for starters.