Brian Cashman admits that he may be stuck with the rotation he has

Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York reports that the Yankees may be going into the 2011 season with the rotation they currently have: Sabathia, Hughes, Burnett and … filler:

Having finished second, or maybe third, in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, theYankees are prepared to go into the 2011 season with a pitching rotation of CC Sabathia,A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes , with the remaining spots filled out by youngsters, many of whom have never pitched above the Triple-A level.

“I’m not saying I want to do it,” general manager Brian Cashman said in a telephone conversation Monday morning, “but I may have to do it … If we get Pettitte back, so much the better. But I’m not waiting for him. He told me not to.”

There was a time when we’d say “oh, that’s just Cashman talking baloney. Watch: the Yankees will make a big splash this week and make us all seem like fools.” Based on how this offseason has gone, however, we’re not in that world anymore.

UPDATE: Here is what, in my view anyway, constitutes a sad update. The Yankees and Red Sox will not, themselves, be wearing these cool Union Jack caps on the field during the London Series games. They will be wearing regular caps with a special patch.

The good news is that the Union Jack caps will still be available to purchase if you’re so inclined. They’re just not going to be official on-field replicas. Alas.

My verbiage about the propriety of wearing Union Jack baseball-themed merchandise below still stands.

12:45 PM: Patriots in Boston led the fight against Great Britain for an independent America. The popularization of the word “yankee” has its origins in an often derogatory term British military and political leaders used for people native to the American colonies. In light of that, with the possible exception of the Nationals — it’s hard to find two teams with a better regional and/or etymological claim on, well, not being British.

But, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. here are the caps Major League Baseball just revealed the Yankees and Red Sox will be wearing in London when they meet next month:

And check out the crown on the back:

My intro to this article aside, I have no problem with these at all. Indeed, they look pretty cool. I’ve seen some people being grumpy about it seriously, in contrast to my jokingly, citing the history of the colonies and the Revolution and all of that and calling them inappropriate, but c’mon. These are some boss caps.

Besides (a) the war ended 238 years ago; and (b) we probably stole baseball from them anyway. Let your freak flag– er, Jack, fly.

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