What is the one sports franchise that you think of when it comes to defining as having a winning tradition? In the MLB, it cannot be any other team besides the New York Yankees. The Yankees have had a history of talent that is unparalleled compared to the other MLB teams. Look at the list: Yogi Berra, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter, the list goes on and on. The Yankees have won the most championships in the MLB, with 27 and looking to still add to it this year. Keep in mind, the Yankees were one game away from the World Series in 2017 with a team that looked to be a year away from contention. They fell short again this year, albeit, they lost to a stacked Red Sox team.

With guys like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez establishing themselves as elite MLB hitters and adding former National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees seem to be in a good position for World Series win in the near future. But what about their pitching?

The Yankees have had their fair share of pitchers throughout their history. They have an ace in Luis Severino that looks to be the next big time pitcher in the MLB. But not all Yankee pitchers are like Luis Severino. In fact, there were some pitchers that were simply not effective during their time in pinstripes. But which ones are we talking about and which ones are you thinking about when you look at recent Yankee teams? Let's see what we can find! Let's look at the 20 least effective New York Yankees pitchers since 2000.

20 Sonny Gray

After coming up just short of a World Series appearance in 2017, the Yankees were determined to take that next step in 2018. With their juggernaut offense and incredible bullpen, they just needed a few more starters to step up big time to help out Luis Severino. Sonny Gray was a mid-season acquisition last year to help with that.

He has not held up his end of the bargain.

Gray had a 4-7 record with a 3.72 ERA last season in only half the year with the Yankees. This season was even worse, as Gray proved to be so ineffective as a starter that he was sent to the bullpen. Gray is nothing like he was in Oakland, making him an ineffective pitcher for the Yankees.

19 David Phelps

In three seasons with the New York Yankees, David Phelps was seen as a bullpen arm that could have helped the Yankees get back to World Series contention. In his first season, he had a 3.38 ERA. and a 4-4 record which isn't anything to write home about. His next two seasons ended up with ERA.s in the fours. Phelps was also used as a starter from time to time, so his numbers become even more unimpressive. He just came in the wrong time for the Yankees where they were in a transition without Derek Jeter. He still was ineffective with his time in New York.

18 Mike Zagurski

17 Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson was one of the most feared left handed pitchers to ever come into the MLB in the 1990s and early 2000s. The New York Yankees thought that bringing in the tall lefty would help the Yankees get back to their winning form.

Unfortunately, the Big Unit wasn't up to par like he was in Seattle or Arizona.

He did win 17 games in each of his two seasons. But he had an ERA close to 4.00 in his first season and a 5.00 ERA in his second and last season for the Yankees. Johnson had the win numbers, but was ineffective in just about every other category overall.

16 Tanyon Sturtze

Tanyon Sturtze was a pitcher for the New York Yankees that was at the end of his career. He had already spent time with several teams such as the Cubs, White Sox, Rays, and Blue Jays before finding himself with the Yankees in 2004. He was a part of the Yankee team that blew a 3-0 lead in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. His time in New York was not any better as he never had an E.R.A. under 4.7 and his last season with the Yankees saw opponents hitting .354 against him as well. Safe to say he was ineffective to a large degree with the Yankees.

15 Carl Pavano

Carl Pavano got to enjoy beating the Yankees in 2003 as a member of the upstart Florida Marlins. He then found himself becoming a Yankee in 2005. The Yankees were hoping that Pavano would bring a veteran presence along with him which would result in success for the Yankees as a whole. Spoiler alert, that didn't happen. Pavano spent three seasons with the Yankees and never had an ERA under 4.76.

Opponents found themselves hitting over .300 against Pavano in two of his three Yankee seasons. He ended up finishing his career as a member of the Minnesota Twins. His time as a Yankee was brutal.

14 Kevin Brown

The Yankees had Kevin Brown in the fold for two seasons in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 season is one he would like to forget, especially with the fact that he started game seven for the Yankees when they finished off an epic collapse. Brown was not that great during the regular season either. He had a 4.09 E.R.A. in 2004 and followed that up with a 4-7 record with a 6.50 E.R.A. the following season. Kevin Brown retired after the 2005 season, ending what was close to a 20 season career. Brown would have liked to have ended it a bit differently, with maybe a World Series ring to boot.

13 Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon has become one of the most entertaining stories in all of baseball. He is in his mid 40s and still is finding a way to get MLB hitters out. He has made his way around the MLB certainly with a number of teams.

People may forget that he made a pit stop with the Yankees in 2011.

He wasn't very good as he was 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA and opponents hitting .267 against him. It wasn't his worst, but it certainly wasn't his best considering he had much better seasons in the past. I'm sure Bartolo and the Yankees would like to forget just how ineffective he was in 2011.

12 Juan Acevedo

The New York Yankees were looking for a World Series ring in 2003 and had all of the pieces in place to do so. One piece in their bullpen that could have panned out better was Juan Acevedo.

Acevedo only spent half a season with the Yankees in 2003, but wasn't around for the playoff run as he was off to Toronto before the year was over.

In his Yankees career, he finished with an 0-3 record in 25 games and had an E.R.A. of 7.71. He was very ineffective and it showed as he was gone before he had the chance to be a part of a Yankee postseason.

11 Jonathan Albaladejo

The Yankees ended up winning a World Series in 2009, but haven't won since. During that time, they had guys like Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and others. One piece of their bullpen they couldn't trust however was Jonathan Albaladejo. Albaladejo spent three seasons with the pinstripes and got a World Series ring with it. He didn't necessarily hold up his end of the bargain though. He had two seasons or E.R.A's close to four and another one that was over five. In his last season, opponents hit .306 against him. Some Yankees just get lucky and get to go along for the ride, just like Jonathan Albaladejo did during 2009.

10 LaTroy Hawkins

One of the ultimate journeyman pitchers that was around during the 2000's was LaTroy Hawkins. There should be no surprise that he made an appearance with the Yankees for one brief half of a season. Hawkins had two seasons previous to his time with the Yankees where he had over 25 saves in a season. The results were not the same in the Bronx. With the Yankees, Hawkins was 1-1 with a 5.71 E.R.A in 33 games. He found his way out of New York as he joined on with Houston in the middle of the 2008 season. Hawkins was certainly ineffective during his brief stint with the Bronx Bombers.

9 Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson found himself with the team on two different stints. Neither one was really great, and he seemed to not be able to make the most of his time in both chances with the perennial powerhouse Yankees teams of the early 2000s.

In 2003, Anderson was 1-0 with a 4.79 ERA in 22 games. In 2005, he was 1-0 again, but this time with a 7.94 ERA and that was only in three appearances.

Anderson definitely didn't have a memorable Yankee career. He was definitely ineffective when he did toe the rubber and unsurprisingly didn't last long in the Bronx.

8 Armando Benitez

This next Yankees pitcher that came for a part of a season in 2003 wasn't necessarily ineffective because of his statistics. It was actually because he should have been used more than he actually was.

The Yankees acquired Armando Benitez in 2003 from the New York Mets who he had been with since 1999.

He only made nine appearances for the Yankees and was 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA. which is amazing to think about. Benitez ended up with Seattle later on that season, so he wasn't able to be a part of the postseason. His presence was basically ineffective with the Yankees.

7 Roger Clemens

Many fans forget that in fact Roger Clemens had two stints with the Yankees. While his first one was certainly a successful one, it's his 2007 stint with the Yanks that lands him on this list. Clemens returned to the Yankees after several years in Houston, as the Yankees were desperate for some starting pitching. They signed Clemens to a ridiculous one-year, $28 million contract and they certainly didn't get their money's worth. Clemens went 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA. Clemens's final MLB game came in the 2007 ALDS against Cleveland. Clemens was pulled following a hamstring injury after 2 1/3 innings, an outing in which he allowed three runs on four hits.

6 Cesar Cabral

The New York Yankees were going through some difficult years after they won their World Series in 2009. They were in unfamiliar territory where they could not win the World Series or even come close to it. They had a reliever for two seasons named Cesar Cabral who just didn't seem to fit in with the Yankees and get them back on a winning path.

In two seasons he had a career 14.73 ERA. which included a 27 ERA in his second season while only making four appearances.

Cabral ended up moving on to the Baltimore Orioles, basically making his Yankee career an ineffective one to be nice.

5 Todd Williams

Going back to the 2001 season, the New York Yankees had another reliever that didn't make his time in the Big Apple the most memorable either. This time, it was Todd Williams who couldn't fit the bill of belonging with the Yankees. Williams was 1-0 and had a 4.70 ERA. when he made 15 appearances. Opponents had fun against Williams as they hit for a .324 average against him. In 15 1/3 innings, he gave up 22 hits and gave up eight earned runs. The 2001 season could have ended a lot better for the Yankees with a World Series title. It also could have helped Williams with dealing with the fact that his time as a New York Yankee in 2001 was very ineffective.

4 Gabe White

This next Yankees pitcher spent a full season with the team by spending two half seasons in two different seasons with the pinstripes. Did you get all of that? Now, the pitcher that pulled off that amazing trait was Gabe White.

White was a left handed specialist that came to the Yankees in the middle of 2003 and then left in the middle of 2004 when he found himself back with the Cincinnati Reds.

In his two seasons with the Yankees, White had a 6.33 ERA with opponents hitting .355 against him in his second half season. Safe to say, Gabe White was ineffective before his Yankee career came to an end.

3 Ian Kennedy

The New York Yankees thought they had something in 2007 when they had Ian Kennedy as a member of the starting rotation. He was 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts that season. Kennedy then spent two more seasons with the Yankees and things didn't go as planned. He made 10 starts in 2008 and was 0-4 with an 8.17 ERA. and 2009 wasn't any better as he only made one appearance that season for the Yankees.

He since has bounced around between teams like Arizona, San Diego, and Kansas City. Besides that first season where he looked promising, Ian Kennedy can be considered as an ineffective pitcher in Yankee History.

2 Kyle Farnsworth

The next New York Yankee pitcher that seemed to have an ineffective career when he was fortunate enough to play for the pinstripes was Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth was a member of the Cubs for years before eventually finding his way to the Yankees. In those three seasons, it didn't seem like he was quite comfortable pitching in the American League. His best season was in 2008 when he pitched half a season with the Yankees before going to the Tigers where he had a 3.65 ERA. after having two seasons where he had ERA's in the fours.

1 Jeff Karstens

For two seasons in 2006 and 2007, the Yankees had a pitcher by the name of Jeff Karstens that looked like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde literally. His first season, he was 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA which is still a bit alarming. His second season in 2007 was much worse as he was 1-4 with an 11.05 E.R.A. and opponents were nearly hitting .400 against him.

He made his way to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the last part of his career and his time as a Yankee had come to an end.

His bad second season has to overshadow his first one which made him an overall ineffective pitcher for the Yankees.