— Twenty-four, Twenty-five, Twenty-six.... ?
Trimming the fat
With the demotions yesterday of Mark Corey and Dusty Bergman, the Yanks are left with 37 players in camp - 19 pitchers and 16 position players. Torre says that 35 are going out west to finish the exhibition season, and of course the roster must be down to 25 by Sunday night.
Currently in camp for sure are
Pitchers: Chacon, Shawn; Dotel, Octavio; Farnsworth, Kyle; Johnson, Randy; Mussina, Mike; Myers, Mike; Pavano, Carl; Proctor, Scott; Rivera, Mariano; Small, Aaron, Smith, Matt; Sturtze, Tanyon; Villone, Ron; Wang, Chien-Ming and Wright, Jaret. (16)
Catchers: McDonald, Keith; Nieves, Wil; Posada, Jorge and Stinnett, Kelly (4)
Infielders: Cairo, Miguel; Cano, Robinson; Escalona, Felix; Giambi, Jason; Jeter, Derek, Phillips, Andy and Rodriguez, Alex. (7)
Outfielders: Crosby, Bubba; Damon, John; Matsui, Hideki; Sheffield, Gary and Williams, Bernie (5)
That’s a total of 31… Now, based on the NRI list and the Yanks’ posted transactions - I believe the remaining six to be Matt Childers (RHP), Scott Erickson (RHP), Jose Veras (RHP), Omir Santos (C), Luis A. Garcia (1B) and Russ Johnson (INF).
So the questions for the day are - 1) Am I right in making this list, 2) Which two guys are getting left in Florida before the team goes to Arizona, and finally 3) Which 25 are on the active Opening Day roster on April 2?
First, we need to use the disabled list to help get the number down…
That puts Dotel, Pavano, Small and Wright off the final list, making our roster number 33. Eight left to get rid of.
Now, let’s look at the no-chancers. These guys have no freaking chance of breaking camp with the Yankees: Matt Smith, Keith McDonald, Matt Childers, Jose Veras, Omir Santos and Luis A. Garcia. That’s six down.
The last two guys cut will probably come out of this group: Russ Johnson, Felix Escalona, Wil Nieves, Scott Erickson, Scott Proctor and Ron Villone.
Joe Torre has expressed a desire to keep a third catcher to start the year, which makes sense on some level given Jorge’s beaning last week. However, I’d like to see Nieves hop on the Columbus Shuttle myself, and probably take Escalona with him.
That leaves us with this active roster:
Pitchers: Chacon, Shawn; Farnsworth, Kyle; Johnson, Randy; Mussina, Mike; Myers, Mike; Proctor, Scott; Rivera, Mariano; Sturtze, Tanyon; Villone, Ron; Wang, Chien-Ming and Scott Erickson. (11)
Catchers: Posada, Jorge and Stinnett, Kelly (2)
Infielders: Cairo, Miguel; Cano, Robinson; Giambi, Jason; Jeter, Derek, Phillips, Andy; Rodriguez, Alex and Russ Johnson. (7)
Outfielders: Crosby, Bubba; Damon, John; Matsui, Hideki; Sheffield, Gary and Williams, Bernie (5)
Sean McNally
Posted: March 28, 2006 at 11:14 AM |
22 comment(s)
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The choice is between Johnson and Escalona - or a 12th pitcher/3rd catcher.
None will see any significant time - but a third catcher is super-redundant and Cairo does everything that Escalona does. At least Johnson could provide some thunder off the bench as a pinch hitter.
Proctor has been starting lately, it's possible that if Wright can't go and questions remains about Wang's health that he'll "come North" (or in this case, go West) with the team as the fourth starter. I'm inclined to believe Wright will start the season on the team however, probably at Proctor's expense
Besides, who would he pinch-hit for in the starting nine?
Villone's a lock, being left-handed and all. Nieves makes it too for now.
Nieves, Stinnett, Phillips, and Cairo. Worst bench ever.
I think you mean 32:
Pitchers 16 +
Catchers 4 +
Infielders 7 +
Outfielders 5 =
Total 32
Graffanino would be a better option for them.
The pitching depth appears somewhere between good and fantastic, depending on the extent of injuries and the development of young arms, but I don't see any options behind the front nine position players.
That's the $180+ million question.
There was quite a bit of buzz surrounding the Kevins (Thompson and Reese), moreso around Thompson, but alas, Joe chose the proven mediocrity(Crosby) over the chance of decency.
There's some AAA/AAAA-type fodder that's not listed - Mitch Jones had a heckuva spring, and led the organization in dingers last year as a corner OF/1B.
The Yankees talent pool, however, when it comes to major league position players is as always a 100-miles wide and a half-inch deep.
With Myers only facing LHB, you almost need to carry and extra guy because of that.
If there is an injury that causes an OFer to miss an extended period of time, I think Melky may be ready to make the quantum leap that Cano did last season, although I can't know whether or not he would get the opportunity.
I'm not sure who could replace Jeter or A-Rod or their equivalent on any team.
I would sign Carlos Pena as insurance for an injury at 1B/DH.
If there is an injury to one of the outfielders, or the team cuts bait on Crosby, I'd hope one of the Kevins, preferrably Thompson, gets the call.
Leave Melky in AAA for a full season. He's just 21 and did have a "deer in the headlights" vibe to him last year.
He's been good at several levels, but he never has been dominant. Let him stay down, develop against AAA pitching. With Damon entrenched for the next four seasons and centerfield being Melky's natural postion - there's not really a rush to get him to the bigs.
Well, fine, but Proctor is crap, his fastball is as straight as Johnny Unitas' haircut.
If I were Cashman, I'd sign Pena to replace Andy Phillips. Is there any question at this point who's the better player?
If I were Cashman, I'd sign Pena to replace Andy Phillips. Is there any question at this point who's the better player?
Offensively, Pena and Phillips were virtually identical in AAA last year. I think there's a very good question as to who's better.
Phillips can also fake 2B and maybe 3B/OF in an emergency like an extra-inning game that involves players diving into the stands. Finding another LHB to stand at 1B is not something the Yankees need to worry about.
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