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Via multiple sources (both media and blogs), the Yankees have set their 25-man roster.
Here is the roster:
Pitchers:
CC Sabathia
AJ Burnett
Andy Pettitte
Javier Vazquez
Phil Hughes
Mariano Rivera
Joba Chamberlain
Damaso Marte
David Robertson
Chan Ho Park
Alfredo Aceves
Sergio Mitre
Catchers:
Jorge Posada
Francisco Cervelli
Infielders:
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Robinson Cano
Mark Teixeira
Nick Johnson
Ramiro Pena
Outfielders:
Brett Gardner
Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Marcus Thames
Randy Winn
Marcus Thames, Sergio Mitre, and Boone Logan were the three players on the bubble, not all three made the roster. Thames and Mitre will go to the Bronx, Logan will open up the season with Scranton.
The Yankees had questions about injuries to Jorge Posada, Francisco Cervelli, Alfredo Aceves, Nick Johnston and Damaso Marte. But they all made the roster.
Tonight the Yankees fly up to Beantown for game #1 of the 2010 regular season.
Let’s go YANK-EEEES!
Phil Hughes, last season’s long reliever in the bullpen, was named the Yankees fifth starter Thursday beating out Joba Chamberlain and others for the coveted last spot in the Yankee rotation. Hughes will most likely have an innings limit this year, much like Joba had last year. Some writers are speculating the limit could be around 170 innings, meaning we should see Joba or others make some starts toward the end of the season.
Hughes also beat out Sergio Mitre, Alfredo Aceves and Chad Gaudin. I forecast Mitre to be sent to AAA to stay warm as an injury replacement starter and Aceves back in the Yankee bullpen. Gaudin was released outright this week after not earning the spot in the rotation and the Yankees felt paying him $2.95 million to pitch in Scranton was too much. Since his contract was not guaranteed, it was a smart decision for the Yankees and I could definitly see Gaudin catching on strong elsewhere.
One other notable pitching story comes from Boston, the Red Sox manager Terry Francona confirmed that Daisuke Matsuzaka will not be ready to pitch for the Sox until a couple weeks into the season. However, Tim Wakefield, the aging knuckleballer has most definitely earned his spot in the rotation. Wakefield will apparently pitch until he gets so old his arm falls off.
The Yankees seem to have everything firing on all cylinders this spring. The team seems well-organized and with everything going to plan, according to Joe Girardi. Every time I hear him quoted, he’s got something positive to say.
I do think that the Yankees coaches are a little confused about pitching. Too many guys are pitching too well and need innings. The team also suffered from a rain out on Sunday, preventing a few guys getting the opportunity to throw.
Trying to make it work with only one game scheduled against the Phillies, the Yanks set up an intra-squad game featuring the left over pitchers facing minor leaguers.
It’s great that there’s so much talent that the Yankees still have this many pitchers in camp right now. But with the season starting in two weeks, we’ll probably see several sent to minor league teams this week, making the next few days severl guys’ last chances to make the team now.
One thing I love about beat writers is that we get access to information that probably can’t be found anywhere else.
That’s the case today when we see a post from Chad Jennings today when he said that Joe Girardi had given plenty of hints to indicate the Opening Day lineup for the Yankees. Here’s what Jennings has put together:
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF/LF
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF/CF
I have to say that I love this lineup. May I daresay that it’s much better than last year? Yep, we lost Damon and Matsui, but I strongly feel Granderson and Johnson both are nice compliments to the lineup.
We’ll find out soon just how good the lineup is.
Ahh…the joys of spring training. Nice, crisp Florida/Arizona air with spring temperatures and every team truly believes it has what it takes to make the playoffs this year. Despite all the positive thoughts and big dreams, still, blood boils from the end of the previous season.
Rewind to September 6 of last season when a 12th inning, walk-off blast from Prince Fielder gave the Milwaukee Brewers the win over the San Francisco Giants. After untucking his shirt while running the bases, Fielder jumped hard on home plate and in choreographed fashion, his teammates fell to the ground as if being knocked down by a bowling ball.
Well, the loss put the Giants back two games in the Wild Card race and they weren’t too keen on the whole thing and some Giants were heard saying that payback might come in the first series between the two teams in 2010.
Well, they couldn’t even wait that long.
In the first inning of Thursday’s spring training game between the two teams, Giants pitcher Barry Zito threw directly at Fielder, plunking him in the back. Understanding why it had to happen Fielder calmly put his pat down, and picked up the ball, which had rolled toward the first base path after hitting him, and threw it underhand back to Zito while trotting to first base.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Fielder said he had no regrets for the celebration last season. “They gotta do what they gotta do,” Fielder said. “But it’s not going to take (the celebration) away. It’s chronicled … That’s something I did with me and my teammates. It has nothing to do with them. You’re damn right it was worth it.”
In true pitcher-fashion, Zito denied that the pitch was retaliation, saying instead that it was a fastball gone astray. Really, Barry? Really?
Oh well, this is baseball tradition and man-code paying itself out.
