25 Men

Ahh, spring is in mid-swing! I'm sure all you Yankee fans out there are well aware of the questions that the Yankee brass need to answer by opening day. As March 31 approaches, some of those questions are beginning to see the outline of an answer.

First base...this is perhaps the toughest question. Giambi, Duncan, and Ensberg are all having great springs. So who gets cut? So far this spring, Giambi is hitting .353 (6-17) with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. Duncan is hitting an even .400 (8-20) with 2 HR and 9 RBIs. Ensberg is hitting .333 (6-18) with no homers and 2 RBIs.

Betemit looks like he may be in danger of not only not getting the starting first base job, but getting cut from the roster entirely. He's hitting a measley .174 (4-23) with 2 HR and 4 RBIs. The only thing going in Betemit's favor, is that he has continued to show that he has some pop in his bat to offer from the bench. Being a switch hitter that can play any infield position helps his cause as well. Unfortunately for Betemit, he's not the only guy with versatility in camp. Chris Woodward looks like he may steal the utility job from Betemit. Woodward has been very impressive in camp this far, hitting .474 (9-19), with no homers and 2 RBIs. Even Jason Lane is hitting well (.304), and he gets bonus points for being able to play first and a corner outfield position.

So what do I think should happen? I would put Betemit in AAA, and give the utility job to Woodward. Betemit's pop is nice, but with power hitters like Matsui, A-Rod, Giambi, Duncan, and the slightly less power guys like Abreu, Cano, and Posada, this lineup has all the home run pop it needs. What we do need, is a guy that can get on base with some speed so the guys with power can drive them in. Woodward has had 9 hits in 9 games, and has some speed. He can play every infield position (except first base, I'm not entirely sure there). Baseball is a game of streaks. You gotta go with who's hot, and right now, I'll take the red-hot Woodward over the slumping Betemit.

So what about first base? As much as I want Ensberg to succeed, he's gotta start the season in AAA, while the Yanks platoon Giambi and Duncan at first. Ensberg is better than both of them with the glove, but Giambi and Duncan are tearing it up, and the compliment each other nicely since they each hit from different sides of the plate. Giambi starts against righties, Duncan starts against lefties. Unfortunately, I don't see where Ensberg fits into that picture. Its nice to know we have an established veteran ready for call up in the case of an injury though.

I also think Jason Lane gets cut. His versitality is nice, but if we want another outfielder on the roster, I'd give the job to Brett Gardner. He's hitting a healthy .313 (5-16) this spring, with a .389 OBP. Gardner's style of play is just what Girardi is looking for, and just what we need on this team. He could be a 5th outfielder, and the best option for center field is Melky gets injured or needs a day off. Gardner is blindingly fast, and would be perfect for a pinch runner, a pinch hitter for a bunt situation, and a back up center fielder (or left fielder for that matter).

Assuming the Yanks carry 12 picthers, the 13 remaing position players should look like this:
Catcher: Posada, Molina
First Base/DH: Giambi, Duncan
Second Base: Cano
Short Stop: Jeter
Third Base: Rodriguez
Utility: Woodward
Right Field: Abreu/Duncan
Center Field: Cabrera, Gardner
Left Field/DH: Damon, Matsui

So what of the 12 picthers? Well most of them are already a lock. It looks like the rotation will be Wang, Pettite, Hughes, Mussina, Kennedy.

That gives us Farnsworth, Hawkins, Chamberlain, and Rivera in the bullpen, leaving us with 3 open spots. From the looks of what is going on so far this spring, it looks like Karstens will get one spot, as the long man/spot starter. Billy Traber has been lights out, stiking out 5 in 3.2 innings without giving up a run (and he's a lefty), so I give him the second spot. The final third spot in the pen is the toughest to give out.

Scott Patterson has made a strong case, pitching 4.1 innings, striking out 4, giving out 1 hit, no walks, and no runs. Britton and Ohlendorf also look strong, but the numbers don't quite match up to what Patterson has put up. If it were my decision, I would give it to Patterson. However, at the first sign of trouble, it is nice to know that we have a ton of option to turn to.

The Yankees have a better team then they did last year. The bullpen has been (and still is) a major area of concern, but a bullpen of Karstens, Patterson, Traber, Farnsworth, Hawkins, Chamberlain, and Rivera isn't too shabby. If Karstens and Patterson can continue to put up the kind of numers they've been puttin up recently, we shouldn't have too much trouble. From what I've seen of Karstens, it looks as if he's made some adjustments since last year, but I'm still not sold on him. Patterson was very solid last year in the minors, and solid in the winter leagues as well. I also feel pretty confident with Traber. He hasn't been stellar in most of his career, but he has alsways shown his ability to get lefties out, and that is what we need him for.

And we went from having a weak bench, to a pretty strong one. A bench of Woodward, Duncan/Giambi, Gardner, Damon/Matsui, and Molina looks pretty good to me. All cylanders are clicking with our lineup so far, and if our pitching can hold up, the American league should be worried. We finished 2 games behind the Red Sox last year, and it took our lineup months to get going. All the reports out of Florida indicate the Bombers are going to come out of the gate hot; call me biased, but I am pegging the Yankees as the favorite in the AL East.

UPDATE 3:12 PM 3/13/08: I feel like I need to point out a couple of things as I'm watching the Yanks take on the Pirates, Karstens is having a very rocky outing, hurting his chances of making the roster given the small sample size. Brett Gardner is making my argument for him getting the last position player spot stronger by ripping a double in the 7th inning. Perhaps I would give the Karstens spot to Ohlendorf, and then call up either Karstens or Rasner later in the season for a spot start to keep the innings low on the Big Three.