25 The Easy Way

Though the A-Rod-Jeter friendship and the whereabouts of Bernie Williams will linger throughout spring training, there isn't much speculation about who will be traveling north as part of the 25-man roster. Barring any injuries or other setbacks, the starting rotation, the ineup, and the bullpen are pretty much set in stone. That being said, we'll take a look at each position and who will be holding down the fort.

Catchers

Starter - Jorge Posada; Posada starts his 13th season in pinstripes. He's averaged 135 appearances behind home plate the last 7 seasons. Jorgie turned 35 last August, but he has not experienced the offensive drop off (.277-23-94 in '06) that most catchers do at his age. He will become a free agent after this season and the Yankees have no immediate replacement for the long term.

Bench - Wil Nieves and Todd Pratt are the only 2 candidates with a shot at the job (veterans Raul Chavez and Ben Davis are both in camp, but are coming off injuries and are not being considered by Joe Torre). The 29-year old Nieves is a solid defensive catcher who has appeared in just 37 games over parts of 3 big league seasons. He's hit just .159 (13-82) over that time.

Pratt, who recently turned 40, has played 14 seasons, all of them in the National League. He's solid defensively, has an adequate bat, and has post-season experience (including facing the Yankees in the 2000 subway series).

Nieves is out of minor league options, but the feeling here is that Torre will go with the major league experienced Pratt.

Infield

1st Base - Doug Mientkiewicz was brought in this off-season for his defensive presence (ball-hawking ability?) and to be the left-hitting side of a platoon at first. Andy Phillips and Josh Phelps have both excelled at the minor league level, but neither has had the same success at the plate in the majors. The advantage here has to go to Phillips who proved himself to be a very good defensive 1st baseman last season. Phelps has only worn a 1st base glove in 31 big league games, spending the majority of his time at DH. Of course, Joe Torre could decide that neither is worth a roster spot, and could instead use Miguel Cairo as a backup 1st baseman. This would allow Torre to carry an extra outfielder or utility infielder.

2nd Base - Robinson Cano; The Cano Kid is coming off a fabulous sophomore season. Despite missing a month of the last season with a badly injured hamstring, Cano finished 3rd in the AL with a .342 average. He added 15 home runs and 78 RBI and he only turned 24 this past October. More importantly, his fielding percentage (.984) hopped up 10 points from the previous season.

Shortstop - Derek Jeter; El Capitan is coming of a season in which he had the 2nd highest average (.343) and RBI totals (97) of his career, and nabbed a career-best 34 steals. He was screwed out of the MVP award (like hell he wasn't!) in a season in which he won his 3rd Gold Glove, eclipsed 2,000 career hits, and hit .500 in the playoffs. From the "time flies" department - Jeter is in the 7th year of the 10 year deal he signed in 2001.

3rd Base - Alex Rodriguez; All eyes and ears will be on A-Rod again - and as usual it will mostly be for the wrong reason. It's hard to tell if he can do any right according to some Yankees fans who get carried away. There's no question he has been a playoff flop the last 2 seasons. He hasn't been alone in that respect, but that's gone largely unnoticed. He could go out and hit .330-50-140 during the regular season, but it will all be for naught if he doesn't succeed (and/or the team doesn't succeed) in the playoffs. As we all know by now, Yankees success is measured by World Series rings.

Utility - Miguel Cairo had a significant offensive drop off from his previous stint in pinstripes, but he still provided solid defense in backing up all four infield spots. The only way he'll get significant playing time is with an injury to a starter or if Torre decides to use him as the right-handed side of the platoon at 1st.

Designated Hitter - Jason Giambi has this one all to himself. He may take a seat against some lefties or when Matsui, Posada, etc., need a breather, but he'll get the bulk of the time here. The Yankees hope he can compile the numbers he did last season albeit with more consistency.

Outfield

Left Field - Hideki Matsui; After not missing a game in his first 3 seasons in pinstripes, Hideki played just 51 regular season games in '06 after busting his wrist trying to catch a sinking shot off the bat of the Dead Sox's Mark Loretta. Two good things came out of that: Melky Cabrera got the chance to prove himself and, more importantly, Joe Torre no longer had to worry about Matsui's consecutive games playing streak. Though the Japanese media will still be all over him, Torre can now sit Matsui down for a game here and there to rest him or to get Melky some playing time. Hideki has topped the 100 RBI mark in each of his 3 full seasons and he should attain that figure again this year. His home run totals (16-31-23 in '03-'05') will hopefully be in the 30-35 range again.

Center Field - Johnny Damon; The Head Idiot in Boston made a smooth transition to Yankees pinstripes last season. He was one of the most consistent players all season and sacrificed his body (nagging shoulder and foot injuries) numerous times defensively. Damon hit a career-high 24 home runs and had his highest steal total in 3 years. It would not be surprising to see Damon swipe 35-40 bases this season, health permitting. Damon has also quickly stepped forward as a team spokesman.

Right Field - Bobby Abreu never liked being the big man on campus in Philly, so he didn't mind coming to a team where he was just one of the guys. Though he will probably be in the clean up spot, Abreu won't have the same spotlight he had with the Phillies. Expectations were sky-high for Abreu after slugging 18 HR and 53 RBI by the '05 All-Star break, and he then went on to win the Home Run Derby during the festivities. But he slumped miserably afterwards, beginning his path out of town.

Abreu hit a torrid .330 after coming over from the Phils at the trade deadline (seriously, how did the Devil Rays deal this guy for Kevin Stocker???) and he provided better defense than Gary Sheffield had lately. There are balls that fall in that it appears Abreu should get to, but he does a decent job of tracking the ball and he has a strong arm.

4th Outfielder - Melky Cabrera was rushed to the majors in 2005 as the Yankees looked for a solution to their center field woes. He was nowhere near ready and one had to wonder if he would ever wear the major league uni again (it also made those of us who had predicted great things for him look bad). With another year under his belt, Melky blossomed last season. In addition to displaying dazzling defensive skills (see below), Melky showed great patience at the plate, fitting right in with the Yankees' approach to being patient. In addition to his 56 walks, Melky struck out just 59 times and swiped 12 bases. All that and he's still only 22.






Starting Rotation

Andy Pettitte returns home after a 3-year stint with the Astros. He may be here for just 1 year, but he and the team agreed on a mutual option for 2008 that could keep him here beyond that. He's definitely the anti-Randy Johnson. The guy wants to be here, he knows how to win, he isn't afraid of the spotlight, and he's a leader.

Mike Mussina returns with a new 2-year deal after his initial 6-year deal ran out. Moose was off to a blazing start last season before arm trouble cropped up. The Yankees will rely heavily on him and Pettitte to shoulder (pun most definitely intended) a big portion of the load.

Chien-Ming Wang, the pride and joy of Tainan, Taiwan emerged as the ace of the staff last season. His 97 mph sinker helped him win 19 games in his 2nd season in the bigs. One year after his season was shortened by shoulder issues, Wang compiled 218 innings and even picked up a big save when the bullpen was short on arms. Wang is 27-11, 3.77 in his 1st two years in the majors.

Carl Pavano already complained of "heavy" legs this spring and sat out a day of workouts. Despite the turmoil that his surrounded him in his first two years here, the Yankees are heavily counting on Pavano to step up this season. That being said, it would not be surprising if the Yankees move him. Of course, that all depends on finding someone who is willing to pick up a chunk of his salary.

Kei Igawa was not known to 99.9% of Yankees fans prior to this off-season. That all changed when the Yankees overbid $25 million for him in hopes that he was better than the free agents that were available in the U.S. (Ted Lilly, Gil Meche...). Igawa then signed a 4-year, $20 mill deal to be the 4th or 5th starter. Is he the next Irabu or Wang? Who knows?


Bullpen

Mariano Rivera - The pen starts and finishes with their future Hall Of Fame closer. Mo is a quiet guy, but he made plenty of noise already this spring when he said he wouldn't be averse to playing elsewhere after this season if the Yankees don't - (I hate doing this) - "show him the money". Every Yankees fan knows the team should do just that, but for now we'll take a healthy Mo. Joe Torre has already said Mo will strictly be a 1-inning pitcher during the regular season so he can try to avoid the shoulder strain that occurred last season.

Kyle Farnsworth - 99 mph fastball, 99 year old back. Farnsworth showed last year that the torque it took to unleash his heater caused his back to stiffen up the next day. With Rivera on a 1 inning limit, one has to wonder how many nights both of them will not be available.

Scott Proctor - It's a wonder this spring that Proctor didn't report to camp with his right arm hanging down by his foot. Proctor was overused by Torre to the tune of 102.3 innings over 83 games. He'll be heavily counted on again to fill the bridge to Mariano.

Mike Myers - It would surprise me greatly if Myers is still on the roster at year end. The lefty specialist was brought in primarily to face David Ortiz (2-9, 3-run HR, 1 BB), which he did with decent results. However, Myers pitched just 30 2-3 innings in 62 appearances. While the Yankees will have 12 pitchers to start the season, the roster would have much more versatility by carrying 11. A versatile lefty, such as teammate Ron Villone, would be a greater addition to the squad.

Ron Villone - It first appeared that Villone would not be back this season. The Yankees front office wouldn't budge off of their offer of 1 year, while Villone was hoping to land a 2 year deal somewhere. After turning down the Yankees offer of arbitration, Villone came up empty and settled for a minor league deal and an invite to camp. Villone was another victim of the Torre overuse disease. After being the forgotten man in the pen to start the season, it seemed like he was throwing every day during the summer. The result was a decline in production in the stretch run.

Luis Vizcaino - The hard-throwing veteran was acquired in the Randy Johnson deal and will be counted on to take some of the pressure off of Scott Proctor. There's a possibility he could be moved if the Yankees decide they would rather have both Brian Bruney and Chris Britton in the pen.

Brian Bruney and Chris Britton are likely battling for the final spot in the pen unless Torre decides to go with just one lefthander. While both look like they could be defensive linemen in the NFL, they both throw very hard and Bruney did an excellent job after being cast adrift by the Dbacks last season (I know it's not just me who wishes the Dbacks fail in every aspect after the 2001 WS). Britton, acquired for Jaret Wright, could be the sleeper in all of this. The Orioles needed a starting pitcher, but may have made a mistake in giving up Britton. Britton's rookie season saw him limit batters to a .228 average, while compiling a 1.17 WHIP.

On the outside looking in: TJ Beam, Colter Bean, Darrel Rasner, and Jeffrey Karstens. The first two are not likely to make the bullpen to start the season and one of the latter two could make the rotation if Pavano is dealt or falters. For now, they should be pitching every 5th day at Columbus (though Rasner may end up in the pen, with Hughes and Sanchez on the squad).