Joe Girardi is on record as saying that the best 12 pitchers in camp will make the 25-man roster. 12 spots aka 5 in the rotation, and 7 men in the bullpen. The importance of his “best 12″ statement is that Joe isn’t looking for guys that fit specific roles, and he will take 12 men, as opposed to 11 or 13.

CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez. That’s 4.

Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Chan Ho Park, Damaso Marte, Alfredo Aceves. Total is up to 9.

Then when Joba wins the 5th man spot, he’s number 10. Hughsie will move to the ‘pen for spot 11. That leaves one spot to be fought over in a good old fashioned Spring Training cage match between Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin, Mark Melancon, Ivan Nova, Boone Logan, Romulo Sanchez, Hector Noesi, Christian Garcia, Wilkin de la Rosa, Jon Albaladejo, Dustin Moseley, Kevin Whelan, Royce Ring, and Amaury Sanit. Yeah, that’s a lot of names.

Now, Girardi has talked about the benefits of having a second lefty in the ‘pen (likely Ring or Logan), but if he is going to take the best 12 pitchers in camp up to the Bronx, I’d say Gaudin’s the favorite, Melanc0n and Nova the close contenders, Sanit an interesting longshot, and Moseley safe, veteran insurance. Let’s remember though, that if Gaudin sticks on the roster he’ll make almost $3mm, which is a lot for the last reliever on a ballclub. Since Melancon is allegedly the heir to Mariano, it’d be nice to see him develop into a set-up man at the big league level this year. Aside from the 5th outfielder spot, this is the biggest make-it-or-break-it fight in camp. Melancon, Nova, and Sanit have the highest upside, while Ring and Logan will come in handy against the Twins’ lefty-heavy lineup, and Gaudin, Moseley, and Mitre are likely to give you league average innings and stamina. It’ll all come down to what Manager Joe sees as the most valuable thing to have in a bullpen.

Edwar Ramirez was designated for assignment to make room for Chan Ho Park on the 40-man. Edwar was a key part of the bullpen in ’08, but was atrocious in the bigs in ’09. He’s 28, so it’s not like the Yanks are giving up on a promising prospect or anything. Edwar will either be traded, released, or if he passes through waivers, would stay in the organization. I doubt that he passes through waivers, since he has shown promise in the past, so expect him to either be claimed by another team or traded for a low-grade prospect.

Hey all,

I got an email this morning about people having trouble commenting on the ol’ blog. I changed some of the commenting settings, so it should all be fixed and ready to go! So get commenting!

Adios

I wrote about this a week or two ago, but we’re still looking for a few more players in 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba’s fantasy league this year. We’re playing over at ESPN.com with the 5 x 5 stats scroed for weekly  head to head matchups. It’s a mixed league, no buy-in, and we’re at 9 players right now. We’d like to get up to at least 12, if not 20 teams. So anyone interested in what will be a very competitive league, please email me at kevin@6pound8ouncebabyjoba.com as soon as you can and I’ll send you all the information so that you can sign up.

For the last couple of years, Melky Cabrera had been my favorite Yankee. As you all know, Melky was not the best player on the Yankees, nor the best center fielder in the game, but I just loved the guy. I loved his youthful spark that he gave to the team, his handshakes with Robby Cano, his cannons from CF, his general goofiness, his name (I mean who wouldn’t want to be named Melky?), etc. He was just so much fun to watch. I also just tend to like Yankee center fielders (Bernie Williams is my favorite baseball player of all-time), which might have been a reason for me loving Melk. When I heard he was in the deal for Javier Vazquez, I was very upset. I am still very upset. I miss “El Leche” dearly, so I figured I should honor him by talking about my 3 favorite Melky Cabrera Moments.

3. Melky Hits for the Cycle- I still can’t really believe that Melky hit for the cycle. The last Yankee to do it before Melk was Tony Fernandez in 1995, and I would have thought that somebody else would have done it between then and August 2, 2009. Jeter? Bernie? I guess I just never expected it from Melky. My lack of expectation could very well have been what made the moment so great. The fact that he got the hardest part (the elusive triple) in the 9th inning was pretty awesome, too. And he just looked so excited! All in all, it was a great moment for the Melk Man.

2. Robbing Manny Ramirez- Can you say “wow”? “He took away a game tying HR from Manny Ramirez! Farnsworth can’t believe it! Ramirez Can’t believe it! Cabrera, he believes it!” This incredibly acrobatic play saved the lead in a 2-1 game against the Red Sox. It was such an unbelievable play from the then-rookie. This HR-rob-job played a big role in the “Got Melk” explosion in 2006. I remember how awesome I felt when I got my shirt. Great play from the Melk man.

1. April 22nd- On this cold and rainy April Day, Melky Cabrera launched a Walk-Off HR to break a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the 14th. The reason why this was my favorite moment was because I was in attendance. It was my first time in the new Yankee Stadium (got a ball and autograph from Joba!), my longest extra-inning game that I have seen live, and my first Yankee walk-off experience (live). It was a truly fantastic day, and it only made it better that my favorite Yankee ended the game in dramatic fashion. Absolutely epic.

Well there you have it, my 3 favorite Melky moments. As I said before, I am very sad to see him go. No, the Yankees don’t “Got Melk” anymore, but he sure gave us fans a ton of memories, huh? Adios to the Melk Man! I wish him the very best of luck in Atlanta!

To say the least, he Yankee’s long-reliever situation is, well, clogged. With the signing of Chan Ho Park, the Yankees have 4 viable long-relief/mid-relief options to sort through in Spring Training. These options include the newly-acquired Park, Alfredo “Ace” Aceves, Chad Gaudin, and Sergio Mitre. Contractually speaking, all of the above pitchers are on one-year deals with Park to earn 1.2 mil in 2010, Ace earning 407,000 dollars, Gaudin netting 2.95 mil, and Mitre to earn .85 million. Gaudin and Mitre’s contracts are not guaranteed, so they could be released in spring training and the Yankees wouldn’t be on the hook for their contracts. Now all 4 of these pitchers are starters by trade, but their success has been questionable. The last time Chan Ho Park had an ERA under 5 in a full season as a starter was 2001. Mitre has a career ERA of 5.56 and pitched pretty badly as a starter for the Yankees last season. Gaudin has only pitched 2 full seasons as a starter (mid-4 ERA both seasons), but has had relative success in a bullpen role. Ace, for the most part, pitched very well out of the ‘pen for the Yankees last season (3.54 ERA, 1.01 WHIP), and is capable of making a spot start.

Now, it is pretty clear that the Yankees won’t be able to take all 4 of these guys. There just isn’t enough room in the bullpen to house all of these arms who will be doing (more or less) the same job. At this very early stage of Spring Training, Park seems to be a safe bet to be working out of the bullpen in a mid-relief role, perhaps even a set-up role. He pitched pretty well out of the bullpen for the Phillies last season, with a 2.52 ERA in 50 innings of relief. I definitely see him securing a role in the bullpen. Alfredo Aceves’s effectiveness last season would lead me to believe that he will get a spot as the long-man, or work in middle relief. While Ace can be an effective starter, the rotation is pretty full right now, and his best bet to get time and have success at the major league level is in the bullpen. That is not to say he won’t get a chance in the rotation if somebody goes down… I also see the Yankees keeping Gaudin. While he was effective last season in the spot-start/long relief role, the reason why I see the Yankees keeping him is because he his simply a better option than Mitre. Mitre did not pitch well at any point last season, and Gaudin is more valuable. He gives the rotation depth, while providing the bullpen with a solid arm. With his non-guaranteed money and his poor season last year, I get the feeling that Mitre could be the odd man out.

Granted, I could be jumping the gun here.  After all, the Yankees have a whole spring training to figure all of this out. While there are a lot of decisions to be made here, it can’t be a bad thing to have so many viable options to fill in the bullpen and add depth to the rotation. Like Brian Cashman said (via LoHud), “you can never have enough”.

If the height of my victory jump could’ve been recorded after Aaron Boone smacked a pitch from Tim Wakefield past the left field fence to end game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, I probably would have the third best high jump mark in world history. Well the man whose career will be defined by a single stroke is finally, officially, hanging up his cleats. But don’t worry, ABoone isn’t falling off the face of the earth; he’s joining ESPN as part of the Baseball Tonight crew. Aaron’s brother, Brett, moved from the field to the press booth too. In case you forgot, Brett was actually announcing that Game 7 of the ALCS when his brother smacked his historic blast.

ESPN also hired a guy I think much less of as an analyst, JP Ricciardi, former GM of the Blue Jays. I just always found Ricciardi’s comments and way of handling things, well less than professional. The “Adam Dunn’s not a real ballplayer” fiasco, and the way he handled the Roy Halladay situation, I just didn’t like him. Maybe its because I’m a Yankees fan; who knows. It seems like he’ll be taking the “Former GM” role that Steve Phillips had before he became the Tiger Woods of broadcasting (in terms of silly affairs, not expertise in the field). The Ricciardi link says that Nomar Garciaparra might also join the Baseball Tonight team, and I have to say, Boone, Nomar, and Ricciardi would make for a cast worth watching.

There had been a little bit of speculation on this in recent weeks, but I never actually thought it would happen: The Yanks have signed Chan Ho Park to a one year, $1.2mm deal with the possibility of him earning $300k more through incentives.

The Korean righty spent ’09 in Philadelphia,  where he struggled as a starter (7.29 ERA in 7 starts), but dominated out of the ‘pen (2.52 ERA in 38 games). Park has been a mediocre starter ever since he moved to Texas from the Dodgers in ’02. The past two seasons though, he’s worked quite a few games out of the bullpen, and has seen success there. When Peter Abraham worked at the Journal News, he always used to say this about the “Joba-to-the-pen” debates, “There’s a reason relievers aren’t starters: they’re not good enough.” Or something along those lines. Chan Ho Park is not good enough to be a starter, not in this day and age, not in the AL East, not in the Bronx, but in the ‘pen, well he’s a somewhat attractive option. Park has been pitching in the NL recently, so it’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts to the junior circuit, but lets hope for the best.

Joel Sherman notes that the Park signing may lead to a trade of Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre. Gaudin is the better player, but also makes $2.1mm more than Sergio in the upcoming season. There’s a dual reason for trading one of these guys A. The Yanks would like to trim the payroll back down slightly and B. The Yanks need another 40-man spot for Chan Ho.

Park and David Robertson look to be the front-runners for the set-up man spot in the Yankee ‘pen this year, although, of course, the loser of the Joba-Hughes battle for rotation spot number 5 will probably beat both of them out. A bullpen that has Mariano for the ninth, Phil Hughes for the eighth, and either Chan Ho Park or David Robertson in the seventh might be the best in th league. That’s not even mentioning Alfredo Aceves, Damaso Marte, or the alleged heir to Mo, Mark Melancon. Aside from Mariano, the Yanks didn’t have much consistency, or veteran prowess, available for the late innings. Damaso Marte is a veteran, yes, but who knows what he’ll do when he hits the mound. Hughes, Robertson, and Melancon have high upside, but have all seen their fair struggles at the major league level. Importing Park gives the Yanks another veteran in the bullpen, consistency, and a safety net in case other relievers falter. PS, for those of you thinking that Park is going to be in the battle for the 5th starter spot, forget it: he’s strictly a reliever unless we see a tsunami of injuries.

Johnny Damon has landed a 1 year $8mm deal with the Tigers; no money deferred, and a no-trade clause. He’ll join his former teammate Phil Coke on Jim Leyland’s squad, and will play alongside Austin Jackson, a combo that many foresaw, just in the Bronx rather than at Comerica. I’m just glad this little saga is over and now we can get to focusing on the next most controversial free agent…who is…ummm….Felipe Lopez?

Spring Training should just be called Question and Answer. Every year, about two-hundred and eighty-seven writers label columns “Pre-Season Questions,” “Who will it be?” or “Burning Inquiries.” Then the players go through the spring schedule, spots are won and lost, arms and hamstrings are injured, and a bunch of fantasy players put too much stock in Emilio Bonifacio. So, I’m going to put up a  few of my own preguntas calientes and add a few ounces of my input.

1. Who is going to do the really cool handshakes with Robby Cano? Let’s be honest, the best non-whip cream, non-November memories of last season were the plethora of cool hop and slap shakes that Melky and Robby had last year. Swisher had his shakes with everyone in the clubhouse, but the Cano-Melky Shake-and-Bake combo was legendary. The Vazquez-Melky trade, to me, seemed smart. Melky, Damon, and Hideki were pretty key clubhouse guys though; yeah, Granderson, Vazquez, and Randy Winn are amiable fellas, but would you trade your three favorite coworkers for three coworkers who you know are nice, but don’t have a history with? I don’t think the change is going to have a huge impact on the club, but it’ll definitely be strange to have no opportunities to yell “LECHE” in the upcoming season. For those of you who thought Hideki should’ve come back to the Bronx, give Brian Cashman some credit: Hideki says his knees aren’t 100 percent. Nick Johnson might be injury prone, but I’ll bet a copy of Zoolander that Johnson gets more plate appearances this year than Hideki; more games too.

2. Which pitchers are going to show up? The Yankees know their top four starters (If you don’t know who they are, just go to a different website, please). Then Joba-Hughes-Gaudin-etc. will duke it out for spot number 5. I know the names/physical people who will show up, but think of this as an Eminem song, “Will the real Slim Shady, please stand up?” Is Andy Pettitte going to look old out there? If he’s got elbow problems, the bullpen will have to pitch more innings, and Phil Hughes will have to be a starter (If you were wondering, Joba WILL win the 5th starter spot. I’ll bet you some crepes on it). Hughes could be a good starter, duh, but losing Pettitte’s consistency, veteran presence, and southpaw-ness would be a dillemma. Also, Andy could be a 3.80 ERA type…or a 4.80 ERA type; so would the better Andy Pettitte please stand up? Then there’s AJ Burnett’s Jekyll and Hyde act (see ’09 World Series for both). If AJ is on his game, he’s pretty fun to watch; otherwise, it’s like being a Royals fan, it hurts. He needs to learn how to have tolerable bad days, and hopefully a lot of strong 7 to 8 inning starts. Of course, we’re all worried about injuries with AJ as well, but knock on wood. There’s only two version of CC Sabathia: really good and really frickin’ good, so don’t worry too much about the Jolly Ace. The biggest question mark is this guy from Atlanta named Javier. He was extraordinarily good last year. He struck people out, pitched every 5th day, and didn’t let other hitters cross home plate very often. He’s had some very different seasons though; different not being a good word in this case. He had a 4.84 ERA as recently as ’06, then had a 2.87 ERA in ’09. Anywhere below 3.50 would be nice this year, but he has only done that once (last year) since BEFORE his first time around as  a Yank (when the Nationals played in Canada). All the Yankee starters have ceilings of Sistine Chapel Height, but whether or not they live up to it is about as predictable as Colorado weather.

3. This bench thing. Francisco Cervelli will be warming the pine on April 4th. Pretty sure of that. Who he’ll be sitting next to, now that I don’t know. I assume Randy Winn will get a bench spot; players making more than a million aren’t usually sent to triple-A. Then Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman will have to decide A. How many outfielders to carry? B. Which outfielders to carry? C. Who the utility infielder is? The outfield possibilities (bench-wise) include Greg Golson, David Winfree, Marcus Thames, and Jamie Hoffman. The first three can be sent to Scranton, but if Hoffman doesn’t make the 25-man he’ll head back to the Dodgers. That Rule V dillema makes the decision to carry or not carry Hoffman all that more important. He’s allegedly the best defensive outfield prospect the Yanks have, and he’s fast (not Gardner-fast, but he could probably beat Johnny Damon in a 40 meter dash). Thames hits lefties, Golson’s toolsy, and Winfree, I hear, packs some pop. Spring training is a big deal for those fellas, since playing in Scranton is a lot less exciting than playing in the Bronx. As for the utility infielder spot, Ramiro Pena seems to be the frontrunner, if only because he has played in the major leagues for a good portion of the time before. Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Russo, and Reegie Corona will try and beat him out for the spot. I know very little about any of the four, but I found this interview with Mark Newman, which might interest you. The Yanks know the big names on the big league club, but who’s sitting by Joe Girardi is going to be a big question this spring (spoiler alert: the bench will be somewhat different by May 15th, it always is).

4. The bottom half of the lineup. Jeter, Johnson, Teixeira, A-Rod. That’s how the lineup should start every night this season. After that though, who’s fifth? Does Granderson’s power move him up, or Swisher’s patience, or Posada’s tradition, or Cano’s ever-escalating average? I’d go Granderson, Posada, Cano, Swish ,Gardner, but I’m not Joe Girardi. The Yanks  will be ironing the order out all spring. Note: I know some people think Granderson or Swisher might get the number 2 spot, and its possible, but I have this little voice in my head that keeps saying “third best OBP in ’09″ which is convinced that Johnson will take over Johnny Damon’s spot in the lineup.

5. What’s the problem going to be? Every year there’s a problem of some type with every club: an injury to a hall-of-fame caliber third baseman, a disgruntled right-fielder who just signed a 3-year deal, a pitcher named Perez who’s really bad at the whole baseball thing. What’s the unseen dillema that hits the Bronx? Could we see an injury that completely changes the dynamic of the club? Could someone have  a Tiger-Woods-type secret revealed? Could someone perform far far away from how they were projected? Only time will tell. This one, I can’t answer, partially because I’d hate to be right, and partially because most crazy problems are unpredictable…at least in baseball.