Future Yankee Roster Moves

Yesterday Sergio Mitre was reacquired by the Yankees from the Brewers for cash and Buddy Carlyle was Designated for assignment. Some people have become very upset about this due to a fear that Joe Girardi will use Mitre in high leverage outings like he did with Chad Gaudin. The problem of course is that Girardi didn't use Gaudin in high leverage situations that were not extra innings in any situation except for one in September. You may remember it was the game were he walked in the tying run in the sixth and then we scored 4 in the bottom of the inning, that was an odd choice but it was one incident and despite what some people may think Mitre is not that bad of a pitcher and he is definitely a good pickup for injury rocked bullpen. Also if he is bad then they can just release him, its an easy and smart decision. Plus for all of you who wanted to keep Buddy, I doubt he is going to get picked up so he will back in AAA being mediocre.
This trade made me think of the upcoming roster moves that the Yankees will need to make with players returning from the disabled list. Bartolo Colon will be an easy one as the Yankees will more than likely send down Brian Gordon unless they think Gordon is a better choice in the bullpen than Noesi. Its also easy to see that when Jeter comes back that Pena will be sent down because the Yankees want Nunez to get more AB in the big leagues.
Phil Hughes is looking like he may be back for a start before the all star break and when he comes back not only will the Yankees need to make a 25 man roster move but they will also need to make a 40 man roster move because Hughes has been on the 60 day DL. I think what is likely to happen is that the Yankees will choose to send down Ivan Nova to AAA and Hughes will take his rotation spot and they will also DFA someone likely Jeff Marquez or Kanekoa Texeira to clear the 40 man spot. While the Yankees would probably prefer to keep Nova in the rotation they likely will not want to sacrifice the depth that they have with Nova sitting in AAA in case any of the 4 non Sabathia starters breaks down or prove ineffective and chances are that one of them will. If all the starters stay healthy then in September then they can use Nova to keep everybody fresh for the playoffs or give him Garcias rotation spot and use Garcia as a spot starter.
Soriano's return likely will not be  before the allstar break as reports indicate that he is just getting ready to throw off a mound. When he eventually returns you will likely see whomever was not DFA for Hughes DFA here and either Hector Noesi or Corey Wade will be sent down. Wade or Noesi will likely depend on who looks better before Soriano's return, but if I had to guess I would say that it would be Noesi who gets sent down.
Another person who we have almost forgotten about is corners infielder Eric Chavez who looks like he may return after the all star break and the Yankees will be glad to have him back. The spot he will take is easy as Chris Dickerson will get sent down to AAA because right now the Yankees don't really need a 5th outfielder. To put him back on the 40 man the Yankees will have to make an interesting decision as they wont want to DFA Chris Dickerson with both Colin Curtis and Justin Maxwell done for the season. What they could do is promote Justin Maxwell to the Yankees and then immediately put him on the 60 day DL which would clear up his 40 man spot and he would be happy because he would make the league minimum salary despite not actually playing. They could DFA a pitcher but my guess is that they will want to keep as much pitching depth around as possible.
Mark Prior is a guy who we haven't heard from lately and while he is recovering I kind of doubt that he will make a big league appearance this year. Prior is just now starting to throw off a mound and is going to have to rehab in the low minors to come back and pitch in AAA. He could be ready for the MLB by September but he needs to prove himself in AAA before a roster move can even be considered and even then I don't know if they will want to make a roster move to put him on the 40 man. At this point I hope that Prior sticks around so that he can try and make the bullpen next year out of spring training.

I'd also like to point out that Gustavo Molina is still on the 40 man and not Jesus Montero and neither is Montero in the Bronx where he should be.



Seriously why is he still in AAA?