The 2012 Yankees Bench

The Yankees had one of their better benches this season even with injuries to Eric Chavez and Francisco Cervelli that had both spend a good deal of time on the DL. Chavez hurt himself in Detroit back in May and Cervelli started and ended the year on the DL with a Broken leg and a Concussion. Cervelli only appeared in 43 games with 137 PA, but he was on a Offensive tear before going down with a concussion, including 3 home runs in the week before he went on the DL. That being said with Jesus Montero showing that his bat is definitely MLB ready and Russel Martin likely coming back their really isn't place for him and Austin Romine. Either one could get traded but I would bet that Cervelli will seeing how they have tried to trade him twice in the last year. Chavez appeared in 58 games with 175 PA  he finished exactly replacement level and is apparently strongly considering retirement. Andruw Jones also did well despite a poor start, the only real problem was that the outfield played well enough that he really didn't get too many plate appearances. In fact Jones had the fewest plate appearances since his debut as an 18 year old back in 1996. Jones could be back but he also could probably get the same contract from a team that would give him more playing time. So honestly the only guy who is more than likely going to be back in 2012 from the 2011 bench will be Eduardo Nunez who had an interesting season to say the least, but was the primary backup for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
If Andruw Jones and the Yankees part ways there are a number of options for the Yankees if they bring in another Right Handed Outfield Bench bat, including Marcus Thames or Jonny Gomes. The Yankees have also said that they want to give Nunez more reps in the outfield and if that's true they could bring in a Lefty bat like Chris Dickerson, Scott Hairston or Laynce Nix. A left handed outfield bat isn't ideal but the Yankees may have a problem finding a good left handed infield bench bat especially since reports indicate that if Eric Chavez retires then the Yankees would consider Brandon laird who is a right handed bat and can play the outfield and infield corner spots. Ramiro Pena is a no offense option but the Yankees will probably keep him as a depth option because they know exactly what they would get from him and his defense was not very good in his limited time with the Yankees. The other internal infield options are the aforementioned Brandon Laird as well as Jorge Vazquez, Kevin Russo and Mike Lamb. I doubt that Kevin Russo is an option as he is essentially a lesser version of Eduardo Nunez and was already removed from the Yankees 40 man once. Vazquez is a power bat who can play 3rd and 1st  but has primarily played 1st in the Yankees organization. Mike Lamb is really the only internal left handed infield option but I don't know if the Yankees consider him a real option despite a good 53 games with the Scranton Yankees. Casey Blake is another suggested option after he had his contract bought out by the Dodgers and probably the best available one but he is another right handed bat and would probably be the most expensive option.
The likeliest option is that the Yankees will have a competition in Spring training for the non-Nunez/Montero bench roles. I expect that they will go with a right handed outfield bat, an infielder, Eduardo Nunez and Jesus Montero. This would leave them with another spot as Montero will probably be the primary DH and while the Yankees will probably go with a second infielder they could potentially bring Cervelli as a third Catcher/emergency infielder. We really wont know until Spring training so we have a while to wait.