PLAY CHRIS DICKERSON!!!

.226 that is what Raul Ibanez is currently hitting and its below .200 for the last few months and yet the Yankees continue to put out Raul Ibanez in the outfield. Chris Dickerson is clearly a better option than Ibanez right now and the Yankees need to stop playing Ibanez regularly as they afford the automatic outs. Dickerson is a better hitter than either Jones or Ibanez right now and is a better fielder so it makes no sense to keep running those guys out there, but the Yankees will likely keep Jones out there against lefties but it does not make any sense to keep playing Ibanez over Dickerson and I am calling out the Yankees on it right now. Chris Dickerson also gets credit for being a legitimate stolen base threat so in every single facet of the game Dickerson is the better choice. During this pressured pennant race Girardi has made some questionable decisions and to me playing Ibanez over Dickerson is chief among them.

Chris Dickerson clears waivers

On top of the fact that I had no idea he had been placed on waivers it’s also surprising that he actually cleared waivers. He has been out righted off the 40-man roster and because he cleared waivers he can be assigned to AAA when the season starts. Dickerson will reportedly remain in the Yankees organization and he will remain in big league spring training camp as well. His removal clears a spot for Eric Chavez whose deal had not yet been made official. It may seem odd that they removed Dickerson when they can and still need to put Joba Chamberlain and David Aardsma on the 40 man roster, but Dickerson was out of options and they must not have been able to find someone interested in trading for him. I expect that the also out of minor league options Justin Maxwell will be out righted off the roster by the end of spring training.

Yankees update 3/26/11

The Yankees wasted no time and announced that Ivan "super" Nova and Freddy Garcia will get the 4th and 5th Starter jobs out of spring training and the Yankees will try and use Bartolo Colon as the long man. Girardi has says that Colon will fill the role that Alfredo Aceves did in 2009 and early 2010, where he will spot start, do long relief work and work as a regular reliever as well, personally I still think Alfredo Aceves could have filled the role of Alfredo Aceves very well.
Also the Yankees decided to mess with my prediction for 5th outfielder by not only acquiring two more potential back up outfielders but also by likely going without a 5th outfielder for the season. However Curtis Granderson's Injury has thrown a wrench into their plans and if they start the year without him then they will bring one of the Outfielders with them to opening day. In addition to the potential backup outfielders I discussed in my article the Yankees acquired Justin Maxwell from the Nationals and Chris Dickerson from the Brewers. In addition to that Colin Curtis, Greg Golson and Chris Dickerson have all decided to hurt themselves in varying degrees, Curtis jammed his shoulder, Golson had an oblique injury and today Dickerson pulled a hamstring (possibly just cramping)  in the game after going 3-3. If Dickerson does have a hamstring injury, then the most likely candidate is Justin Maxwell, because the Yankees still seem hesitant about Greg Golson and they seem to not want to rush him back from his oblique injury.
Also on the topic of injuries Pedro Feliciano is still battling a sore tricep and for the first time in his career he may end up on the Disabled list. If he does the Yankees do have some good bullpen depth options and another lefty in the pen. In my mind the most likely candidate for the bullpen in place of Felliciano is probably Romulo Sanchez who is already on the 40 man roster and is out of minor league option so the Yankees could get some use out of him before putting him on wavers. If not Romulo Sanchez then the likeliest candidate is Luis Ayala who has been very good this spring; Mark Prior also is still an option, but he will likely need to get more work in AAA before he is MLB ready despite a great spring.