So who here can play the infield?

Goodbye Nunez

It came out in Newsday that Eduardo Nunez had asked for his release when he was informed that he did not make the team, the team obligated him and designated him for assignment to add Yangervis Solarte to the roster. However Mark Teixeira hurt his hamstring in the series against the Blue Jays and with the designation of Eduardo Nunez the Yankees have no real depth in their infield in fact every infielder they have is either on the 25 man roster or on the disabled list, so when Teixeira went down they had to call up a Austin Romine who has no experience at any position other than catcher. In fact of the three catchers on the roster right now only Francisco Cervelli has any experience at any position other than Catcher and he has eight total innings at third and second as a pro baseball player. That’s it, of all five catchers on the roster John Ryan Murphy played several games at third when they thought about moving him from catcher and Gary Sanchez has one inning at 1^st, every other game in their entire pro careers for all five catchers has been at Catcher or DH.

So what this means is that the Yankees are going to use Kelly Johnson as their everyday 1^st baseman and might use Francisco Cervelli there, they do currently have him taking ground balls at first, I doubt that they want to use him there but they probably do not want to use Kelly Johnson at first either. What irks me a little is how the Yankees knew that they had very little experience at first outside of mark Teixeira and they neglected to play any of their infielders at 1^st base, especially since they were trying get their young catchers into as many games as possible and evidently never thought to put any of them at 1^st during spring training.

Corban Joesph could help as he is playing at first in AAA Scranton and he played a game at first for the Yankees last season, but he is relatively new to the position as he has mostly played as a 2^nd baseman. He is also not on the 40 man roster right now as he was removed this offseason and so obviously the Yankees do not have a ton of belief in him and they would also need to remove someone from the 40 man and so unless another infielder or two go down then it seems unlikely he will be back with the team.

Obviously the depth situation will get better when Brendan Ryan gets back from the disable list but it’s not as though he will help with the current 1^st base issue and frankly we have no idea how long he will be out for, he may even be out longer than Teixeira will be. It’s still possible that the Yankees will acquire someone, I mean Stephen Drew is still out there and Eduardo Nunez can still be traded for someone by the 11^th. If you were wondering the Yankees could not add Nunez back to the 40 man unless he passed through waivers, which seems unlikely. These two early Infield injuries further emphasize how the Yankees have a real need in the infield, but so far they have not been able to make a move to bolster the infield. Until the Yankees make a move they may be grabbing players on the waiver wire to bolster their depth quite a bit until they have a more permanent solution. It’s still much too early to really find a team that might be willing to trade a piece and until then we are just going to have to hope that nobody else will get hurt. 

Eduardo Nunez Designated for assignment

Eduardo Nunez has been Designated for assignment to give Yangervis Solarte a 40 man roster spot. So this has been a rough week for Eduardo as he lost the competition for the last 25 manroster spot to Yangervis Solarte, then Solarte took his number and now Solarte has taken his 40 man spot as well. No word on if Solarte has also kicked Nunez's dog or taken his girlfriend too but I assume that both of those have either already happened or will happen shortly.
Seriously though I am pretty surprised that the team DFA Nunez as I assumed they wanted to keep him for infield depth but apparently not, it would have seemed a better idea to DFA Preston Claiborne but I guess the team had other ideas, they probably feel that Nunez can slip through waivers now that all the rosters are set.

The 25 man roster approaches

For the most part the Yankees 25 man roster is set, we are really down to the last three or four spots on the roster and it seems likely that the Yankees already know who they will be taking with them. The Yankees do not have any obvious release candidates on their 40 man roster and so their options related to who makes the team a are somewhat limited. The 5th starter competition ended up being a two man race between David Phelps and Michael Pineda and it would seem that while you can make the argument for Phelps the Yankees love what they have seen with Pineda. I guess theoretically they could send Pineda down to the minors to start the year but I do not think that's what they are going to do. Obviously this does not really change the roster as Phelps will be in the bullpen and even if Pineda was sent down to the minors then I expect Nuno would simply go to the bullpen.

The bench and bullpen are a little more interesting as you have to take the 40 man roster crunch into account when looking at who will make the team. Five of the spots are pretty much guaranteed as Adam Warren, David Robertson, Shawn Kelly, Matt Thorton and presumably David Phelps are all going to be in the bullpen. That leaves two spots in the bullpen open and it seems likely that Dellin Betances will make the team but that still leaves a spot open in the bullpen. Chris Leroux and Matt Daley have been great this spring pitching a combined 18 innings with sixteen strikeouts to eight total base runners, however neither of these guys has faced many MLB quality bats this spring and while relievers do have a hard time facing quality opponents in spring training, neither of these pitchers is on the 40 man roster and would it really be worth designating someone to carry one of these guys on the 25 man roster? Neither Preston Claiborne nor Cesar Cabral has had a particularly good spring and haven't faced opponents any better than Daley or Leroux but their being on the 40 man roster likely gives them a leg up on them. If I had to guess I would say that the Yankees will probably go with Betances and Claiborne to fill out their bullpen as it would allow them to maximize their depth, remember Cody Eppley broke camp with the team last year after an awful spring but they did not wait long to designate him for assignment and that could be what happens here with Claiborne.I also expect that they will keep Nuno in AAA as rotation depth in case they quickly need a starter early on in the season. The bullpen will change as the season goes on and its very possible that Leroux and Daley will end up in the Yankees bullpen at some point this season but I expect they will go to Scranton to start the year.

The story of the bench battle is a little different as the only way Ichiro or Cervelli were not going to be on the bench was if they were traded away and it seems unlikely that a trade for either player will happen at this point in the spring, but it still remains a possibility. Their was initially only going to be one spot to battle for and it seemed likely that Eduardo Nunez would keep his job, but with Brendan Ryan going down with a variety of injuries it would seem likely that Eduardo Nunez will make the team based on the fact that he has major league experience, but of all the bench spot competitors he has arguably had the worst spring. With Sizemore still not looking 100% ready it seems likely that he will go to the minors to start the season, which really leaves Yangervis Solarte, Dean Anna and I suppose Zelous Wheeler to compete over the last bench spot, none of whom have any time in the majors. Solarte is a switch hitter who is raking this spring and had a very good last two years in AAA, however this is only 39 PA and Solarte played in the hitter friendly Pacific coast league the last two years. We see this all the time where a player hits the crap out of the ball in spring training and then goes to the majors or the minors and does absolutely nothing, the same is true for Anna or Wheeler but at least Wheeler and Solarte have actually hit this spring and they have all faced around the same quality of pitchers. Again just like with Claiborne, Dean Anna's being on the 40 man roster will likely be the deciding factor as they would not want to risk losing the depth given Ryan's injury, in this case if Anna is terrible then they can remove him from the 40 man and bring up someone from the minors or wait out his terribleness until Ryan comes back but if they lose him on waivers by designating him now then they would need Solarte to play even if he was playing poorly. The other factor in this is simply that Anna is regarded as a glove man and that is what the Yankees need to replace Brendan Ryan with right now and so it would be a surprise to me if Anna did not make the team.

Woe but for an infield

Can Gladus here play shortstop?

Via Ken Rosenthal the Yankees signed Brendan Ryan to a 2-year deal worthy around $5 million with an odd option that basically adds another year. On top of that they are still pursuing Stephen Drew and were pursuing Jhonny Peralta until he signed with the Cardinals, via Jon Morosi. This is all with Derek Jeter being under contract for this coming season, but as the Yankees have already noted they will be looking for a new starting shortstop so Jeter may be viewed as more of a DH. At this point right now the Yankees infield is putrid, especially because we do not know what will happen with Robinson Cano, as after him there is only Mark Teixeira in the infield. Obviously there are tiers of free agents and someone like Brendan Ryan ranks toward the bottom,which makes giving him two years very odd, but unfortunately players like David Adams, Corban Joseph and Eduardo Nunez rank lower than him as Ryan is an amazing fielder but a very poor hitter while Eduardo Nunez is a below average to an average hitter and a poor fielder even if he isn't throwing the ball into the stands anymore. I don't expect that Ryan will be the starting shortstop but it does remain a possibility and a strong one at that. As of right now though we have no starting second baseman or third baseman (well technically A-rod is still on the roster) and yes the Yankees are likely to resign Robinson Cano but that still leaves them with a gaping hole at third and everybody else in the infield is over 30 which does not bode well for the health of that infield and there are not any young guys looking to steal somebodies job and not many good free agent targets so we are looking at another stopgap 1-year veteran at third and hoping that Tex does not get injured again. There are no prospects at any of the infield positions that are anywhere close to the majors and so the Yankees are going to be stuck with a lot of one year contract veterans because their big money infielders are getting old, hurt and ineffective; all the while still being owed a ridiculous amount of money. The Yankees have always been good at finding talent on 1-year veteran deals, but we saw last year how that as your entire off season strategy can go very badly and with no solution on the left side of the infield that is exactly what they Yankees will need to do for the foreseeable future.

Nunez activated off 60 day DL, Phelps to DL.

The Yankees have activated Eduardo Nunez off the 60-day DL. He is playing short and batting 8th behind Luis Cruz. In a corresponding move it appears that the Yankees have placed  David Phelps on the 15 day DL with a forearm strain and it appears that Ivan Nova will stick around for at least one more start before the all star break. Nova's complete game 3 hitter last night was arguably the best start by a Yankees starter all year and so the Yankees will give him another start at least. Nunez will help the Yankees if he can hit at all as they have gotten no production from Shortstop this year.

Who's at Short?

Photo Credit: Leon Haslip, Getty Images

As I wrote in an earlier article we may be looking at the end of Derek Jeter and almost definitely looking at the end of Jeter at shortstop. The Yankees came into the year with Eduardo Nunez as the starting shortstop and while he was improved on defense his offensive production left a lot to be desired with a paltry .200/.290/.275 in 95 Plate appearances. A player would need to be an elite defender for those numbers to be acceptable and unfortunately Jayson Nix really has not been much better, Nix has been exactly replacement level while Nunez is almost a full win below replacement level. Recently Brian Cashman said that he doesn't plan on making a larger  acquisition at shortstop and so he is apparently putting all his eggs into the Derek Jeter basket which is very likely a mistake. The real problem is that that Jeter is most likely done as anything more than a part time shortstop and that may be being generous. As I have said before 38 year olds are not supposed to play short stop and I do not think that Jeter can physically play on that ankle more than once in a while, Jeter has already exceeded expectations for his age and expecting the same production is borderline insane.
The other half of the problem is that quality short stops are not in an abundance, especially since the Yankees would need to bring in someone as a long term answer and there just aren't any available unless they want to give a long term deal to Stephen Drew this off season and he still looks bad since his terrible ANKLE INJURY and from which he has never regained his previous form.
The trade market doesn't look much better as the only potentially available quality short stop is the White Sox  Alexi Ramirez and he is 31 so he would not be more than a stopgap. Ramirez has done well in his career hitting .275/.315/.404 and is considered a good defender. Jimmy Rollins presents another possibility but he would be even more of a stopgap as his is 34 and only under contract for one more season, he has had a much better career than Ramirez but at this point they are very similar players as Rollins has posted a slash line this year of .264/.329/.403. But what really prevents me from saying that the Yankees should trade for Rollins or Ramirez is that I expect that they will be traded at the deadline and even worse is that I expect the Yankees could make a good offer to the Phillies or White Sox and end up really helping the team but I do not think that the Yankees or Brian Cashman will do it. So for the foreseeable future it looks like Idontknow will be playing Short stop for the Yankees because the only true Short stop they have is Eduardo Nunez and exactly no prospects in the minors at short unless you consider Cito Culver still a prospect and you really shouldn't.

Nunez to the DL

The Yankees list of wounded has increased again as they have placed Eduardo Nunez on the DL today due to his left ribcage issue, the team announced. Infielder Alberto Gonzalez will be recalled from Triple-A to take his roster spot. Mark Teixeira has been transferred to the 60-day DL to clear a 40-man roster spot.
The problem was thought to be minor but it ha lingered and the Yankees would like to have a backup infielder, the good news though is that its retroactive to last Sunday so hopefully he only has to spend a little more than a week on the DL. The Yankees acquired Gonzalez a few days ago in a trade with the Cubs for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The Tex thing isn't a huge deal as at this point he wasn't likely to come back until June anyway and just started swinging a bat.

What to do with Eduardo Nunez

This could end badly

 Last season Nunez came in as the backup infielder after filling that same role in 2011. However the real issue is that Nunez can't field and that's not what you want from your backup, so after a multitude of errors Nunez was sent down in May. He promptly got hurt and ended up not playing for most of the year and his defense hadn't improved in the limited action there. The Yankees like Nunez as he has speed and a decent bat, the problem of course is that his defense is horrible even though his range is good, its just that his throwing is atrocious. Cashman and co need to decide what to do with him as his defensive problems are unlikely to go away, he could suddenly figure it out between now and opening day but his minor league track record suggests otherwise. Also the Yankees decided that they did not want him playing other positions than shortstop despite playing all over the field beforehand. Generally the plan for speedy infielders who can't field is you move them to the outfield.

The big problem now of course is Derek Jeters injury as we have no idea how many games he will be able to play at short. It is possible that the 38 year old shortstop who had limited range before hand may not be able to play the position in more than a limited role. If Jeter has to significantly reduce his playing time at short then Nunez could step in and possibly have to be the primary shortstop. He could also spend some time at DH and with those combined he should be able to play everyday, Cashman wants Nunez to play everyday and this is the only way he would be able to  play in the majors and for the Yankees everyday. The Yankees could also trade Nunez but with that they run the risk of nobody being able to play shortstop when Jeter retires or if he is misses a significant amount of time next season. The off season is just beginning and what the Yankees think Nunez can do for the Yankees is going to be a big part of that. It is good to keep in mind that Shortstops who can hit are in demand and a number of teams are looking for shortstop help this off season.

New York Yankees upgrades at the Trade deadline

Well the Yankees rotation took a terrible blow by losing CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte with Pettitte being out until September. That being said the Yankees have enough rotation depth that losing Sabathia in the short term and Pettitte in the long term will not impact them terribly as they can fill the hole with Garcia and Phelps depending on who does better. With the struggles of Corey Wade the Yankees could target a bullpen piece but they do have some good pieces in AAA if they give up on him and I doubt they will make a significant move for a bullpen piece, especially with Joba and David Aardsma on their way back. If they do feel the need to get a starter than i expect they will target middle of the pack types like Ryan Depster or Bartolo Colon. The offense is also something that the Yankees cannot really change unless Gardner is going to be out longer and then they will probably target a player that could fill in for Swisher next year too but that is not the case as of now.
The biggest note going into the trade deadline is that Derek Jeter has batted .232 in June and has only had five extra base hits and the reason goes beyond a slowdown from a hot start, its also the fact that Jeter has had to play shortstop in 62 of the teams 71 games which is not something that the 38 year old should be doing. The Yankees demoted Eduardo Nunez because of his poor defense and they are feeling the repercussions of it now as they do not trust Jayson Nix to play shortstop even once a week which is what they really need.What this really means is that the only real upgrade that I think the Yankees need to look at is their bench and they do need a better player than Jayson Nix. Its not that Jayson Nix has been that bad its just that he can't really play shortstop and so Derek Jeter has been wearing down as a result. This may not seem like a big deal but We have all seen how Jeter has been wearing down and the Yankees have made it clear that they aren't going to use Nunez in a utility role right now. If they change their mind and Nunez can be decent defensively then that problem solved, but I really doubt that they will. The problem is that the Yankees obviously want a guy who can use the bat or else Ramiro Pena would be up but guys who can hit and are good defensively are generally starting shortstops. A couple names that jump out to me are Wilson Valdez of the Reds, Irving Falu of the Royals and Jonathan Herrera of the Rockies. However I doubt that Wilson Valdez will be available unless the Reds make a move because he has been getting a lot of at bats from Dusty Baker.
I would expect that Falu and Herrera would both warrant similar packages and they would probably be a pitcher and a replacement bench player like Kevin Russo, Ramiro Pena or Jayson Nix. I do not know if either Herrera or Falu is available but the Yankees do need to try and upgrade Nix because they need Jeter to be better and he can only do that if he gets regular rest.

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.