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.

September call ups

Its September and the rosters have expanded so the Yankees called up five players Infielder David Adams, RHP Dellin Betances, LHP Cesar Cabral, RHP Brett Marshall, and C J.R. Murphy. The Yankees will probably call up RHP Preston Claiborne tomorrow and we will have to see if  Zoilo Almonte, Kevin Youkillis or Travis Hafner can return before the end of the year. Betances, Adams and Marshall were already on the 40 man roster but Jayson Nix was moved to the 60 day DL and Melky Mesa was released to make room for Murphy and Cabral. Mesa could have been a call up as a Defensive replacement/pinch runner but he hurt his hamstring and it is apparently serious enough that he would not have been able to help the team in September. Mesa would have likely been Designated for assignment this winter anyways as he would have been out of options, Mesa had great tools but very poor contact ability.

Adams and Betances provide infield and bullpen depth respectively, while Marshall will be a long man which allows Huff to be used as a lefty specialist or for either Huff or Warren to start in case Hughes continues to struggle. None of these guys are going to see any high profile time as long as the Yankees remain in the playoff hunt. If you didn't realize all these guys have been with the big league team at some point this season, in fact Marshall and Adams actually debuted in the same game which I happened to be at.
Cesar Cabral was the Yankees rule 5 draft pick last season from the Red Sox and would have made the team out of spring training over Clay Rapada but he fractured his elbow. He stayed with the organization this season and had overall poor numbers but he has been decent against left handed batters so he gets to be the third lefty in the bullpen.
Murphy is a 22-year old catching prospect who hit very well between Double A and Triple A and has some good reviews about his defense as well. He was going to be added to the 40 man in the off season anyway and they wanted a third catcher for September so this move made a lot of sense. He's a good prospect but don't expect him to get much playing time behind Austin Romine and Chris Stewart.

Preston Claiborne called up

Well with Joba Chamberlain going on the Disabled list with an oblique injury the Yankees decided to call up Preston Claiborne and designated Cody Eppley for Assignment to clear a 40 man spot.
Some people were surprised that  top relief prospect Mark Montgomery but apparently the Yankees liked the fact that Claiborne has some more experience in AAA. I don't expect that Claiborne will be anything important, his 10.1 Strike out to walk number is great but its way above his career norm and his overall numbers aren't exactly eye popping. He will likely only be with the team until Joba is back, but its possible that if he impresses he could stay on the roster over somone like Adam Warren or Vidal Nuno.
Eppley's Designation for Assignment isn't a huge surprise as he was not mentioned as an option to be called up by Brian Cashman and unfortunately he is just not a great bullpen piece, as he is a side arming right hander which limits his usefulness to right handers. I wrote this piece last year about Eppley who ended up having a pretty good year with the Yankees last year, mostly paired up with  Clay Rapada. Eppley was great to get ground balls but he really had no future as anything other than an up and down guy. He actually broke camp with the team pitching in two games before being sent down for Phil Hughes, but he was pretty awful in the small sample size. Its possible that Eppley will clear waivers and remain with the Yankees, but having previously proved himself as a useful bullpen piece some team will likely pick him up even if its just to try and put him right back onto waivers to keep him in their system. Best of luck to Claiborne who will apparently wear number 38, which had been Eppleys number