The unfortunate third base situation

Yesterday the Yankees placed Kevin Youkilis on the 15 day Disabled list and called up Corban Joseph. There are however several problems with this promotion:


• Joseph is a left handed batter so he does not help the Yankees loss of Youkillis against left handed pitchers and will now force Overbay to play against lefties.

• Jospeh cannot play third base as he cannot make the throw across the diamond, if you recall he displayed this in spring training. He is listed as a third baseman but you need to be able to make that throw and he cannot, he could probably play third in an emergency but I do not have a lot of faith in him at third.

• Brian Cashman said that he can only play the right side of the infield, meaning that he can only play second and first. Keep in mind that Jospeh has only played a handful of games at first ever, all of which came this season.

The reason why Jospeh was called up for Youkilis is simply that the Yankees do not have a viable choice for third base other than him. Ronnie Mustillier impressed in spring training but he just had his first rehab game in Tampa as he is coming back from a Spring Training injury. David Adams is also a better option at third base than Jospeh but he cannot be called up until May 15th because he was released by the Yankees, not Designated for assignment, and then resigned to a minor league deal and players who are released and re-sign minor league contracts with the same team have to wait 30 days before they can be called up. The timing of this injury is very unfortunate because as of right now there is no backup for Nix and Nunez because they are the backups themselves. I guess the Yankees could have called up Dan Johnson, but they would have needed to add him to the 40 man roster and his display at third base in Spring left a lot to be desired and he is only hitting .171 in AAA. CoJo is a borderline prospect as he cannot defend very well anywhere on the field and while he can hit enough to be useful, he won’t hit well enough to be a starter. Honestly if I was the Yankees I would try and trade and acquire Chris Nelson who was recently DFA by the Colorado Rockies. The Yankees have reportedly been talking to Colorado about a trade but they will reportedly try to get him after he clears waivers.

Youkilis placed on 15 day DL, Call up Corban Jospeh

The Yankees have placed Kevin Youkilis on the disabled list with a lower lumbar spine sprain, aka a back strain. he went for the MRI yesterday and they determined that its nothing serious but obviously he hasnt been able to play. The date is retroactive to Sunday because he played on Saturday after missing several days, but there is nothing you can do about that. Infielder Corban Joseph was recalled from Triple-A to fill the roster spot. Jospeh can theoretically fill the hole at third with Youkilis's injury, but Jayson Nix will likely remain at 3rd as CoJo cant really play third because he cannot make the throw across the diamond and he is a left handed batter. It would have been nice if David Adams had been the callup but Joseph was already on the 40 man roster. I do not know how much playing time CoJo will get but whenever he does get some it will be his major league debut.

Brennan, Ben and a lack of depth

The Yankees picked up Brennan Boesch and Ben Francisco in spring training to fill holes on the 25 man, Boesch because he has potential and Francisco because he was viewed as better than Juan Rivera. So far the two have each played 12 games and in 60 PA they 9 hits, three walks and a hit by pitch, Francisco has an OPS+ of -9 that's right NEGATIVE NINE, Boesh has been slightly better, but not good enough to replace Ichiro who has looked awful so far this year. Neither one of these guys has looked good enough to be on the team, but unfortunately the great depth that the Yankees normally feature has not been there, partly because of poor planning and partly because of numerous injuries Ronnie Mustilier would probably be on the roster right now if he had not gotten hurt in Spring Training and Thomas Neal might have earned a call up if he had not hurt his hamstring and Melky Mesa has just been dreadful in AAA so far. But normally Ben Francisco would have been the backup option if the Yankees had signed a better Right handed bench bat, but instead they went the cheap rout and got screwed. I highly doubt that either of these guys will see a ton of time going forward unless they dramatically turn it around, both because they have been terrible and because the Yankees don't usually carry five outfielders. Unfortunately for the time being both these guys are going to stick around because the Yankees don't have anyone better to put on the roster, Boesch has some potential but Francisco is completely expendable and with the 40 man crunch I could see both being DFA before the All Star break.

Jeter reinjures Ankle

Well the Yankees woes against left handed pitching are likely to continue as Derek Jeter has a new fracture in his ankle and will be out until at least the allstar break, the good news is that he wont need surgery again. Brian Cashman said that Jeter, should be able to resume his rehabilitation when the new crack heals, in about four to eight weeks. The statement from Cashman says that Jeter did nothing wrong in terms of his rehab stating:
"He was cleared to play. This is the third CT scan he's had. His prior two CT scans showed the healing and 100 percent healing. He wasn't cleared for the baseball activities and cleared to play until he had 100 percent healing, so this is a new fracture, but a small one. That's I guess the only good part. They kept saying the word 'small.'"
Remeber originally Jeter wanted to be back for opening day and I have mentioned that that seemed very ambitious considering he was coming back from severe ankle surgery. I also have a hard time believing that this new injury has nothing to do with Jeter pushing himself, that's what he does its how he broke his ankle in the ALCS he needed to rest but he got a cortisone shot to power through it. At 38 you just aren't able to do that and while we hear all about these athletes coming back from injuries in record time, thats not practical and a player runs the risk of re injuring themselves just as Derek did here. Its very possible at this point that Eduardo Nunez will be the Yankees everyday shortstop for most of the year, so let that sink in.

The Steinbrenners problem with $189 million

The problem for many people who have a lot of fame and money is that sometimes they can convince themselves of anything and they have the resources to ignore reality and believe these things. It doesn't matter if everyone thinks the idea is insane or wrong, they have people who will tell them that they are right and I think that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner are in this situation, obviously not to the extent that the boss was, they want to be more frugal but I honestly think that they have not wrapped their heads around what that will mean. $189 million would still be one of the top payrolls in the MLB, but it would also require the Yankees to be smarter about how they spend their money and I do not think that this is something they know how to do. In the offseason fans can convince themselves that a team or a player will do something or be something that they are not based on a hot streak which most of the time amounts to nothing. Owners who are dumb, see something like this and respond with an underseved contract or lets key players walk because some other player hit well over 100 PA. This is what Royals owner David Glass did with Bruce Chen and Jeff Francoeur and unfortunately what the Steinbrenners did with Ichiro Suzuki.
According to Joel Sherman the new two year deal $13 million for Ichiro came from "top of the Yankees hierarchy" following "a strong Division Series and adoration from the fans." As you all remember Ichiro had a great two months with the Yankees but had been disappointing most of the last two seasons. At the time I did not understand the deal as it did not seem to be a move that made sense with the austerity plan and frankly it doesn't make sense, Ichiro could hit well this season but he hasn't so far and when Granderson comes back he could wind up spending a lot of time on the bench and he is still under contract for next season. This could be an issue in the future as the Steinbrenners have always insisted that they will put a championship caliber club on the field, but if they want to they cannot do stupid things like this, it doesn't work. I also need to see the Yankees abandon this policy of not extending players as free agency is starting to dry up as more and more teams are holding onto their talent and I for one do not want to risk losing Cano to some team that wants to give 10 years to Robbie. Its also going to effect their negotiations with Derek Jeter, Jeter has not made any indication that he feels as though he is winding down and what do the Steinbrenners do if he want a new deal? Would they really be able to let Derek walk to keep the budget after not being able to let Ichiro go after 2 months? We will have to see what happens as decision time will come this off season.

Yankees Opening day Roster

Well tonight is officially opening night for Baseball and the Texas Rangers will take on the Houston Astros. I mean seriously of all the good pitching match ups that they could have put on, the MLB wanted to feature Matt Harrison versus Bud Norris. Tomorrow though there are a number of interesting games including CC Sabathia facing Jon Lester as the Red Sox take on the Yankees in the Bronx. Obviously the Yankees roster had a lot of turnover after the off season and then even more after all of the injuries so the opening day roster looks very different then it will likely look after the Disabled List clears up a little bit.

Rotation:
CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, Ivan Nova and David Phelps
one of the only places that isn't terribly different than we expected as Hughes got off to a late start and will miss his first start or two.The Yankees are going to need the top of this rotation to be outstanding if they want to survive until the wounded come back. Don't forget Pineada waits in the wings too.

Bullpen:
Mariano Rivera, David Robetson, Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan, Cody Eppley, Adam Warren and Shawn Kelley.
Its was a surprise when the Yankees DFA David Aardsma especially because of how bad Eppley has been this spring. It was an even bigger surprise when the Yankees DFA Clay Rapada and it likely means that his shoulder bursitis was very bad. Warren will get sent down when Hughes gets back and Phelps will move back to the bullpen. Eppley and Kelley both have options so either could get sent down when Rapada gets back and I would bet that if Mark Montgomery is lights out in Scranton he will be up with the big league club before too long. Girardi typically puts together great bullpens and I have no reason to suspect that this year will be any different.

Catchers:
Francisco Cervelli, Chris Stewart.
There was really no chance of not these two guys, there was some ideas that Romine could make the club but Brian Cashman said that he was going to take these two. Stewart will catch CC on opening day but I expect that Cervelli will be the primary catcher. It wont make much of a difference, the Yankees will not be getting much production out of the catching spot.

Outfielders:
Vernon Wells, Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki, Ben Francisco and Brennan Boesch.
Wells, Gardner and Ichiro will be the starters until Granderson comes back, with Francisco and Boesch being the backups. If I had to take a guess I would bet that Francisco will get some time at DH against lefties so he very well might be the opening day DH with Lester on the mound. Neither Francisco or Boesch were on the roster at the start of Spring training and its doubtful that they will last the whole year as the Yankees don't typically carry five outfielders and when Granderson comes back there likely wont be any space for either of them. Yankees are banking a lot on Francisco, Boesch, Wells and Ichiro boucing backfrom bad 2012s. I know Ichiro was good with the Yankees but his last two years in Seattle were awful.

Infielders:
Lyle Overbay, Robinson Cano, Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Youkillis, Jayson Nix, Travis Hafner.
It looked like Juan Rivera would be the everyday 1st baseman until Tex came back but the Yankees picked up Overbay just a few days ago and cut Rivera. Because Overbay is a left handed batter I expect that Nix will start at third and Youkillis at first base against lefties, but its possible Overbay will need to play against lefties. Nunez was going to need to play for Jeter quite a bit anyway, but now he will need to be the starting Shortstop until Jeter returns and we have no idea when that will be. Hafner is the DH and will not play the field at all, but even then we have to hope he will stay healthy because they are really screwed if he goes down early.

Well there you have it the Yankees opening day roster and as I said in my earlier post there will be a lot of fluidity in this roster for probably the entire season. Lets see what a new Yankee season has in store!

A True Yankee Podcast 3/26

Nick, Brooke and Chris take a look at the Yankees injuries, the replacements and our expectations for the season. We also talk about the Vernon Wells trade and the WBC.