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One week to go
by SG

Make sure you scroll down and read Fabian's posts on Christian Garcia and Eric Abreu. Garcia in particular looks like a stud in the making.

As spring training winds down, I figured it'd be a good time to look at what's been happening down in Tampa. The only job that is up for grabs right now is the spot of 25th man on the roster, whose primary job will be backing up Bernie Williams in CF. I grabbed the Yankees spring training statistics from USA Today to see how people are performing. Spring training statistics are largely meaningless, because of the dilution of competition as well as the small sample size, but they are often given significant weight by baseball management in the case of players "on the bubble".


BATTERS        BA   SLG   OBA   G  AB   R   H  TB 2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO SB CS  E
Womack       .463  .648  .492  18  54  10  25  35  1  3  1   9   4   4  7  2  3
Sheffield    .381  .524  .458  14  42   4  16  22  3  0  1  10   6   3  0  0  0
Jeter        .378  .533  .440  15  45   5  17  24  4  0  1  13   5   6  0  2  3
Matsui       .360  .740  .418  17  50  12  18  37  4  0  5  15   5   6  1  0  0
A. Rodriguez .357  .536  .429  18  56  10  20  30  7  0  1   8   7  13  0  1  1
Crosby       .341  .568  .383  18  44   8  15  25  2  1  2   8   2   7  1  0  0
Phillips     .333  .788  .421  19  33  11  11  26  1  1  4  12   4   7  1  0  0
Posada       .324  .459  .457  14  37   7  12  17  2  0  1   2   8   5  0  0  0
Flaherty     .323  .419  .364  14  31   4  10  13  0  0  1   6   2   6  0  0  0
Parrish      .313  .563  .313  10  16   3   5   9  1  0  1   4   0   4  0  0  0
Porter       .304  .435  .385  16  23   4   7  10  0  0  1   4   3   7  0  1  0
Cano         .286  .371  .306  18  35   6  10  13  0  0  1   5   1   3  0  1  1
Giambi       .275  .575  .434  16  40   9  11  23  1  1  3   5  11   9  0  0  0
Ru. Johnson  .250  .321  .333  18  28   7   7   9  2  0  0   3   4   5  1  0  1
R. Sierra    .250  .400  .304   9  20   4   5   8  0  0  1   5   2   3  0  0  0
Martinez     .222  .467  .321  17  45   8  10  21  2  0  3  10   7   4  0  0  1
Escalona     .174  .348  .208  17  23   2   4   8  1  0  1   1   0   4  0  0  3
Sanchez      .167  .194  .184  14  36   4   6   7  1  0  0   2   1   3  0  0  1
Rolls        .100  .100  .229  20  40   4   4   4  0  0  0   2   7  12  2  0  0
Williams     .091  .152  .139  11  33   1   3   5  2  0  0   2   2   5  0  0  0

PITCHERS          W- L    ERA    BA   G GS CG GF SH SV   IP    H   R  ER HR  BB  SO
Groom             0- 0   0.00  .240   6  0  0  0  0  0   7.0   6   0   0  0   0   2
Rivera            0- 0   0.00  .067   5  0  0  2  0  1   5.0   1   0   0  0   1   2
Wright            2- 0   0.00  .205   3  3  0  0  0  0  11.0   8   0   0  0   4   6
Sturtze           0- 0   0.75  .186   6  1  0  0  0  0  12.0   8   1   1  0   2  10
Wang              3- 0   1.00  .207   3  2  0  0  0  0   9.0   6   1   1  0   3   6
Proctor           0- 1   1.50  .292   6  0  0  4  0  1   6.0   7   1   1  0   2   9
De Paula          1- 0   1.59  .190   4  0  0  0  0  0   5.2   4   1   1  1   2   4
Pavano            1- 0   1.89  .260   5  4  0  0  0  0  19.0  19   4   4  2   2  13
Ra. Johnson       1- 2   3.38  .207   4  4  0  0  0  0  16.0  12   6   6  2   4  15
Small             0- 0   4.15  .314   5  1  0  0  0  0   8.2  11   4   4  0   1   3
Mussina           2- 1   4.74  .325   5  5  0  0  0  0  19.0  26  12  10  1   3   8
Stanton           0- 0   5.63  .290   8  0  0  3  0  1   8.0   9   5   5  1   2   5
Bean              0- 1   5.79  .188   5  0  0  1  0  0   4.2   3   3   3  1   3   6
Ramirez           0- 0   6.23  .421   2  0  0  0  0  0   4.1   8   3   3  0   2   3
Brown             1- 1   6.48  .282   4  4  0  0  0  0  16.2  20  12  12  4   7  18
Graman            0- 0   6.55  .304   6  0  0  1  0  0  11.0  14   9   8  4   7   7
Gordon            0- 2   7.00  .300   9  0  0  6  0  0   9.0  12   8   7  0   2  12
F. Rodriguez      0- 1   7.56  .294   8  0  0  2  0  0   8.1  10   7   7  2   5   3
Prinz             0- 0   8.44  .385   5  0  0  2  0  1   5.1  10   5   5  3   5   6
Quantrill         0- 0   8.53  .424   6  0  0  0  0  0   6.1  14   6   6  1   0   3
Karsay            0- 1   9.00  .378   8  0  0  0  0  0   9.0  14   9   9  1   4   1

Tony Womack has been doing a fine impression of Enrique Wilson, but it doesn't appear to have swayed Joe Torre's thought process as far as moving him to leadoff. I'd like to think this is because Torre understands small sample size and the importance of past performance when making decisions, but it's more likely that he just likes keeping Alex Rodriguez in the second spot and doesn't want to move Jeter down. I guess it doesn't matter as long as the right decision gets made.

The best news for me so far on the offensive side has been Jason Giambi. He appears to healthy, is getting significant playing time, and has shown enough power to make me think he will be a force this season. He's even gotten into the field for a few games, although at this point the best Yankee lineup would have him as the DH and Tino Martinez (who is struggling) at first base. This is because Ruben Sierra should not be getting significant starting time, and also because I fear that Giambi at first will be pulled from close games in late innings for Tino's defense, which would be problematic.

The "exciting" battle for 25th man appears to have come down to Bubba Crosby, Damian Rolls, Russ Johnson, and dark horse Colin Porter. Crosby has been the best hitter so far, but Torre seems to be infatuated with Rolls's and Johnson's ability to play the infield. With Rodriguez and Jeter expected to start every game if healthy, and Rey Sanchez already on the team, I don't see that this matters much, but Torre loves versatile defensive players who can't hit for crap. This is a complication of the foolish idea of going with 12 pitchers.

Bernie Williams has been hampered again by injuries in spring training, and is really starting to show his age. I love Bernie, he has been one of my favorite players as a bridge from the Yankees of Mel Hall and Bob Geren to today's perennial AL East champion, but I am very concerned about him this year. Aside from his well-documented defensive issues, his health is a big concern. If he misses any significant time, the Yankees can move Matsui into CF, but then they have to choose from Ruben Sierra or the 25th man as the full-time LF, an even scarier proposition than Bernie costing 50 runs in CF. I hope Bernie can stay healthy and go out with a bang. He is 36 this year, the same age that Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle played their final games for the Yankees.

To avoid turning this into a full-fledged season preview, I'll go over to the pitching side now.

All indications are that Randy Johnson's knee is a non-issue, and he appears to be gaining strength. In addition, newcomers Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright have been quite impressive so far. I was lukewarm on the Pavano signing, but everything I'm reading about him encourages me. He is apparently quite a student of the game, and is seeking guidance from Mike Mussina and Jorge Posada, and appears to be a very cerebral-type pitcher who studies opposing hitters extensively. I realize the numbers in his past history are cause for concern, but I am cautiously optimistic.

Jaret Wright has been dominant so far in spring training. He appears to have matured quite a bit from his days in Cleveland. I still think he was a very risky signing, but he's making just a little more than Sterling Hitchcock did from 2002-2003 for a total of 80 innings of a 5+ ERA. If he can stay healthy, I think he can provide 180-200 league average innings, which will be an asset. I've only seen him pitch two innings this spring, but was very impressed with his command and poise.

Kevin Brown's results have been mixed, but he appears to have his back problems worked out and has gotten some velocity back. Last year he was in the 88-90 mph range with his fastball, but this spring he has been clocked as high as 94. I still doubt he makes 30 starts this year, but have a good feeling that he will be solid when he takes the hill. I got to watch him earlier today, and outside of a shaky first inning he looked pretty good.

And what about Tanyon Sturtze? I still am skeptical, but he has been very good since September of last year, with much better command, and with the new cutter that Mariano Rivera showed him. He's still a wild card, but as a spot starter and long man I think he will be decent. Sturtze and Tiger Wang look to be the best bets to take any starts that come up when one of the other starters get hurt, and Wang also acquitted himself decently in the spring, and looks to be fully recovered from his surgery a few years back. I don't know if Buddy Groom will take a spot in Columbus until an opportunity arises in the majors, but if so he may be a viable left-handed option if the need arises during the season.

One thing that strikes me is how inflexible the Yankee roster is right now. The Yankees will likely carry no one with options with the possible exception of Bubba Crosby, so they won't be able to do much in-season manipulation unless injuries occur. I still hope that Andy Phillips, Colter Bean and Robinson Cano get to see some time this year. The Yankees are also trying to find takers for Alex Graman and Bret Prinz, who are both out of options. I don't think they'll get much for them, but some catching depth to stick at Columbus would be nice. As it stands now, the Yankees are very thin at catcher.

We'll see what happens when the games start to count in a week, but the key thing right now is that the team looks healthy and ready to start the season at full strength. How long they'll stay there is an another issue.

--posted at 12:16 AM by SG / |

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