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Picking the Postseason roster
by SG

I didn't get to see much of this weekend's debacle against Tampa. The lack of offense in the last two games is a little worrisome, but I'd imagine the Yankees are just going through the motions, with the notable exception of Robinson Cano, who continues to just rake. On the season Cano is now hitting .341/.365/.519. Recent defensive improvement has pushed him to a +3 on the season. He's still not walking, and it's doubtful he's a true talent .341 hitter, but even if he were to hit .320 while maintaining everything else, he'd be at .320/.344/.499. For a second baseman, that's pretty damn good, especially one who's average or slightly above defensively.

Cano needs a total of 19 PA over the team's remaining 7 games to qualify for the batting title, although Joe Mauer seems to be making it a moot point. Cano's averaging a bit over 4 PA a game, so he can probably afford to sit one or two games out towards the end if necessary.

We know the Yankees can hit, so the offense is not as troubling as the starting pitching. Randy Johnson continued a bad string of starts on Saturday, and Mike Mussina wasn't much better yesterday, although he was a victim of some bad defense. I saw bits and pieces of the games thanks to TiVO and thought Gary Sheffield looked decent at first aside from one play yesterday, although he still seems to be unsure about when to let Cano take plays that are between them. Visually he looks rangy enough and he's a better thrower than Jason Giambi (then again, who isn't?), but he still has some learning to do. I don't know that he can get there in seven games, but I guess if the Yankees carry Craig Wilson and Aaron Guiel on the postseason roster they'll have the people to take him out for defense in the later innings if needed. FWIW, Sheffield's zone rating is 1.000 so far, so he hasn't missed any plays that he'd be expected to make as far as zone rating, although that doesn't include any throws from other infielders.

Mussina took a ball off his hand and now has a bruised thumb to deal with. He'll get one more start to show us that he's not something to be worried about. I see no way the Yankees can't start Chien-Ming Wang in the first game of the playoffs now, especially if they have home field advantage in the first round.

The best news was the healthy return of Mariano Rivera, who threw a good inning on Friday. The plan now is to get him to pitch in at least one set of back-to-back games, but he should be good to go. Ron Villone is not regressing towards his mean, he blew past that point and probably does not belong on the postseason roster. While having two lefties would be nice, if one can't get anyone out, what's the point?

Speaking of the postseason roster, here's how I see it now. First, the near-locks.

Pitchers (8)
Wang
Mussina
Johnson
Rivera
Proctor
Farnsworth
Myers
Wright

Catchers (2)
Posada
Fasano

Infielders (4)
Cano
Jeter
Giambi
Rodriguez

Outfielders (5)
Damon
Abreu
Melky
Matsui
Bernie

If Villone doesn't go, I don't think the Yankees should take more than 10 pitchers. I'd add Brian Bruney and Darrell Rasner. Rasner can give the team innings as a long reliever if needed. Odds are that if Lidle is healthy he'd either take the Rasner spot, or be the 11th pitcher, but time's running out for him.

For backup infielders, I'd add Miguel Cairo and Andy Phillips. I know Cairo can't hit, but he's solid defensively at all four positions. Some people may prefer Nick Green in this spot, but he's hitting .186/.264/.283 on the season (yes, games played for teams other than the Yankees do count). Phillips is probably the best defensive 1B on the team, and could fill in at third and second in a pinch. He also has a little pop of the bench, even though he's not a good hitter.

Adding two pitchers and two infielders brings the roster up to 23, which leaves two spots left. One will probably go to Gary Sheffield unless he fails to start hitting or his defense at first becomes an issue. That leaves the last spot to either Craig Wilson or Aaron Guiel. Guiel's been better than Wilson as a Yankee, and gives them a little more defensive flexibility (he can play all 3 OF positions and first base). Wilson would have the capacity to serve as a third catcher in an emergency, but if it gets to that point the Yankees have pretty big problems. I suppose you could argue Wilson over Phillips, and assume you don't need two backup infielders. Wilson would be nice as a lefty masher, but Bernie Williams is going to be on the postseason roster and can fill that role as well.

So, my 25 man postseason roster would be:

Pitchers (10)
Wang
Mussina
Johnson
Rivera
Proctor
Farnsworth
Myers
Wright
Bruney
Rasner

Catchers (2)
Posada
Fasano

Infielders (6)
Cano
Jeter
Giambi
Rodriguez
Cairo
Phillips

Outfielders (7)
Damon
Abreu
Melky
Matsui
Bernie
Sheffield
Guiel

--posted at 6:12 AM by SG / |

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