May was a month when the Yankees had to deal with a lot of injuries and in which the comfortable lead they had achieved in April gradually disappeared resulting in the Tampa Bay Rays passing them at the head of the division. Given the extent of their injuries, they had a reasonable month. Here are the players who were at the heart of it:
Last season, the Yankees had 3 stellar starters and a strong bullpen but the last two spots on the rotation were a gaping hole. Javier Vazquez and Phil Hughes have been nominated to fill that gap. So far, this plan has met with some success….
In 2009, the New York Yankees won the world series. In 2009, April was a horrible month for the New York Yankees.
By contrast, 2010 has seen the Yankees have an exceptional April. Will they maintain the level of performance and have another 100+ game winning season? If they can steer clear of major injuries all the evidence suggests they will.
So 1 first baseman, 1 second baseman, 1 third baseman, 2 shortstops, 2 catchers, 5 outfielders, 5 starters and 7 relievers make 24.
When the Yankees decided that Phil Hughes would be their fifth starter, they, by inference filled three of their relief positions also. Alfredo Aceves, Joba Chamberlain and Sergio Mitre had good enough seasons last year that they were always going to be on the Opening Day roster.
Going into Spring Training the Yankees had, barring some disaster or an unexpected loss of form, 4 of the starting positions firmly fixed. 3 of those were carry-overs from the 2009 World Champs – Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte.
The Yankees have used an amazing 16 outfielders in Spring Training as they have sought to fill the hardest three spots on their roster. In the infield, we have merely been debating the bench spots. In the outfield, nothing is certain – an amazing situation for a team coming off a World Series win to find themselves in. In 2009, Melky Cabrera beat out Brett Gardner to fill the centrefield slot (despite opening the season as second choice). Leftfield went to Johnny Damon primarily because Hideki Matsui’s balky knees prevented him playing the outfield all year. Rightfield went to Nick Swisher who was the lightweight of the three but a good clubhouse presence. Now only Swisher remains.
Jorge Posada has been a tremendous player for the last 15 years. The suspicion is that the Yankees will soon have to find a replacement for their veteran catcher, He is safely ensconced for 2010 but 2011 or 2012 might be another matter and so the young pretenders are making their moves.
Shortstop is a very key position when it comes to estimating the Yankees roster for 2010. Obviously, Derek Jeter is the incumbent and will remain so for a few years yet. But Ramiro Pena is the key figure when it comes to trying to figure how well the Yankees will do well off the bench. Last season, Pena was a refreshing presence who did well at all the infield positions he was used in. During the season he was sent to Triple-A Scranton to learn the outfield. What the Yankees brass saw during that stint was obviously a disappointment because his standing seems to have slipped somewhat in their eyes.
twilightdawning 