Pitchers and catchers report to spring training today. The words dance about before my eyes. Oh frabjous day! Callooh Callay! (chortle, chortle, chortle).
It’s tempting to say it’s been a long, cold winter, but that’s hardly true. Long, perhaps, but it’s been unseasonably mild. Sure there were cold spells, but early January felt like spring, causing me to prematurely anticipate the arrival of today’s date. The two feet of snow that was dumped on New York City this past weekend has already melted down to a few inches. The rocks in my new front lawn are already poking their heads out from under the blanket of white. Yesterday I went to work with a fleece scarf wrapped around my chin and neck, only to be greeted by a sunny and mild day come lunch time.
Unlike these many false starts, however, it appears spring is finally here, and though we were spared winter’s harsh sting, it still feels like a mighty long time since that infamous double play put the stake in the heart of Yankee fans last October.
This marks the beginning of my second season here at Bronx Banter and while I arrived last March filled with schoolboy enthusiasm, this year my mindset is more one of calloused determination. The change is less the result of my experiences in this space over the past year, which have ranged from good to great to dream-fulfilling, but of a very busy and distracting offseason and the realization that the Yankee roster I’ve come here to discuss is not as different from the one I spent eight months of last year picking apart as I had hoped it would be.
Much like last year, the Yankees enter camp with their roster essentially set. Barring injuries (which given the Yankee pitching staff are all but guaranteed), the Yankees will open the season with a 25-man roster that looks like this:
1B – Jason Giambi (L)
2B – Robinson Cano (L)
SS – Derek Jeter (R)
3B – Alex Rodriguez (R)
C – Jorge Posada (S)
RF – Gary Sheffield (R)
CF – Johnny Damon (L)
LF – Hideki Matsui (L)
DH – Bernie Williams (S)
Bench:
R – Andy Phillips (IF)
R – Miguel Cairo (IF)
L – Bubba Crosby (OF)
R – Kelly Stinnett (C)
Rotation:
L – Randy Johnson
R – Mike Mussina
R – Shawn Chacon
R – Chien-Ming Wang
R – Carl Pavano
Bullpen:
R – Mariano Rivera
R – Kyle Farnsworth
L – Mike Myers
L – Ron Villone
R – Tanyon Sturtze
R – Aaron Small
R – Jaret Wright
DL: R – Octavio Dotel
Indeed, Joe Torre has already told The Star-Ledger that he expects to open the season with twelve pitchers, due largely to the size of his hurlers’ contracts. As outrageous as this is, it works out pretty neatly. Of the above 25 men, Kelly Stinnett is the only player to have reached his arbitration years who will make less than $1 million in 2006. Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, Andy Phillips and Bubba Crosby, each of whom will make the league minimum (recently raised to $327), are the only other six digit players listed above.
This style of roster building has its most damaging effect on the Yankee bullpen, but before we get that far, let’s take a look at the Yankees’ short-handed bench.
