Daily Archives: February 20, 2007

If everybody’s doing it, there’s a lot of guys doing it.
Vince in The Color of Money

New blogs just keeping popping up, don’t they? One of the most exciting new ones is called Bronx Comix run by longtime-Bronx Banterite, Knuckles. Be sure to give it a look. Knucks, the only problem I can see you running into is posting on the reg. Once you start something as fun as what you are doing, we’re going to want our daily fix, Snoops.

The New York Times recently launched Met and Yankee blogs too. Columnist Jack Curry and beat writer Tyler Kepner are doing a fine job holding down the Yankee blog. After Derek Jeter spoke with reporters this morning about his relationship with Alex Rodriguez, Kepner notes:

The key difference between Jeter and A-Rod is this: Jeter goes to great lengths to keep things uncomplicated, and A-Rod seems to complicate everything. In this case, I think they’re both being sincere. They should get some credit for that. They function well as teammates. The rest is interesting, for sure, but it’s mostly a soap opera.

From an image standpoint, this is good for Rodriguez. Fans appreciate honesty and perseverance. That’s why people cheer for Jason Giambi. If A-Rod wants to win over the fans (and we know he does), he may have finally hit on a good strategy. He’s telling the truth about his relationship with Jeter, and he hasn’t bailed on the Yankees despite his struggles in the clutch. I could be wrong, but I sense that fans will respect him for that.

Lastly, on another (non-baseball) blogging note, Hip Hop mixmaster, Steinski recently launched his own site, which features posts on music and (left wing) politics. It is a lot of fun if you are into that sort of thing.

The Yankee position players reported to camp on Sunday and took their physicals yesterday. Today the team will hold its first full-squad work outs. Here at the Banter, we’ve taken a look at the Yankees three major position battles, covered a couple of early controversies, and gotten some actual news about the pitchers and catchers who reported last week. With that, it’s time to take a look at the 63 players who will be in camp with the Yankees this year. To begin with, here’s how I expect the 25-man roster to shake out come Opening Day:

1B – Doug Mientkiewicz (L)
2B – Robinson Cano (L)
SS – Derek Jeter (R)
3B – Alex Rodriguez (R)
C – Jorge Posada (S)
RF – Bobby Abreu (L)
CF – Johnny Damon (L)
LF – Hideki Matsui (L)
DH – Jason Giambi (L)

Bench:

S – Melky Cabrera (OF)
R – Miguel Cairo (IF)
R – Phillips/Phelps (1B)
R – Todd Pratt (C)

Rotation:

R – Chien-Ming Wang
R – Mike Mussina
L – Andy Pettitte
L – Kei Igawa

R – Carl Pavano

Bullpen:

R – Mariano Rivera
R – Kyle Farnsworth
R – Scott Proctor
L – Mike Myers
R – Luis Vizcaino
R – Chris Britton
L – Ron Villone

The last two spots in the bullpen are the most tenuous, as Villone is in camp as a non-roster invitee and Britton is a new arrival who, despite having excelled for the Orioles last year, will have to fend off numerous rivals in order to maintain his spot. What’s not in question, however, is that both of those rosters spots will go to relievers. Upon arriving in Tampa a week ago, Joe Torre reiterated the need for the Yankees to carry 12 pitchers, in large part because of the dearth of innings that can be expected from LOOGY Mike Myers, Kyle Farnsworth’s frustrating inability to pitch multiple innings or on consecutive days, and Torre’s desire to limit the 37-year-old Mariano Rivera—who missed three weeks last September due to a muscle strain in his right forearm—to the ninth inning as much as possible.

Of course, Torre also threw into question the roster spot currently designated for a right-handed first baseman by suggesting that he’ll consider playing Giambi in the field and telling reporters that he has encouraged Bernie Williams to come to camp to challenge for that spot and that spot only. Bernie still hasn’t agreed to come to camp, however. So, for the moment, Phelps and Phillips still have a fight to finish to fill that first-base fissure.

Most of the players above are familiar, and some we’ve looked at earlier this week or this offseason as per the links, but since there are a few who fall into neither category, here’s a quick look at three of the lower profile new faces (ages in parentheses are as of Opening Day):

(more…)