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Hallelujah, Joe Torre got it right. The twenty-fifth man on the Yankee roster is . . . Bubba Crosby! Congratulations, Bubba. Allow me to suggest you wear a pare of dungarees under your uniform pants to avoid getting splinters in your bum.

Okay, maybe that’s not fair, but getting Bubba on the roster, which is great, is only half the battle. The other half is getting Torre to rest Bernie once or twice a week and–rather than moving Matsui into center and starting Sierra in left, a possibility that seems to intrigue the Yankee skipper a little too much for my liking–start Bubba in his place.

Torre had several conflicting quotes today about the likelihood of this happening. The most promising was this:

“This guy [Crosby] may be a regular in a part-time situation, where he may play 2-3 games here or there”

More troubling was this:

“He can steal a base, and that’s probably where he’ll be utilized more times than not. We don’t pinch-hit for many people, but we do have a couple of guys you’d pinch-run for. In that regard, he’s a bonus for us.”

And of course the ever-present:

“We do have options if we want Ruben to get some playing time, we can put Ruben in left field and move Matsui to center. [Matsui] is so good at what he does, that won’t be a concern if that’s the way we decide to do it.”

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According to the Associated Press, Joe Torre has set the Yankee rotation. Of course there was no mystery about which five pitchers would comprise the rotation, and Randy Johnson had already been named the Opening Night (what is this Broadway?) starter, but with three off days in the first two weeks, the Yankees have decided to skip their fifth starter until April 15. The question was, who is the fifth starter? The answer: Jaret Wright.

Here’s how the Yankee rotation is expected to shake out over the first two weeks:

4/3 v Bos: Johnson (Opening Night)
4/4 off day
4/5 v Bos: Pavano
4/6 v Bos: Mussina
4/7 off day
4/8 v Bal: Brown
4/9 v Bal: Johnson
4/10 v Bal: Pavano
4/11 @ Bos: Mussina (Fenway Opener)
4/12 off day
4/13 @ Bos: Brown
4/14 @ Bos: Johnson
4/15 @ Bal: Wright

Which would set the order from there forward as: Johnson, Wright, Pavano, Mussina, Brown.

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With less than a week left before opening day, the battle to make the Yankee roster is intensifying. Most of the heat is on who will back up Bernie Williams in center, as that’s generally assumed to be the only open spot on the Yankees 25-man roster. Of course it’s not really that simple.

I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, here’s an update on the cuts the Yankees have made in the past ten days.

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I’m just a dirty preview whore. Two days after participating in the Baseball Analysts’ roundtable on the AL East, I’ve provided the Yankee entry in All-Baseball’s AL East preview, which is now up on the main page over there.

In these previews I’ve been allowing my homerism to show through by picking the Yankees to win the division. At Baseball Analysts I was outnumbered three to one on that subject, but logic seems to win the day at All-Baseball, where Evan Brunell‘s Red Sox entry (written independently) confirms my belief that the Yankees remain the team to beat in the East. Check it out.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “why the hell doesn’t he write something for Bronx Banter.” Well, the good news is that I’ve turned in the book, so starting this weekend, I should be in full effect in this space. What’s more, next week is Preview Week (TM) here at Baseball Toaster. We’ll have a different set of predictions for you each day next week on the main page, so be sure to stop by for that. Opening Night at the Stadium is one week from Sunday. All systems go!

As I inch closer to the land of the living, you can check out my thoughts on how the AL East is shaping up over at Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith’s Baseball Analysts.

Rich and Bryan are doing what they call “two-on-two” conversations to preview each division, pitting two bloggers covering two different teams in the division “against” the site’s charming hosts in a roundtable discussion that covers every team in the division (the Toaster’s own, Alex “Cub Town” Ciepley was part of the NL Central discussion, as was Jon “Dodger Thoughts” Weisman for the NL West).

In the AL East edition, Patrick “Sully” Sullivan from The House that Dewey Built (a frequent Bronx Banter commenter) and I go head-to-head (and two-on-two) with Rich and Bryan. Enjoy!

I’m not sure how many of you caught my comment on Alex’s Barking and Biting post this past Monday, but for those who didn’t, it explains my absence in recent weeks (a.k.a. the entire history of this site). I’m still under the crush, but as the Yanks have hit the half-way point of spring training, I felt I really owed you guys some sort of catch up post. So here’s a quick look at the first round of cuts the Yankees made last week.

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When I was but a wee lad, knee-high to a sowís ear (er . . . whatever), my elders would often lean over me in a terrifying manner and say such horrible things as “enjoy it while you can, it wonít last forever” and “these are the best days of your life, you know.” I took them for fools at the time. Still do. Certainly there are advantages to the responsibility-free lifestyle of childhood, but with that lack of responsibility comes a significant lack of personal freedom. School, for example, is downright fascist.

Still, one thing I do miss about the nine months of ritualistic abuse that comprised the school year is the optimism and clean slate with which I would approach each new grade in September. Armed with a brand new pencil case and the latest model Trapper Keeper, I was always sure that this would be the year Iíd complete every homework assignment (on time, no less), and get “a hundred” on every test. It never happened that way, of course, but that feeling of hope, ambition, and freedom from the previous yearís failures and shortcomings was invigorating, something Iíve never been able to recreate in a work environment.

The closest I come to that feeling as an “adult” is not the change over of the calendar, with itís empty resolutions and tradition of starting the new year on the worst footing possible thanks to the debauchery that ends the previous one (of which I generally donít partake), but the beginning of the baseball season as players report to spring training in late February and early March. Suffering from the same delusions that plagued me in past Septembers, each player arrives at camp with a brand new pencil case and the latest model Trapper Keeper, sure that this is the year theyíll learn to lay off the slider low and away, hit the cut-off man, avoid the injury bug, and finally work up to their potential and play well with others.

This year, that feeling for me is especially strong because of the confluence of spring training, my move here to Bronx Banter, and the launching of our new host, Baseball Toaster. So, with the crisp spring air in our lungs and visions of a 162-0 Yankee team dancing in our heads, letís all get out a clean sheet of loose leaf paper and, in our best, clearest handwriting, take a look at this yearís crop of Yankee campers.

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