Yankees Finalize Playoff Roster

The Yankees finalized their playoff roster this morning.  Here is the roster for the first round, if the Yankees advance they can adjust the roster before the ALCS begins. 

Starting Pitchers:CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia

Bullpen:Mariano Rivera, Dave Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Luis Ayala, Cory Wade, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett

Cathers:Russell Martin, Jesus Montero

First Base:Mark Teixeira

Second Base:Robinson Cano

Shortstop:Derek Jeter

Third Base:Alex Rodriguez

Left Field:Brett Gardner

Center Field:Curtis Granderson

Right Field:Nick Swisher

Bench:Eduardo Nunez, Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones, Chris Dickerson

DH:Jorge Posada

Regular Season Game 3-Marlins at Mets Part II

I decided to break up the lineups section and the notes section, I thought it would be too much and I think I will continue to do this for all of the game posts. The Mets and Marlins won't see each other again until May 13-16th when they will play a 4 game series in Florida. The Mets 4 full season minor league clubs will open up tonight. Jose Reyes played 5 innings yesterday in a minor league intrasquad game. He went 1-5 and is eligible to come off of the DL on Sat. I would expect to see him with the club on that day. The only other players to have homered more frequently as a catcher other then Rod Barajas are Jorge Posada and Brian McCann. Barajas does it 1 time every 25.3 at bats. This info comes courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau. David Wrights first inning homerun was only the third such homerun in the Mets 49 yr history. Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson are the only other 2 Mets to accomplish that, thanks again to Elias. The Mets have the most foreign born players on their opening day roster. They have 18 such players from 7 different countries.

Grapefruit League Game 30-Mets at Rays

The New York Mets are playing the Rays at Tropicana Field this evening. Mike Pelfrey will make the start. Also available to pitch tonight are Ryota Igarashi, Jenrry Mejia and Pedro Feliciano. Here is the starting lineup for the game: Cora(SS) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Jacobs(DH) Bay(LF) Matthews Jr.(CF) Francoeur(RF) Tatis(1B) Barajas(C) Jerry Manuel said on WFAN today that the Mets will be making some decisions on the roster tonight after the game. He wants Jenrry Mejia on the team, said he could eventually be the 8th inning guy. He also said he believes they have enough talent in the bullpen to get the job done. Alex Cora will be the starting SS on Opening Day. He will play both Gary Matthews Jr. and Angel Pagan based on matchups. He is leaning towards breaking up his right handers. Mike Jacobs will probably be the cleanup hitter since he will now be the first baseman.

Some final Yankees Pitchers and Catchers Notes

Jon albaladejo who has made the opening day roster the last 2 seasons has shed 30 pounds. Phil Hughes will be working on his changeup much like last season when he was working on his cutter. He said he will work on it all spring long. He stated he wants to throw another bullpen before he starts mixing in his curveball and cutter. Mark Melancon got married over the winter and Jason Hirsh celebrated the birth of his baby. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and http://lohudyankeesblogs.com stated he considers Hirsh to be a sleeper, we will see. He is a guy who was highly touted a few years ago but hasn't lived up to his hype, he actually pitched pretty well in the minors when the Yankees aquired him last season. Jorge Posada admitted to watching the World Series DVD over the winter. He said " I watched it and you can't believe it, it was a lot of fun." This is all the blogging I will do for today but check back tomorrow for full coverage of the first workouts and also the New York Mets reporting down in Port St. Lucie. It is going to be a wild and crazy ride all season long so keep coming back and please participate by commenting and lets have some good discussions.