New York Yankees Wednesday notes/Their final full workout before games

The Yankees went through their final full workout today before the games start.  It was a quiet day.  The Yankees will have a morning workout before boarding the buses and heading to somewhere of Joe Girardi choosing for the team bonding outing.  Here are the notes from Chad Jennings of the Lohud Yankees blog and Journal News.  I as always have my thoughts in here also.

 What a strange day in Yankees camp. The team was going through it’s final full workout before games start, yet all of the conversation — here, and on radio in New York — centered on something that happened more than 10 years ago.  That is Bobby Valentine, he accomplished what he wanted to.  He got everyone talking about what he said and not about chicken and beer. 

The bigger news in baseball came from Ken Rosenthal, who reported today that Major League Baseball is on the verge of finalizing a 10-team playoff format for this season. The collective bargaining agreement called for a second wild card by 2013, but Rosenthal says it will happen immediately.  It isn't official yet but could be by tomorrow.  I think this is a good thing for baseball.  I would of rather had a three game series but at least the division winners are getting an advantage and more teams have a chance.


Mariano Rivera threw 34 pitches in the bullpen today. “He said he felt great,” Joe Girardisaid. Although there’s still no scheduled date for Rivera’s first spring outing, Girardi said he guesses it will happen March 15 or 16.  That sounds about right, Rivera doesn't need much game action to be ready for the season. 

 Russell Branyan has a sore back. He was a long shot to make the team as a left-handed DH anyway, but now he’ll miss some time. “Don’t know how long it will be,” Girardi said. “I think it was tightening and spasms. We’ll have to wait and see.”  That definitely won't help him,it unless something crazy happens. 

 Speaking of back injuries, Girardi said today that he expects Austin Romine to get into some Grapefruit League games, but he didn’t sound overly optimistic that Romine will play a lot this spring. “He’s been doing rehab work on it, and he’ll continue to do it,” Girardi said. “We’re just making sure that area is very stable. We want that to come back very stable and strong before we put him back. Because he had an episode last year, last August. Once he leaves here I don’t want him to have a setback. I don’t want it to come back and that’s what I told him. So we’re going to hit it really hard over spring training to make sure that we nip this.”

 Girardi confirmed that this is the same sort of situation that kept Romine out of some games late last year.

Robinson Cano is still scheduled to be back in the clubhouse tomorrow. He’s been away for his grandmother’s funeral.

Will the regulars play in Thursday’s game against South Florida? “You know, I’ve been going back and forth,” Girardi said. “I think some of them might get one at-bat, some of them might get two at-bats.”  You don't want to play them too much against college kids.  They will play on Saturday against the Phillies. 

 The Yankees will be off the field at 10:45 a.m. tomorrow, an early finish so that the team can catch an 11:15 bus for their bonding event. Girardi still won’t say what exactly they’re doing tomorrow.

 Asked whether any off-the-radar player has jumped out at him this spring, Girardi first came up with an unexpected name: “Burawa, he threw the ball hard the other day,” Girardi said. “You could just see the hitters (reacting), ‘Ooooh’ the first couple pitches they saw. I thought our BPs yesterday were excellent, I was really impressed and their were some young kids in there. Betances has thrown the ball really well. Warren, Phelps, Stonebrunner threw it well. I’ve been really pleased. Really, really pleased.”

The Yankees have been given the green light to use a DH for their NL spring road games at the Phillies, Pirates and Nationals on March 5, 6 and 15.  I always found it amusing when the team wouldn't let another team do this.  They should let the teams do whatever they want, it is only practice.  If one wanted to use the DH and the other not, why not.  The records in spring training are completely meaningless.