Weekend Notes from Yankees Camp

Javier Vazquez asked to throw on Sunday and was allowed to do so. I know you may ask why I am saying that well all the Yankees starters have been held back because of their workloads last season. He said though that he was throwing in Puerto Rico and hadn't thrown in about a week and a half and wanted to get back out there. There wasn't much excitement in camp on Sunday, it was expected that Johnny Damon would be a hot topic but there wasn't much said about him signing yesterday for 1 year and 8 million with the Detroit Tigers. The people that did speak about him like Joe Girardi wished him well. I still think that he overplayed his hand and should of come back to the Yankees for 2 years but that is his fault. Almost all of the pitchers have now thrown 2 bullpens and with the exception of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are up to 40 pitches. They have only been throwing fastballs and changeups but will now start throwing their breaking pitches. Chad Jennings heard a lot of good things about Andrew Brackman who was one of the Yankees top picks a couple of years ago. Nardi Contreras who is the roving pitching instructor had some good things to say. If you want to check out more on that you can visit http://yankees.lhblogs.com. Brett Gardner was in the clubhouse for a little while today and sat talking with relief pitcher Kevin Whelan. It is not known what they were discussing. The pitchers who threw today were in Group 1 Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Javier Vazquez and Edwar Ramirez. Group 2 was Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, Mosely and Christian Garcia. Group 3 was Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. The last group was Jeremy Bleich, Andrew Brackman, Mitchell and Noesi. The position players are reporting on Tuesday and then Wednesday is the first full squad workout. March 3rd is the first game so things will start heating up after tomorrow and there will be more news coming out of Tampa. It has been very quiet for the Yankees but that should be expected after a World Series Championship and not much else going on.

The Derek Jeter problem

The New York Yankees have a upcoming issue with Derek Jeter. I am sure most of you are thinking what is this guy nuts, how could there be a problem when he is having one of his best seasons all around. The problem is this Derek isn't getting any younger, his contract is up at the end of next year. I would not expect a older Derek Jeter to play SS if his range is severely limited and he just can't play there anymore. Most SS that were offensive players also moved to another position, it is just too physically demanding of a position to stay there, Cal Ripken, Robin Yount and others moved. The problem is this Derek Jeter is not a willing participant if you read some of his comments he is hinting at it. Peter Abraham on his Yankees Lohud Blog had a quote from Jeter where he said he jokes around with Joe Girardi about being a DH in 5 years but then when asked by Peter Abraham could you see a 41 yr old Jeter at DH, he smiled and said you could see a 41 yr old Jeter at SS. The sunday NY post always has a Q and A with a sports star and a few weeks back it was with Jeter and he also said in there that he never thinks about another position because he is a SS and that is where he intends on staying. The problem for the Yankees is this, Derek Jeter is their captain he is beloved and should never be anything other then a Yankee so they may have to do whatever he wants not only with the postion but also his contract but they also have to do what is best for their organization and what they think will be most conducive to them winning. This is going to be a very hard thing to go through and I wouldn't want to be the one to have to go talk to Derek Jeter, stay tuned for the drama.

Yankees/Twins Recap and other Yankee Notes

The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins this afternoon at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. This was a nice quick game with Andy Pettitte getting the start and Jorge Posada behind the plate. Pettitte pitched 3 innings giving up 0 runs, 2 hits and 1k. Phil Coke also pitched 3 innings giving up 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 2ks. Jose Veras, Anthony Claggett and Steven Jackson all pitched scoreless innings. The important thing was Jorge Posada did catch 4 innings, he didn't have a chance to try and throw a runner out but was throwing in between innings and Pettitte said he looked the same. He also had 2 more hits so he continues to be right on schedule to start the season. The offense had Damon and Swisher going 1-3. Big Tex was 0-2 but had a sac fly, Shelly Duncan went 1-1 and Melky Cabrera went 1-2. Angel Berroa continued his hot hitting going 1-2 with 2 rbi and Pena went 2-3 with a rbi. News and Notes: There were some guys cut today and reassigned to minor league camp and they are Jesus Montero, Mark Melancon, Christian Garcia, Kevin Russo, Ian Kennedy and Kyle Anson. The only suprise if you want to call it that is Mark Melancon who many thought might make it out of spring training including me, but I am sure he will be up with the Yankees at some point this season. Jesus Montero defintely showed off to the Yankees in the time he had in big league camp. Ian Kennedy is hoping to have a bounce back year but I am sure Phil Hughes is ahead of him so we may not see him at the big league level this year. Wang was working with pitching coach Dave Eiland on his arm slot in the bullpen today. Cashman had a lot of quotes today on some of the guys. This is what he had to say about Marte and Cano " There's a yellow flag, Hopefully it's just rest and recovery. Until we see the MRIS we just don't know, i hope there is no bad news. Ian Kennedy- " I just know that he went home and processed what took place last year. It was the first time in his career that he failed. He went to winter ball, made some adjustments and came out with the confidence. He came to camp in a great frame of mind and he heads to Scranton the same way. " Because he had so much success early, he didn't finish off some things he needed to work on and now he's back on track. I think he's going to have a big year, I really do. It will be a different Ian Kennedy for this franchise in 2009 then there was in 2008." Phil Hughes- " You're seeing that curveball and change more and more and to me that's a very good sign. He's becoming more complete." Mark Melancon- "He's somebody we're excited about. He's got ability, he works hard and he wants it. That's a good recipe right there." Jorge Posada-" It's good that we got to this day. Not this specific day, but we thought we wouldn't be ready to catch until Mid-March to catch in games and here we are. So we go from this point, that's an important first step of many more. These next few weeks, we'll really see it. " I guarantee and this is just me thinking, knowing how injuries are that in the back of his mind he doesn't trust it yet. Until he gets to the point where it's instinct and it just happens and he says, Wow, I didn't think about that. That's where he will work through the final phase of this thing. " I need Matsuis knees to be fine and I need Posada to be a catcher. That gives our lineup length and depth, with guys with plate discipline, guys with the ability to give professional at bats. Those guys know what they are doing. If these guys aren't available it changes the lineup radically, especially 6-9. I don't want to be in that position, honestly. " Jorge Posada is feisty, hungry and he wants to win. He doesn't get enough credit for the leadership he brings to that clubhouse. He is intense and sometimes that intensity can carry into some emotional outbursts that aren't always a bad thing. We missed him both on that field and in that clubhouse last year. Losing Wang and the way our pitching went last year was devastating. But our biggest loss was Jorge Posada."

Yankees Season Preview

I thought since the Yankees were off today and there was no news, tonight was a good time to do this mini preview. The Yankees are in the toughest division in baseball and it won't be easy but I think they will win the division winning 97 games. The way I look at it is that even without Arod for probably a month, the additions of Posada and Matsui and having Tex plus the pitching makes up for it. The Yankees won 89 games last year with no Matsui or Posada and Pavano, Ponson, Rasner, Giese making a lot of their starts. I don't know how that team won 89 games. That is enough about last year, lets talk about this year. I am going to project what I think will be the opening day roster and here it is: Starting Pitchers 1.CC Sabathia 2. Ching Ming Wang 3. AJ Burnett 4. Andy Pettitte 5. Joba Chamberlain I think this is the best starting pitching the Yankees have had in years. I can see CC and Wang winning 18-20 games each. Burnett I see winning 16 or 17 games, Andy Pettitte 15 and Joba 12. Ok on to the relievers: Relief Pitchers Closer:MO Setup Man: Brian Bruney Setup Man: Damaso Marte Middle Relief:Jose Veras Middle Relief:Edwar Ramirez All purpose Reliever:Phil Coke Long Man: Alfredo Aceves I love this bullpen, the guys are young and what I love is that if anyone fails they can send them down and replace them with other guys like Albaladejo, Melancon, Claggett, Jackson, JB Cox etc. Starting Lineup: 1b-Mark Teixera 2b-Robinson Cano ss-Derek Jeter 3b-Arod/Cody Ransom for the 1st month C-Jorge Posada LF-Johnny Damon CF-Brett Gardner RF-Nick Swisher DH-Hideki Matsui Bench: Xavier Nady Melky Cabrera Angel Berroa-for the 1st month at least until Arod comes back Jose Molina I dont think you can complain about this lineup, yes without Arod it will hurt but I actually think Cody Ransom is going to do better then people think. He plays good defense and I think he will hit 280 or 290. Mark Teixera is a huge addition to this team in many ways, he is going to bring defense to first base that we haven't seen since Tino left and really Don Mattingly, that is how good this guy is with the glove and hitting well he is just a switch hitting power, high OBP and hits for average. I don't think you can ask for much more. I think Cano will have a bounce back year at second all around, Jeter will be Jeter and Arod when he comes back will go on a tear. I think Posada will be healthy and make that position so much better then last year. I think Damon will have a good year and if Gardner can just slap at the ball and get on base 350+ he will be fine in CF. I think between Nady and Swisher they will have 30-40 combined hrs and 100+rbis and better defense out there then Abreu. I think Matsui will be healthy only being the DH and will be back to hitting around 300 with some power and a good clutch hitter. The bench is better then it has been in years with Swish or Nady on the bench, Melky, Jose Molina and Cody Ransom or for the first month Angel Berroa. I think this team is a cohesive group and Girardi will be better in his second year with more to work with and they have a great shot at getting to the World Series.