First base, party of six

The Yankees will open training camp with an abundance of first basemen, six to be exact. None of them, however, are proven at the position. Here's who we've got:

Jason Giambi
Wilson Betemit
Shelley Duncan (pictured right)
Morgan Ensberg
Jason Lane
Juan Miranda

Come Opening Day, I'd venture to guess that three of those players are gone, while the other three make up the majority of the bench. Let's break them all down now then, shall we.

Giambi - He can be a valuable tool at first base, as long as he's healthy. Hideki Matsui seems primed to be the everyday DH with lingering knee problems, even after off-season surgery. Giambi has notoriously hit better when playing first base as opposed to being the DH, which is a plus. He can also scope the ball out of the dirt with the best of them, and isn't a poor fielder if the ball is hit within a step or two of him. His problems come when he has to move left or right farther than two steps, has to flip the ball to a pitcher covering and turning a 3-6-3 double play will have the ball landing in either left field or three feet short of the second base bag. Giambi is also extremely injury prone, and if he can't stay healthy as a DH, there's no way he can be relied on playing the field.

Betemit - Wilson hasn't played too much first base in his career. His real value comes when he is at second or short. He has some pop in his bat off the bench too. Some real work with Tino Martinez could help him at first, but don't look for him to take the job.

Duncan - Shelley might be the best choice at first. He also has value at the corner outfield positions. He has an explosive bat from the right side, which could make him a great platoon partner with Giambi. He's been working hard, getting his fielding down and learning the position as he was only a DH in the minors last year. He could be the favorite as long as his defense and health hold up.

Lane - A weird signing by the Yanks, as Lane is an outfielder. With a plethora of outfielders already on the team, there really isn't a spot for Lane unless he really impresses or someone gets hurt. Don't expect too much from him though.

Ensberg - Primarily a third baseman in his career, Ensberg fell out of favor with the Astros and Padres recently. He still has 30 homerun power, but he may only hit .225. He's right handed in a righty heavy lineup so several hurdles are in front of him. His defense was always just above average at third, so if he can bring that to the other side of the field, he will be in the running.

Miranda - The Cuban defect is either 23, 25 or 32 years old. No one knows for sure. What is known is that he has the second most experience at first base besides Giambi. He hits from the left side with a little pop, so if Giambi goes down, he would be a legitimate backup option.

Prediction time. Here is who I believe makes the big league roster:

Giambi (for 1b and DH)
Betemit (too valuable not to have him on the bench for all other INF positions)
Duncan (as long as he's healthy, he'll tear up lefties)

Giambi and Duncan could create a platoon. Giambi against righties and Duncan against lefties. If Ensberg looks good and one of them go down, then he'll be the man for the job for the short run. Joe Girardi will look at Miranda longer than Joe Torre would have, but he'll start in the minors along with Lane. If Ensberg isn't on the big league roster to start the season, he'll catch on with another team instead of accepting a minor league gig with the Yanks.

Next time: outfielders. Enjoy pitchers and catchers until then.

Yankees bullpen always a cause for concern

Gone are the days of Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton bridging the gap to Mariano Rivera. Over the last few years, Yankee fans have been treated to innings of uneasiness courtesy of high priced veterans like Felix Heredia, Felix Rodriguez, Ron Villone and Tanyon Sturtze. Recent signings of Kyle Farnsworth two seasons ago and LaTroy Hawkins this season will continue that trend for the Yankee faithfuls.


What fans do have to look forward to is the recent surge of youth being shot into the bullpen. With the price of relievers skyrocketing by the signings of Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel and New York's own Rivera, the Yankees' farm system has slowly gotten the call up one by one. Here's who the Yanks will have in camp this year to try out for the roles of sixth, seventh and eighth inning men:


Mariano Rivera - RHP - 38 years old
Latroy Hawkins - RHP - 35 years old
Kyle Farnsworth - RHP - 31 years old
Brian Bruney - RHP - 27 years old
Chris Britton - RHP - 25 years old
Ross Ohlendorf - RHP - 25 years old
Jose Veras - RHP - 27 years old
Edwar Ramirez - RHP - 26 years old
Jonathan Albaladejo - RHP - 25 years old
Chase Wright - LHP - 25 years old
Kei Igawa - LHP - 28 years old
Sean Henn - LHP - 26 years old
Jeffrey Marquez - RHP - 23 years old
Daniel Giese - RHP - 30 years old
Steven Jackson - RHP - 25 years old
Mark Melancon - RHP 22 years old
Heath Phillips - LHP - 25 years old
Scott Strickland - RHP - 31 years old
Billy Traber - LHP - 28 years old

Lots of names, lots of uncertainty. Obviously Rivera and Farnsworth are locks to make the team. If Hawkins shows up healthy he'll also be on the team, as the Yankees threw a lot of money at him. After that, it gets interesting. Wright and Igawa are lefties who had poor showings at starters, so they might get a shot at relief, since the Yanks are lacking in the lefty department. Bruney and Britton are power pitchers with erratic control, and both fell out of favor with management last season. Ramirez has an incredible changeup and a fastball that gets hit incredibly far. Henn was a scapegoat for the Yanks last season, coming in and taking a beating on several occasions, really inflating his ERA. Traber had trouble sticking with the Royals, so don't expect much from him. Many of the others are just too young, or too washed up to make the roster. Marquez and Jackson are two names to watch for September callups, or if they dominate the farm system.

Joba Chamberlain (pictured above) is preparing to be a starter this season. Not since Rivera set up John Wettland have the Yankees had an eighth and ninth inning tandem as dominant as Joba and Mo. It would be unfortunate to lose that in the beginning of the season, but if he starts in the rotation and stays healthy, a strict innings limit will put him back into the bullpen after the all-star break.

Here's what I predict the Yankees' bullpen will look like to start the season:

Rivera
Chamberlain
Farnsworth
Hawkins
Ohlendorf
Veras
Henn

Substitute Bruney in for Chamberlain if he's in fact a starter. Everyone else will be down in the farms to start, but Henn, Veras, Bruney and Hawkins are all candidates to be replaced quickly. With Joe Girardi as manager, I'd expect a little more youth up in the pen.

No matter how you slice it , the bullpen doesn't strike fear in anyone and is very vulnerable. Starters can't be expected to go seven innings every night, so hopefully there will be a couple of gems waiting to be found in the system.

Next time, I'll break down the extremely cluttered first base situation. Until then...

Spring training right around the corner

Spring training is right around the corner for the Bronx Bombers, and already hype is at a mid-season level. What I'll do here is preview certain elements of the team each post. I'll start it off with the starting rotation.

For the first time in a number of years, the starting rotation isn't a majority made up of older veteran starters. This year there are two seasoned vets, two kids, and two who have gotten their feet wet, but haven't hit the age of 30 yet. Here's what the rotation may look like come Opening Day:

1 - Chien-Ming Wang
2- Andy Pettitte
3- Philip Hughes
4- Mike Mussina
5- Ian Kennedy

Add in Joba Chamberlain to the bottom of that list as the sixth starter, but I have this gut feeling that with all of the Yankees' bullpen problems, they wouldn't want to trust LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth inning if they don't have to.

Wang is a great ace to have. Him and the Mets' Johan Santana are the winningest pitchers since Wang arrived in the bigs three years ago. 19 wins in back to back seasons is all you can ask for from your number one starter, even if he doesn't blow players away for the strikeout.

Andy Pettitte is the lone lefty starter for the Yanks. He was healthy last year for most of the year, and while it's unrealistic to think any starter can make 40 starts a season anymore, at least there aren't dwelling questions on whether his elbow will hold up. He deserved to win three or four more games than his 15-9 record showed for 2007. He had a sub-four era in a tough AL East and looks to continue to look good, while showing normal signs of aging.

Hughes survived an off-season full of Santana rumors and couldn't be more happy. He's shedding number 65 for Sean Henn's 34, and looks to stay healthy this season. He showed enough to make people think he will be an elite pitcher for years to come, and will be a nice follow-up to a softer throwing Pettitte in a series.

Mussina is getting up there in years, and may have showed signs of fatigue last season, but I am not convinced that he is a pitcher that had trouble getting out of the early innings like he did on several occasions last season. If healthy he can provide toughness and finesse following a more power style Hughes. He will undoubtedly help show leadership as well as mentoring to the younger kids.

Kennedy looked like a solid end of the rotation starter before experiencing some shoulder problems last year. He'll be on a strict innings limit, meaning that complete and late inning games may not be the norm for him. A solid six innings every five days should be all you should expect from him, which isn't a bad thing.

Joba the Great will be available for either fill in duty if someone gets hurt, or he'll start the season in place of Kennedy or Mussina should they not be up to the task, but only in the very beginning of the season. He won't bounce back and forth between the pen and rotation once the season gets really underway, so wherever he starts will most likely be where he ends up for the whole season. The only exception to that would be late in the year if he has reached his innings limit, the Yanks might move him to the bullpen to protect his arm.

I'll be back in the next couple of days with a preview of the bullpen. Until then, enjoy the excitement of waiting for pitchers and catchers.