Images From The Farm

On Wednesday, my mom (like Brian Cashman) watched the New Britain Rock Cats host the Trenton Thunder. Andrew Brackman was starting and although she didn't write up an extra detailed report of the game and sit near Steve Balboni like Matt did back in May, she did bring a camera with her. Here are a few of the pictures that she took:

Two shots of Andrew Brackman.

The 7' 1" Netherlands native Loek Van Mil pitched the eighth inning for New Britain which, along with the 6' 10" Brackman appearing for Trenton, I'm guessing sets some sort of combined height record for two pitchers in one game. Oddly, the 5' 3" Chris Cates, one of the shortest players in organized baseball at the moment, started the game (fittingly) at shortstop for the Rock Cats.

Apparently there was some sort of a kid's day promotion going on at the park but Ma Dukes said they were mostly well-behaved. One of the little tykes was displaying a good sense for the history of the game by rocking the Babe Ruth jersey shirt. Attaboy.

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The Thunder ended up losing the game, but Brackman pitched fairly well until he hit the skids in the 5th, and as you can see in the pictures above, it was a gorgeous day for baseball.

Minor League Notes

A couple minor league notes as we steam on towards game time:

Last year's first round pick, Slade Heathcott, was promoted from Extended Spring Training to low-A Charleston. He made his 2010 debut last night, going one for five with a single. He made his lone hit count though, singling with the bases loaded in the tenth to give the RiverDogs a walkoff 5-4 win. Heathcott played center field, and batted leadoff.

This is similar to the plan the Yankees have used with last year's second round pick JR Murphy. Murphy was sent to Charleston in mid-May and has been splitting time between catcher and DH. The organization has said they wanted Murphy to get some experience playing in minor league stadiums and under lights before sending him to Staten Island when the short season NY-Penn League starts up this summer. Heathcott is likely getting the same treatment.

Elsewhere in the minors yesterday, 2007 first round pick Andrew Brackman continued his recent hot streak. He went five scoreless innings last night, giving up just three hits and a walk while striking out seven. Over his last five starts, he's posted a 1.65 ERA over 27.1 IP, allowed 22 hits and 5 walks, and struck out 26.

Minor League News And Notes

Good morning Fackers. Friday at last. T-minus eight hours until that sweet, glorious three day holiday weekend. I'll be wasting mine driving thirty one hours roundtrip to Charleston, SC and back for a wedding which I have no interest in attending. People who get married on holiday weekends should be forced to honeymoon in Guantanamo Bay.

To make matters worse, there will be no dinner served, so I'm sure it'll be cash bar as well (facepalm). The icing on the cake: the Charleston Riverdogs are out of town, so there'll be no checking in the Yankees low A affiliate for me. On the bright side, a wedding south of the Mason-Dixon line is all the excuse I need to wear a seersucker suit.

On to the minor league notes:

Curtis Granderson completed his minor league rehab assignment in the first game of Scranton's doubleheader yesterday. He played center field for all seven innings and went 0 for 2 with a walk yesterday, finishing his stint at 4 for 16 with 2 walks and no extra base hits over five games. He left for New York after the game and will be activated for tonight's series opener against Cleveland.

Recently signed Tim Redding has been named Scranton's starter for tomorrow's game, bumping Jason Hirsh from the rotation. Redding was signed more than two weeks ago, I'm surprised it took this long for the organization to assign him to an affiliate. As for Hirsh, he was a bit stunned by the move, but as Axisa noted in last night's DoTF, this move could be a positive sign for Hirsh. With Alfredo Aceves' immediate future a question mark, the organization could be grooming Hirsh for a long/middle relief role.

David Winfree has been absent from the Scranton line up since last Thursday. Yesterday word finally leaked that Winfree has been out with a sore left wrist but Scranton's intern Conor Foley tells RAB's Mike Axisa that Winfree should be back soon. Winfree was hitting a solid .283/.314/.455 while seeing time in the outfield corners and at first before hitting the shelf.

While Winfree's been out, fellow outfielder/first baseman Chad Huffman has been heating up, going .333/.405/.394 over his last ten games, running his line for the season to .285/.355/.445.

Speaking of wrist injuries, Trenton outfielder Dan Brewer rolled his wrist while making a diving catch last night. Hmm. Suspended game and an injury? Just like the big club does it. After the initial concern, Brewer stayed in the game. He's quietly putting together a nice season, with a decent walk rate and 16 steals in 17 attempts.

The bigger story in Trenton last night was Hector Noesi's second AA start. This one went much better than his first, as he allowed one single, one walk, and five strikeouts through three scoreless innings.

We're a day late on this one, but Trenton third baseman Brandon Laird hit for the cycle Wednesday, culminating the feat with a walkoff homer. Laird is posting an impressive .305/.356/.531 thus far, and new Pending Pinstripes contributor Josh points out that when adjusted for park, Laird's line is even more impressive. Josh also recognizes that Laird is pretty well blocked by Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, and John Nalbone expands on that, noting Laird is Rule 5 eligible after this season, which will force the Yankees to make some decisions about his future in the organization.

Also out of Trenton, catcher Neall French has retired. French was Trenton's third string catcher and had spent the entire year on the DL. With the catching depth in the Yankee system he likely saw the writing on the wall.

While one minor leaguer was leaving, another was returning. The organization brought back Rudy Guillen, who hasn't appeared in organized ball since 2007. The Yankees signed Guillen out of the Dominican Republic in 2000. After spending his career as outfielder, he made three appearances as a pitcher prior to washing out of the organization in 2007. It appears he'll be an outfielder again this time, and while Baseball America sees some potential left in him, it's going to be mighty hard to kick start a career at 26 after three years out of the game.

Andrew Brackman tossed six shutout innings last night, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out seven. Over his last four starts, Brackman has surrendered just six runs, five earned, over 22.1 IP (2.01 ERA). He's allowed just 19 hits and only four walks in that time, while striking out 19. It's a small sample and nothing to get too excited over. But with the struggles Brackman has had, and with Jeremy Bleich facing surgery, and with Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos yet to pitch this year, it's great to see one of the Yankees' high ceiling pitching prospects performing well.

Ring, Brackman, Burnett Take Home Gold

The final results have been tallied, the medals have been awarded, and the national anthems have been played. The 2010 Yankee Arcade Olympics have concluded. Here are the results, courtesy of Chad Jennings. Please note that no bronze medals were awarded as part of Hal Steinbrenner's budgetary constraint efforts.

Pop-a-Shot Basketball
Gold: Royce Ring
Silver: Mark Melancon

Congratulations guys, these are the only competitions you're likely to win this spring as the Yankee bullpen crunch has you both on the outside looking in. I had pegged the side arming Ring as a the Skee Ball favorite earlier today. No words as to whether that throwing motion translated to Pop-a-Shot and saw him shooting free throws Rick Barry style. Former collegiate basketball players Andrew Brackman and Randy Winn did not place.

Skee Ball:
Gold: Andrew Brackman
Silver: Eduardo Nunez

Brackman was a heavy favorite in basketball, but managed to medal in Skee Ball. The guy is like the Bo Jackson of arcade games. And since he had the accuracy to win the Skee Ball tournament, we can all expect great improvements upon his 26 wild pitches, 10 HBP, and 6.4 BB/9 from last year. Nunez made 33 errors at Trenton last year and rated at minus fifteen runs per 150 according to Total Zone, so he has experience in bouncing his throws to a target.

IndyCar Racing:
Gold: A.J. Burnett
Silver: Dana Cavalea

I figured Burnett as more of a NASCAR guy, but racing is racing I suppose. Dana Cavalea is the Yankees Strength and Conditioning coach.

Last year's billiard champion, Mariano Rivera, failed to medal, proving the he is in fact human. Of course, at 40 years old he likely grew up with primitive gaming systems like ColecoVision and Commodore 64, so he was working with a handicap today.

That's it for today Fackers. Jennings has pictures here and here. We'll be back tomorrow with real live baseball. Amen to that. We started the day with The Boss and we ended it talking about an arcade. I suppose I have to embed this now:

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis

An Arcade Tournament, a dark horse candidate that we didn't even handicap this morning, wins the day. Chad Jennings has the details. The team will participate in three events: skee ball, pop-a-shot basketball, and an Indy racing game.

Former NC State basketball player Andrew Brackman is the odds-on favorite for pop-a-shot. But the big fellas rarely do well from the charity stripe, so we may see a surpise contender emerge.

Side-arming lefty Royce Ring presumably would have the advantage in skee ball, but given Mo's control it wouldn't surprise me if he bullseyed every toss.

Jesus Montero's father is a mechanic, and Jesus dabbles in engine building, so I would imagine he has the inside track for Indy racing. I just hope A-Rod has learned his lesson and doesn't try to text while he's racing.

Poor Joba is stuck home with flu like symptoms, but he'll likely have some good games there to keep himself entertained.

Friday Morning Linkaround

Hang in there, Fackers. There sweet salvation of the weekend has almost arrived. Like yesterday, the the content is going to be fairly slow around here as the reports out of this stage of Spring Training aren't worth extrapolating upon and Matt and I are held up with the tedious obligations which actually provide us with monetary compensation. The best we can do is direct you towards some interesting reading material to hold you over:

Friend of the blog Marc Carig asked Joe Girardi a bunch of questions proposed by his Twitter followers. Carig polished up the best sub-140 character entries into actual queries and did his beat reportedly duty of following them up as well. (You can follow the Star-Ledger scribe on his personal Twitter account or with the paper. Or as I do, tag along with both.)

He doesn't go out of his way to publicize it or post on it very often, but Craig Calcaterra keeps a personal blog. Yesterday, inspired by the receipt of his Spring Training itinerary, he recalled his many unsuccessful attempts to have an enjoyable trip to Florida in the past.

Larry from Wezen-Ball used his uncanny powers of research to dig up some features from LIFE Magazine on Spring Training. The Wezenmaster also discovered, as we did last year, the bounty of Spring Training photos in the LIFE Photo Archive on Google, where we shamelessly sampled the banner of the site from. Poke around there and you'll find gems like the one at the top of the post.

Sorry Joe McCarthy, Joe Torre and Billy Martin. Rob Neyer could only find room for one former Yankee manager on Managerial Mount Rushmore. (I'm not counting John McGraw who managed the franchise for the first two seasons when they were still in Baltimore and called the Orioles before bolting to the New York Giants.)

The Bloomberg Sports Blog, headed by the esteemed Jonah Keri, is now up and running. It should be an excellent resource for fantasy geeks and statheads alike.

Jeremy Greenhouse of Baseball Analysts put the "Verducci Effect" under a scientific microscope and guess what... It doesn't pass the P-Value test.

In the Journal News, Chad Jennings notes that Yankee starters will begin their throwing schedule slightly later than normal due to the additional innings they tossed in the postseason.

Ben Shpigel profiled Andrew Brackman today in the New York Times.

The Sports Herina mined photo gold from Yankees camp.

Brew Crew Ball created a Mad Lib of sorts with which you can concoct your own passe Spring Training storylines. As Craig says, "It actually works pretty well. So well in fact that I wouldn't be surprised if the beat writer's guild has called an emergency meeting to see which of them was supposed to be on duty when the secret formula was stolen."

Alex Remington at Big League Stew compares Jonathan Papelbon's career thus far to Mariano Rivera's and concludes that they aren't as far apart as we so boldly stated on Wednesday.

Yankees Top Twenty Prospects

New Year's is a time to look ahead at what the next 365 days will hold. To that end, John Sickels released his Top Twenty Yankee Prospects list on New Year's Eve. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but Sickels is pretty sharp when it comes to all of this, and different people value prospects in different ways.

Here's the list:

1. Jesus Montero
2. Austin Romine
3. Manny Banuelos
4. Zach McAllister
5. Slade Heathcott
6. Marc Melancon
7. Gary Sanchez
8. JR Murphy
9. Kevin De Leon
10. D.J. Mitchell
11. Wilkins De La Rosa
12. David Adams
13. Corban Joseph
14. Adam Warren
15. Neil Medchill
16. David Phelps
17. Andrew Brackman
18. Jose Ramirez
19. Jeremy Bleich
20. Bryan Mitchell

Not ranked, but receiving honorable mention, was Brandon Laird. Laird made other news last week, as he, his brother Gerald, and a third individual were all arrested following a fight at a Phoenix Suns game. Perhaps Laird will spend 2010 with Rick Vaughn playing in the Penal League.

Yankees Top Ten Prospects Announced

Baseball America released their list of the Yankees' top ten prospects today. Head over and give it a read; lots of good stuff there.

Some thoughts:

• The Yankees top talent is at all the right places: on the mound and up the middle skill positions. The top ten is comprised of five pitchers, four catchers, and a center fielder. Don't get too hung up as to where there will be room for everyone. These are the types of players that are the most valuable trade chips.


• There is 50% turnover from last year's top ten list. Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, and Mark Melancon all graduated to the Major League level, though I believe Melancon can still be considered a prospect due to not having accrued enough MLB service time. Austin Jackson was the key chip in the Curtis Granderson trade, and Bradley Suttle dropped off the list after missing all of last year due to shoulder injuries.


• The list is a testament to how well the Yankees have rebuilt their system in recent years. Slade Heathcott and JR Murphy are the Yankees top two 2009 draft picks. Gary Sanchez was the organization's top 2009 international signee. Jeremy Bleich was the Yankees top signed pick from the 2008 draft; Manny Banuelos was an international free agent that year. Andrew Brackman and Austin Romine were the club's top two picks in 2007; Arodys Vizcaino was an international signing that year. Twenty year old Jesus Montero and twenty two year old Zach McAllister have been with the organization the longest, both since 2006.


• This is a very green list. We know the Yankees are thin at the top levels of the system. None of the 10 players on the list played above AA last year, although McAllister did make a playoff start for AAA Scranton. Montero and Bleich both saw time at AA Trenton last year, but McAllister is the only one on the list to spend all of 2009 above A ball. While it's great to have that much young talent, such talent is also less projectable. There's less probability for prospects who have yet reach AA to pan out.


• The Yankees top talent is also extremely, extremely young. At 24, Brackman is the oldest of the ten. Sanchez is the youngest at 16 and is one of five players on the list who is not yet twenty years old.


• The list breaks down to six draft picks and four international signings.

The link also runs down the organization's top skills:

• Montero of course is rated as both the best hitter and best hitter for power.


• Mike Dunn, who will be in the mix as a second lefty option out of the bullpen, has the best slider.


• Despite having four other catchers ranked ahead of him overall, Francisco Cervelli still grades out as the best defensive backstop.


• Recent Rule 5 pick Jamie Hoffmann is listed as the best defensive outfielder.


• Ramiro Pena is rated as the best defensive infielder; Eduardo Nunez has the best infield arm, and Reegie Corona was given the nod over Kevin Russo as having the best plate discipline. All four are on the 40 man roster and figure to compete for the utility infielder job in Spring Training.


• Juan Miranda currently sits atop the DH depth chart but is not rated at all by Baseball America.


• Melky Mesa, a single A outfielder who has less plate discipline than his namesake and is considered a non-prospect, rates as both the fastest baserunner, best athlete, and best outfield arm.

Keeping The Slow March Towards The Weekend Moving

Well folks, after an off day and before a West Coast game, as the season starts to wind down and the playoff picture becomes increasingly clear, there simply isn't as much to write about, either for us or the beat writers. The minor league season is over, so now we get to hear about how C.C. Sabathia is happy that, unlike last year, he isn't being ridden like a rented mule. We also discover that Mark Melancon is here to "get outs and throw strikes". Riveting stuff.

We can't really complain because neither Matt nor I have any more original ideas to shape into posts that don't involve making fun of Brett Tomko (more on that below), so we are left to cobble together another afternoon link aggregation. It's a slow day and we're try to do our part to help move it along. Here we go:

Bernie Williams is a better player than Omar Sosa! No, Richard Dreyfuss didn't hijack my keyboard, they both are nominated for a Latin Grammy for "Best Instrumental Album", an award roughly as prestigious as being named the Best Lefthanded Middle Reliever in the Pacific Coast League.

Turns out the Yanks/Blue Jays brawl was a laughing matter.

Did you read about Brett Tomko's last start, a complete game shutout against the Rangers, and think it was too good to be true? Well, it was. He threw 114 pitches that night and couldn't move his arm the next morning. He's been shut down for the season. (h/t RAB)

As expected, there are some juicy tidbits in wife-swapper Fritz Peterson's possibly ironically-titled upcoming book "Mickey Mantle Is Going To Heaven", namely that the Yankee Clipper was "arrogant" and the Chairman of the Board doctored the ball. (h/t CTB)

The Yankees are being sued for age discrimination by waiters from ages 66 to 80 that worked at the Old Stadium but were turned away from jobs in the new one. From my experiences with the cocktail waitresses at Harrahs in Las Vegas, I'm going to have to side with the Yankees on this one.

Another breakdown of Andrew Brackman's season, this time from FanGraphs.

Maybe the Yankees won't be starting next year at Fenway after all.

After blowing the Red Sox vs. Angels game on Wednesday, the umps involved have filed a grievance against the Angels coaches, because, you know, they were the ones who being "unprofessional" not the umps who completely blew the call.

The Mets have to be better next year, right? RIGHT?

Scranton Swept, Miranda Recalled

Crash Davis and the Durham Bulls completed a three game sweep of the Scranton Yankees last night, winning the Governor's Cup as International League champions and thwarting Scranton's attempt at going back-to-back.

Scranton jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Durham tied it the seventh off starter Ivan Nova (who we'll likely hear and see more from in 2010). It stayed tied until the top of the 12th, when Durham pushed the eventual winning run across. For those out there who like to blame Cody Ransom whenever possible, he went 1 for 5 and according to RAB's Mike Axisa, fanned to end the bottom of the ninth, with the winning run on third. He did however have the only two Scranton RBI on the night.

Also, check out durhambulls.com for the highlights from Game 2. The Bulls' keystone combination of Sean Rodriguez and Elliot Johnson (Francisco Cervelli's buddy from spring training 2008) turn a sweet double play.

After the game, the Yankees recalled first baseman Juan Miranda. He'll likely join the team in Seattle today. The Cuban expatriot was signed in December 2006 and hit .290/.369/.498 with 30 doubles and 19 homers in 502 PA this year. In a brief September call up last year, he hit .400/.500/.500 in 14 PA. Miranda was up for a day in April when Hideki Matsui's knees were acting up, but did not get into a game. As I speculated in our look at potential September call-ups at the start of the month, I expect the Yankees to showcase Miranda as much as possible this month and flip him in the off-season as he has very little chance of a future with the organization.

Miranda's recall puts the Yankees' Major League roster at 36. The only members of the 40 man roster not with the big club right now are Andrew Brackman, Wilkins De La Rosa, Christian Garcia, and Ian Kennedy, all of whom are some combination of injured and/or not ready for prime time.

According to SWB beat reporter Chad Jennings, Austin Jackson and Zach Kroenke were told nothing and will head home for the time being. The Yankees would have to make room on an already full 40 man roster to add either player.

Some Links To Get You Over The Hump

It's Wednesday. It's 3:00PM. It's one of the low points of the week. It's not an especially great day in the Yankisphere either, but here are some links to get you through the rest of the workday.

Fire Joe Morgan has been resurrected and taken over Deadspin for the day. I'm guessing that most of you are familiar with one or both of those entities, but even if you're not, check out this piece skewering Allen Barra's pitch for Derek Jeter as MVP. The headline sarcastically says it all.

PeteAbe reports that the Yanks have hit Torontowith pitches 8 times in the last five games between them while the Jays have hit the Yanks only twice and wonders if there is more to come tonight. We would also be remiss if we didn't point out that Pete is still claiming that the pitch Carlson threw behind Posada was off-speed and that John McDonald caused Joe Girardi's injuries that were visible on TV last night. It was a 90 MPH fastball according to Gameday and McDonald clipped Joe G. on the right side of his head as Matt pointed out this morning.

Pete also checks in with the official press release on 2010 ticket pricing which the Yankees oddly released a few minutes after the brawl last night.

Mike at RAB wraps up a three part series on Yankee prospect Andrew Brackman's tumultuous season down in Charleston. Check out parts one (the good) and two (the bad) as well.

Right on cue, Will Leitch ponders the implications of the loss of Andy Pettitte. To answer his last question, no, it isn't nice to finally have something to worry about.

Rob Neyer doesn't seem too concerned, though.

Tom Verducci checks in with his All-Decade Team and statistical leaders of the Aughts. Andy Pettitte has the most wins, A-Rod the most homers, Mo the most saves, and Jeter and Posada both find themselves with spots on the roster.

Here's someone from Boston who thinks Youk doesn't get the respect he deserves, in the national press (via BBTF). I think I know someone who would agree with that sentiment.

The fine folks at the Wall Street Journal have created a board game in honor of the Mets' season.

A complaint about Yankee Stadium security from the Bronx County Examiner. Don't worry, the problem had nothing to do with the writer of the article being a dick.

While looking for some background on the National Sports Daily, mentioned in a Deadspin post yesterday, I found a video promoting the now defunct newspaper that was supposed to revolutionize sports journalism back in 1991. It features editor-in-chief Frank Deford as the pitch man and has a cameo by the always smarmy Mike Lupica.

Deconstructing Roster Construction

As I did last week when I ripped into Joe Torre, I'm going to start off positive. I like Brian Cashman. I think he's the right GM for this franchise. I think he does a good job with his resources, has revitalized the farm system, handles the media well, and has maintained both a level head and his dignity through eleven plus years in one of the most demanding jobs in sports. I think he has a vision for the future of this franchise and has a plan for how to execute it.

I also like Joe Girardi. Sort of. When it was clear that Torre was gone, Girardi was the guy I wanted to get the job. Despite his hokey "aw-shucks" routine, penchant for dishonesty with the media, a sometimes prickly relationship with his players, and his making of head-scratching moves on a nightly basis, I still think he's the right guy for the job. No sense changing horses mid-race - he still needs time to accomplish what he's here to do.

That said, I'm reaching the point of exasperation with how these two are constructing both the 25 and 40 man rosters and how Girardi is utilizing the former. These things are easy to miss when they're winning, but tough not to ignore when they're losing.

So without further ado, here's a look at some of the fat taking up precious roster spots. For an detailed explanation on how the 25 and 40 man rosters work, check here.

Honorable Mention: 40 Man Roster Division

Andrew Brackman and Juan Miranda

I'm not suggesting that neither Andrew Brackman nor Juan Miranda isn't valuable or isn't good. The problem however is that both these individuals were given Major League contracts when they first signed, meaning that they immediately had to be added to the 40 man roster.

Andrew Brackman is currently pitching in Low A-ball after missing all of last year following Tommy John surgery. I can't see him reaching the Bronx until September 2010 at the earliest, and likely later than that. Which isn't to say that he can't be good, because he certainly can. But right now he's taking up a precious 40 man spot. Had Brackman not been signed to a Major League deal, he wouldn't need to be added to the 40 man until after the 2010 season. Thank you, Scott Boras.

Had it not been for his Major League contract, Juan Miranda would not need to be added to the 40 man roster until after this season. The guy can hit, posting .275/.366/.468 over his minor league career. He cannot field however, being a first baseman exclusively and not a very adept one at that. Since the Yankees are set at that position for the next eight years or so, Miranda is stuck. He can't play the outfield, hasn't been tried there even, and the Yankees already have two guys who are exclusively DHs at this point. Miranda has value; why he isn't being actively shopped for a more usable player doesn't make sense to me.

The 40 man roster allows you a reservoir of 15 reserves for replacements and injuries. These two men represent greater than 13% of that. So right off the bat, the Yankees are in a hole. Add to that the five guys currently on the 15 day DL and the Yankees have exactly 8 of their 15 reserves that they could reasonably use right now.

Active Roster Division

Listed in Order of Ascending Value to the Roster

1) Brett Tomko

Brett Tomko has no business being on a Major League roster. None. Yet here is, representing 4% of a team that's supposed to be contending for the World Series.

He's terrible. He's 36. He's been in the majors for 13 years. He's turned in 9 different stints with 7 different organizations. He's been released three times in the last twenty-one months, each time by a team far, far out of contention. He's turned in an ERA better than league average only twice in 12 seasons, and not once since 2004, despite playing the majority of his career in pitcher's parks. What in the world makes the Yankees think he's a more compelling option than any number of younger pitchers they have in AAA? Because he can fool minor league hitters that he has a dozen years of Big League experience on?

Not only is he awful, he has no defined role. The former starter apparently can't be used as a long man because he's been a short stint reliever this year. Yet he couldn't be trusted to pitch the ninth in a laugher against Baltimore last week, or hold an 11 run lead for an inning against Texas Monday. What the hell do you call the guy who's lower than the mop-up man? Meanwhile the Yankees cut loose Eric Hacker to add Tomko to the roster. Great work guys.

2) Angel Berroa
Angel Berroa is quite possibly worse than Brett Tomko. The only reason Tomko is worse on this list is that the organization has any number of better options to do what Tomko does. They don't have those players who can do what Berroa does. Or what Berroa is supposed to do, at least.

Let's recap. The Yankees wisely chose Ramiro Pena over Angel Berroa to be the utility infielder coming out of spring training. When Cody Ransom went down with a torn quadriceps, Berroa was added to the roster. Not ideal, but I could at least understand why they move was made. Another IFer was needed, even if he had hit .231/.272/.322 (54 OPS+) over his last 772 MLB PA. The Yanks didn't really have any other viable options in the system. Maybe Kevin Russo, but he can't play short. Neither can Berroa - but at least he has played short.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I figured. Berroa was added to the roster on 4/25. A-Rod returned to the roster on 5/8. I figured Berroa was gone. Nope. Both catchers went down necessitating a 40 man move. I figured Berroa was gone. Nope. Brett Tomko was inexplicably added to the roster necessitating a 40 man move. I figured Berroa was gone. Nope.

The company line is that the Yankees want another infielder around until they're sure A-Rod is healthy. A-Rod has not looked 100% in the field nor on the bases. Yet, he has started all 18 games since returning, 16 of them at 3B. He's completed all but 5 of those games, never being removed before the 8th nor before the outcome was all but settled. Are you sure yet?

Meanwhile, the biggest thing of value Berroa has done has been to warm up the pitcher when the catcher makes the last out of an inning. Since May 4th, he has appeared in five games, never earlier than the eight inning. He has zero plate appearances in that time. Zero. In that same time frame Brett Gardner has been used as a pinch hitter four times.

So basically the Yankees are saying that saving A-Rod 5 innings in the field over the past 3+ weeks has been worth sending Brett Gardner up as a pinch hitter rather than Shelley Duncan, John Rodriguez, Todd Linden, or Juan Miranda. The Yankees value their washed-up second back-up infielder more than they did the careers of young pitchers Stephen Jackson or Eric Hacker.

Pete Abe likes to joke about how old Berroa looks. I think the guy may actually be a cockroach, because it appears it'll take a nuclear winter to get him off the roster.

3) Jose Veras
Here's the thing about middle relievers: There's a reason they're middle relievers. They're not good enough to start and they're not good enough to close. With a few exceptions, anyone below the third guy in a pen is essentially a replacement level player. If he's not doing the job, chances are you have someone else behind him in the pen or below him in AAA who can.

Despite a high WHIP (1.41) and high BB/9 (4.5) last year, Veras was pretty effective over 57.2 innings, with a 124 ERA+ and a K/9 of 9.8.

This year he is not effective at all. The WHIP is up (1.45), the BB/9 is way up (6.1), the ERA+ (82) and K/9 (7.0) are significantly down. He's worse in every conceivable way and seems to go 3-0 on the first batter every time he's entered a game.

Yet the Yankees won't get rid of him because he's out of options. They can't send him down without exposing him to waivers and are afraid they'll lose him for nothing. I say "so what?". They got lucky, catching lightning in a bottle with him last year. He's no good this year. Relievers are volatile like that. That's how it works. Meanwhile Mark Melancon, Anthony Claggett, and until yesterday, David Robertson, rot away in Scranton.

As with Berroa and Tomko, Veras is a waste of a 40 man spot that could be better used on someone else who could give them more roster flexibility and at least equal performance.

4) Kevin Cash
Here's the catch-22 about being the Yankees. When you trot out a waste of a uniform like Kevin Cash and his career OPS+ of 36, people say things like "You're the Yankees. How in the world can you spend $200M and still have to resort to Kevin Cash?". And in a way, those people are right.

But at the same time, if you're the Yankees, how do you lure a decent catcher to sit in AAA and be an insurance policy behind Posada and Molina, and maybe even Cervelli, without paying him an arm and a leg, and having everyone bitch about how much money you spend?

With Posada coming off surgery and Molina being a zero offensively, Cashman should have had a better insurance policy lined-up, preferably one who wasn't a worse hitter than Molina. But I can understand at least, why that may not have happened.

This shouldn't matter much longer. Posada could be back by the weekend and Cash should immediately be DFA'd. If they send Cervelli down first I'll flip my lid. Who cares if they lose Cash? Number 1, he's awful. Number 2, what are the chances of needing a fourth catcher again this year? Number 3, they still have Chris Stewart and PJ Pilittere at Scranton if such a situation arises. And Number 4, last year's emergency catcher, Chad Moeller, will likely be DFA'd Friday when Baltimore activates uber-prospect Matt Wieters. I would not be surprised at all to see Moeller sign a minor league deal with the Yanks.

I can't wait to be rid of Cash.

5) Chien-Ming Wang
I almost feel bad putting him on this list. I'm very confident that Wang can return to form. However, as I stated last week and as RAB put far more eloquently, I think the Yankees have botched his return very badly.

He is clearly not right yet. But in order to get right, he's going to have to do it at the Major League level, because there's no way he gets through waivers and there's very little chance of DLing him again after the first one was kind of suspect. But because Joba took a liner and the Yankees apparently hate the other pitchers on their 40 man, they panicked, deviated from a course of action they had planned just the day before, and foolishly rushed Wang back into a role for which he is neither suited nor ready.

What's more is he has to fix his problems working out of the pen despite having relieved just four times in his entire professional career. And much like Tomko, I have no friggin' clue how Girardi intends to use him. Last night Joba was pulled after four innings and Girardi went to Aceves for the second straight day. If you're not going to use Wang when your starter only goes four, when are you going to use him?

Now, Wang has gone four days without pitching. He's a sinker baller. Sinker ballers need work and they even tend to pitch a bit better when slightly fatigued. Wang's sinker is not sinking, which is a big cause of his problems right now. I have no clue how he's going to get straightened out. I fear 2009 may turn out to be a total loss for him.

If you're keeping score at home, that's five of the twenty-five men on the active roster. Twenty percent of the active roster offering little or no value to the club right now. Throw in an injury that will likely sideline Melky for a few days and the Yankees essentially have a 19 man roster. A lot of this can be fixed by players getting healthy, but much of it is of Cashman's and Girardi's own making. I hope that once players start returning, the Tomkos, Berroas, Verases, and Cashes of the world are finally exiled and some players that offer a little more flexibility are added to the roster.