More Roster Speculation

AAA Scranton has a game in Norfolk this afternoon, and after a look at the lineups, you can pretty much disregard everything I said this morning. Chad Moeller is behind the plate in that game, so there's virtually no chance he'll be in the Bronx tonight.

Jesus Montero is not in the lineup today, but I wouldn't read too much into it. This likely a routine day off; he's hasn't had one in a week. (Insert joke about Jesus resting on the seventh day). Besides, there's virtually no chance that the organization wants to start Montero's arbitration and free agency at this point, particularly when he's struggled a bit through his first month at AAA.

Also of note is that usual center fielder Greg Golson is not in today's lineup. Perhaps he may be recalled after all. I don't know the specifics of Posada's situation right now, but I'd think having a third catcher around is more important than having a fifth outfielder around over the next few days.

[UPDATE 12:40 PM: Golson is already in NY and expected to be activated tonight]

Lastly, with Golson out of the lineup and Colin Curtis on the DL, Kevin Russo gets his first career start in center field. A second baseman by trade, Russo and fellow infielders Reegie Corona and Eduardo Nunez have rotated through the three infield spots this year. Russo made seven outfield appearances in 2008, but this is his first action in center. His presence there today could be nothing at all, or it could be part of turning him into a super utility player. He carries a .290/.371/.419 line on the young season, including a scorching .368/.400/.605 over his last ten games. If he continues swinging the bat well and is capable of playing all over the diamond, Russo could offer a compelling option to give the big club's bench a little more flexibility.

Garko A Good Fit For Bench Spot

Good morning Fackers. The Yankees made a few more cuts yesterday. Outfielders David Winfree, whom we touched upon briefly last week, and Jon Weber (pictured to the left) were sent to minor league camp. If you are to believe the story being bandied about in various media outlets, Weber, despite leading the organization in the all important category of Spring Training batting average, was farmed out for the sin of being a left handed batter. And I'm sure that has everything to do with it; the fact that Weber is 32 years old with 11 years of professional experience and zero days of Major League service time assuredly has no bearing upon the decision.

The demotions of Weber and Winfree leave Marcus Thames as the only non-roster outfielder left in camp. Thames, unlike Weber, is right handed batter and that's something specific the Yankees are looking for in their fifth outfielder. With Curtis Granderson's well-documented struggles against left handed pitching, lingering concerns about lefty swinging Brett Gardner's ability to hold down an everyday job, and Randy Winn coming off the absolute worst season of a right handed batter vs. lefty pitching in the past 55 years, the team wants a lefty masher for the fifth outfielder spot.

It's been assumed that Thames has all but won the job since Jamie Hoffmann was returned to the Dodgers last week. But, Joe Girardi said last night that Thames is not yet assured a spot, and Brian Cashman has said repeatedly over the past week that the Yankees would continue to monitor the trade market and waiver wire for other options.

Interestingly enough, another option came available just yesterday. The Seattle Mariners have decided to waive Ryan Garko, whom they signed just last month after he was foolishly non-tendered by the Giants. The Mariners, perhaps the most run prevention focused club in baseball, decided that Casey Kotchman's defense, Mike Sweeney's clubhouse presence, and an open roster spot were more valuable to the team, despite Garko's economical $550k contract, two remaining options, and rather potent bat relative to the rest of their roster.

Garko, like Thames, mashes left handed pitching. His career line of .313/.392/.495 in 485 PA against southpaws is actually better than Thames' .256/.329/.516 line in 691 PA. Garko's also four years younger and has two years of arbitration eligibility left.

The potential fly in the ointment is that Garko isn't really an outfielder, with just twelve games of professional experience there. However, Thames is a poor outfielder as well. And with plus defensive players in Gardner and Winn, the team could afford to sacrifice some defensive proficiency in the fifth outfielder spot in exchange for offensive prowess.

Garko is of some value defensively, as he's a passable first baseman and was a catcher for the first three years of his pro career. While he shouldn't ever again don the tools of ignorance unless it's an absolute emergency, his ability to play first would be of use to the Yankees. Nicks Johnson and Swisher figure to be Mark Teixeira's back ups should he need a day off or miss some time due to something like a hit by pitch square on his elbow. The pitfall with that arrangement is that if Teixeira were to miss more a few games at a time, the Yankees would be shifting one of their regulars to first base and replacing him with an offensively inferior player such as Winn. Garko's presence on the roster would safeguard against that.

Garko projects as a close to a 1.0 WAR player this year and his $550k salary is easily absorbable. With two open spots on their 40 man roster and more than $2M of payroll flexibility following the release of Chad Gaudin, the Yankees would be wise to place a claim on Garko if he falls that far down the waiver wire.

The Flexibility Of The 2010 Bench

Good morning Fackers. Late last August, the Yankees rolled into to Fenway park for their final visit to Boston on the season. The Yankees entered the weekend set with a 6.5 game lead in the AL East, so the series was an important one - particularly for the Red Sox. Though the Yankees had lined up Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, and CC Sabathia to start the three games, the rest of the pitching staff was in a state of flux. The plan to limit Joba Chamberlain's innings down the stretch left him, Sergio Mitre, and Chad Gaudin in various states of limited availability.

Given that, Joe Girardi's love of playing the match ups, and the tendency of Yankee-Red Sox games to turn into four and half hour slug fests, the team decided to add an extra pitcher for the series, activating the long-disabled Damaso Marte and sending down Ramiro Pena. The move left the Yankees with a 13 man pitching staff and a three man bench, consisting of Eric Hinske, Jerry Hairston Jr, and Jose Molina.

With Brett Gardner's broken thumb keeping him on the DL and Pena on his way to Scranton, Hairston was left as the primary back up at 2B, 3B, SS, and CF. When nagging injuries took Johnny Damon out of the line up for the series' first two games, the bench was truncated even further, leading to some misadventures for Eric Hinkse in front of the Green Monster.

Complicating matters, the first two games were absolute laughers. The Yankees dropped a 20-11 hurting on the Sox in game one, then the Sox returned the favor wth a 14-1 beatdown in game two. With such lopsided contests taking place relatively late in the season, it would have been nice for the team to be able to rest pivotal, older players like 35 year old Derek Jeter, 38 year old Jorge Posada, and 34 year old Alex Rodriguez, who was just months removed from hip surgery. Instead, the truncated bench left the Yankees with very few options. Posada caught every inning of the two games. With only Hairston on the bench, Jeter played all of game one while A-Rod got the late innings off, while game two saw Hairston sub for Jeter and Jose Molina make his only career appearance at third base so that A-Rod could get some rest.

Why do I bring all this up some seven months later? Because Francisco Cervelli played two innings at third base in Wednesday's game. Unlike Molina's stint there last year, this was planned. All Yankee catchers take groundballs at some infield position (Jesus Montero taking grounders at first created a minor stir earlier in Spring Training), and with Cervelli being a converted shortstop, there was little harm in throwing him at the hot corner during the late innings of an exhibition game.

By the time the 2010 season is over, Wednesday's little experiment will likely be long forgotten, but I think it was important. With older, valuable players like Jeter, A-Rod, and Posada amongst the regulars, it would be nice if the Yankees had the luxury of resting them in blowouts. Last August's series in Boston showed some of the pitfalls of an inflexible roster. Whereas that situation was the result of injuries and a bloated pitching staff, the 2010 Yankees are shaping up to be less flexible by design.

Gone are Hairston and Hinkse from last year's bench, both of whom were capable of playing both the infield and outfield. In their place are Randy Winn and presumably Marcus Thames, who are exlcusively outfielders, though Thames has minimal experience at first base. As such, Ramiro Pena is the lone utility infielder on the club, meaning that only one of Jeter or A-Rod could be rested at any one time. This shouldn't be a big deal, unless some injury should befall one of them in the late innings on a laugher. Giving Cervelli some experience at third might serve the team well in the future.

As for Cervelli, there is value in it for him as well. His lack of a potent bat, even by catcher standards, has him universally projected as a career back up. With Jesus Montero and Austin Romine not far off, and Gary Sanchez, JR Murphy, and Kyle Higashioka behind them, increasing Cervelli's versatility will increase his chances of long term survival with the Yankees and will increase his value overall. Getting him some experience at another position was something we touched upon last year when Cervelli was demoted.

There is a further option still in camp who could also increase roster flexibility. It is all but assured that Marcus Thames will win the final outfield spot. But David Winfree is still in camp. Just 24, Winfree has spent the entirety of his seven year minor league career in the Twins system, reaching AAA last season. Like Thames, Winfree is right handed bat with some pop, averaging nearly 15 HR per season over the last five years. Though he's spent the last two years exclusively as an outfielder, Winfree has extensive minor league experience at third base and first base. From a flexibility perspective, Winfree could offer the Yankees more than Thames, but Thames bat and track record will likely earn him the job.

But Winfree is still young, and former scout Frankie Piliere feels he has a future ahead of him. We may yet see him on the Bronx during the 2010 season.

Hairston Signs With Padres

Good morning Fackers. Yet another left field/bench option came off the board yesterday, as Jerry Hairston joined his brother Scott in San Diego by signing a one year $2.125M deal with the Padres. According to Buster Olney, the Yankees never even made Hairston an offer, despite reports last week that the club was in "serious talks" with him.

Acquired at the trade deadline last year, Hairston was a useful player for the Yankees, capable of playing each infield and outfield position. Losing Hairston certainly isn't going to ruin the 2010 season. The Yankees have four young utility infielder options on their 40 man roster in Ramiro Pena, Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez. And even if the slim chance of Johnny Damon returning doesn't pan out, there are several viable left field platoon options on the free agent market in Reed Johnson, Xavier Nady, and Rocco Baldelli.

What doesn't exist on the free agent market is a supersub utility player with the defensive versatility of Hairston. Such a player isn't a must have for the Yankees, but given their roster construction, it is a nice luxury to have.

The Yankees figure to have a four man bench next season. One spot will be earmarked for Francisco Cervelli as the back up catcher. For better or worse, a second spot has to be reserved for Rule 5 pick Jamie Hoffmann, who currently profiles as the fourth outfielder. A third spot will go to a utility infielder, likely one of the four above with Pena and Russo appearing to be the leading candidates at present. That leaves just one spot, which will likely be filled by another outfielder, most likely a right handed platoon partner for Brett Gardner and/or Curtis Granderson.

However, assuming the Yankees elect to keep Hoffmann and sign another outfielder for that fourth bench spot, they are left with a single utility infielder on the roster. Given the quality of the Yankees' starting infield, this isn't a major concern. But, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are two of the three most valuable position players on the team - if not the two most valuable. They will be 34 and 35, respectively, on Opening Day. While both should be in the line up daily, having a second infielder on the bench gives the Yankees the option of resting both, rather than choosing to rest just one, in blowout games, on turf, day games after night games, etc. It's not a situation that should arise often, but it does arise on occasion, as evidenced by Jose Molina's cameo at third base last year.

Both Russo and Pena have minimal outfield experience, but I can't imagine the Yankees carrying one of them as a second infielder in that fourth bench spot because they feel either could also serve as realistic outfield option.

As we saw last season, the bench changes over the course of the year. Hairston and Eric Hinske were the two main contributors off the bench last season and both were mid-season pick ups. Whatever team leaves Tampa in early April assuredly won't be the same that finishes up in October. But for the time being the Yankees have lost a solid, versatile bench option in Jerry Hairston. Best of luck to him in San Diego.

Would Hairston Be "Perfect" For The Yankees?

As mentioned earlier this morning, the Yankees are rumored to be "in serious talks" to bring back Jerry Hairston, Jr. Rob Neyer contends that he would be the "perfect Yankee", but I'm not so sure.

The source of that rumor was a tweet by ESPN's Chris Singleton, who added that the Yankees would use the 33 year old utility man to "spell Jeter and Rodriguez and platoon in left possibly". Hairston is capable of playing every position 3-9, but the problem is that he's not particularly well-suited to any of the three tasks Singleton listed.

Although he's right handed, Hairston doesn't make much sense as a platoon partner for Brett Gardner. In his career against left handers, Hairston has put up a weak line of .264/.323/.386, which is better than Gardner but much worse than Reed Johnson (.313/.378/.463) who is also available. Hairston does figure to be an asset defensively, but just how much of one is largely up to your imagination. His 37.7 UZR/150 in LF is simply too good to be true considering it's based on only 132 games and 594 innings there.

Hairston has similar sample size issues with his defense on the left side of the infield, but not the same encouraging results. He's started only 46 games at 3B (40 of them last year) and made 10 errors in that time. Shortstop is a relatively new position to him as well, having logged only 533 career innings there with almost all of them coming in the last two years. The initial numbers say his range isn't great at either position.

Additionally, the Yankees already have four utility infielders on the 40 man roster - Ramiro Pena, Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Russo & Reegie Corona. Hairston figures to contribute more offensively than any of them, but Pena in particular is a far superior defender at both short and third.

Joe from River Ave. Blues explained how Hairston, acting as a back up infielder and outfielder, would free up a spot on the bench. Since the Yankees 12 man pitching staff affords room for only four extra position players, flexibility is at a premium. But production is the end goal, not flexibility.

While Hairston could play a number of positions, he doesn't excel at any of them - at least not in the capacity the Yankees would utilize him. The upshot is that he might save a roster spot by performing multiple functions for the Yanks, but that would only be useful if they could fill that spot with a player who can offer something that Hairston can't. Are the Yanks willing to spend a couple million dollars on a guy who is a bridge to signing another bench player? Because that's the only way it would make sense to bring him back.

News And Notes

Some news and notes regarding the Yankees:

• Eric Hinske has signed with the Braves. Hinske was a nice mid-season pick up for the Yankees last year and a useful bench piece. While some have expressed concern over the state of the Yankee bench at present, let's not forget that two of last year's most useful bench pieces - Hinske and Jerry Hairston Jr - were mid-season pick ups. With the talent level in the Yankees everyday line up, it's hard to attract good veteran bench players. The Yankees also have a need to keep some roster flexibility with their bench and they can't easily do that with an optionless player like Hinske. Juan Miranda may offer similar offensive value and the team has to be willing to allocate a spot to Rule 5 pick up Jamie Hoffman or risk losing him back to the Dodgers.

• The Braves have a need for pop in the outfield corners, a need for insurance behind Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus at the infield corners, and a need for a good pinch hitter as an NL club. Hinske makes a lot of sense for them and he stands to get 350 AB or so. Plus, he gets a Major League deal from them where the Yankees likely would have pushed for a minor league one.

• Meanwhile, with Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, and Mike Cameron signed, and the Braves likely at their budget, Johnny Damon is virtually painted into a corner. Lucky for him, his agent is just now "in the process of turning his attention" to Damon. I'm sure Johnny's happy about that. If you take Brian Cashman's recent comments to Pete Caldera and Chad Jennings at face value, there's virtually no chance returns to the Yankees. But I don't see a better match out there. Just last night perpetual Boras mouthpiece Jon Heyman suggested Damon could return to the Yankees on their terms. While I wouldn't rule it out, I'm not sure whether the latest report is Heyman leaking Boras speak or Heyman just throwing shit at the wall. You never can tell.

• One thing to keep in mind about the Damon situation is that a $6M salary would represent a more than 50% paycut for him. On multiple occasions this year Brian Cashman has speculated that players who take a paycut are less inclined to do so for their former employer. It worked with Andy Pettitte last year, but Pettitte's a unique case, had an incentive laden deal, and was still semi-vocal about his displeasure. Given some of the accusations hurled at Damon in The Yankee Years, I wonder if the Yankees have particular concerns about Damon's demeanor should return to the Yankees at a greatly reduced pay rate.

• Sergio Mitre and the Yankees agreed on a deal yesterday, avoiding arbitration. Jerry Crasnick reports it's an $850K base salary with incentives.

• The Yankees announced yesterday that entire coaching staff will return in 2010. No real surprise there, but outside of Joe Girardi and Kevin Long, everyone's contract expired at the conclusion of last year.

• Aroldis Chapman will reportedly sign soon, and Buster Olney tweets that the Yankees won't be involved. That's A-OK by me.

Minor League Monday: Kevin Russo

Two weeks ago, we filed our final Jackson Report for 2009, taking a look at top Yankee prospect Austin Jackson. In it, I mentioned that we hoped to fill the void of the off-season by taking a look at some of the prospects in the Yankee system. To that end, we'll be running a Minor League Monday series, taking a look at a Yankees' prospect each week.

This week it'll be infielder Kevin Russo, who was just added to the Yankees 40 man roster. Russo isn't quite the highly touted prospect that Jackson is or some of our future subjects are, but he is close to Big League ready and likely will see time in the Bronx in 2010.

A native of Suffolk County, Russo is 25 and was drafted out of Baylor in the 20th round of the 2006 draft. He made his professional debut in the Gulf Coast Rookie League that summer, spent 2007 with High-A Tampa, 2008 with AA Trenton, and 2009 with AAA Scranton. He's increased his batting average in each of his four seasons, peaking at .326 this year thanks to a double digit jump in his line drive percentage. He's a .300 hitter for his minor league career, has shown good plate discipline with a .360 career OBP, including a .397 mark in AAA last year. He's also a good contact hitter, with a career K% of 15.7% and no more than 66 strikeouts in any one season.

Defensively, Russo is primarily a second baseman. He's seen a decent amount of time at third base, has made a half dozen appearances at both shortstop and left field, and has made one apperance in right field. Clearly, Russo will not usurp Robinson Cano as the Yankee second baseman, so his role be that of a utility infielder. As such, he'll have to show an ability to play a passable shortstop if he's going to be of any value. He never appeared at the position until this past season, and has both the least experience at short and the poorest defensive reputation of any of the four utility infielders currently on the Yankees 40 man roster. He does, however, have easily the best offensive skill set of the four. If he can continue to be servicable in the outfield that would only add to his value. As I stated way back in July, I'd like to see Russo get the Ramiro Pena treatment and see some time in center field as well.

Russo greatest skill is his ability to get on base. However, as we saw with Brett Gardner, minor leaguers with good on base skills but poor power often struggle at the Big League level. The pitching is of a higher quality, the control is generally better, and the pitchers are unafraid to challenge such hitters when they know there's little chance of a ball leaving the yard. It took Gardner some time to make the adjustment and we may see something similar with Russo when he gets his chance.

2009 was easily Russo's best season as a pro, and it came in his first year at AAA. He was named a post-season All-Star by the International League and a AAA All-Star by Topps. With the exception of a hiccup in 2007, he's shown steady improvement throughout his minor league career, and has done so while advancing a level each year. His performance at Scranton this past season translates to a Major League equivalent of .280/.344/.363. Two of those numbers will play at the Major League level; the third is pretty abysmal and would have in the bottom twenty amongst American Leaguers with at least 350 PA in 2009.

CHONE has him at .272/.326/.382, The Replacement Level Yankees Weblog has him at .249/.311/.338 in their first CAIRO projections, and ZiPS has him at .260/.312/.351 with an OPS+ of 78, while providing average defense at second and third. For what it's worth, CAIRO was the most accurate projection system in 2009 - and unfortunately for Russo that's the one that takes the most pessimistic outlook on him. As far as I know, PECOTA and Marcel are unreleased at present, and I think Marcel just puts rookies at league average anyway.

Depending upon how the off-season shakes out, Russo has a small chance to make the club as a bench player out of Spring Training. More likely though, he'll start the season at Scranton. I'd expect the organization to try to get him some time at shortstop and in the outfield to round out his value as a utility player and perhaps implement a program or approach to attempt to increase his power a bit. Either way, I expect to see Kevin Russo in pinstripes at some point in 2010.

Impact Of A Potential Hairston Injury

Early yesterday afternoon the Yankees wrapped up their first series victory in Anaheim since May 2004. The lower portions of the bullpen caste system held a one run lead for two and a third innings. Ian Kennedy returned to a Major League mound for the first time in over a year and just months removd from surgery to repair an aneurysm. A playoff spot is clinched and the magic number for the division and homefield is down to five. But there is one potential drawback from yesterday's victory.

One pitch into his seventh inning plate appearance, Jerry Hairston Jr had to leave the game after feeling a pop in his wrist while taking a practice swing. After the game, Peter Abraham reported that Hairston initially injured the wrist earlier this season while he was still with Cincinnati and both an MRI and a cortisone shot nearly two weeks ago. He is scheduled for another MRI today to assess the extent of the damage.

No one would consider Hairston a key part of the Yankees roster, but he certainly serves a valauble role. While his offensive production has fallen off a bit since his arrival, he's getting on base at a good clip (.346 with the Yanks) and he's suffering from a very low BABIP (.233). But Hairston's greatest value comes in his versatility. A second baseman originally, since coming over at the deadline Hairston has appeared 15 times at third, 8 at short, 9 at both of the corner outfield positions, and twice in center.

It's too early to be jumping to conclusions at this point, but if Hairston's injury is enough to shelve him for October, it would likely take the Yankees two roster spots to replace his versatility. Ramiro Pena was a good candidate to make the post-season roster anyway, and he can easily replace, if not exceeed, what Hairston can offer on infield defense. But while Pena did get seven games of experience in centerfield with Scranton this year, he's yet to play the outfield at the Major League level.

The issue is that the Yankees currently don't have any other real outfield options to replace Hairston. This shouldn't be too big of an issue since Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner will be the fourth outfielder anyway. But if Gardner somehow gets burnt as pinch runner, the Yankees are now looking at a less palatable option as a late inning defensive replacement for Johnny Damon. Eric Hinske is present strictly for his bat. So an injury to Hairston could increase the chances of Freddy Guzman making the post-season roster.

If Hairston is out for an extended period, I'd expect the Yankees to use the season's final week to assess their options. This could mean Pena seeing some time in the outfield or Guzman getting a few starts. Depending upon the extent of the injury and what direction the Yankees decide to go in the aftermath, there's even a chance that we could see Austin Jackson before the season is over, and potentially in the post-season as well.

In commenting on Joba Chamberlain early this week, Brian Cashman seemed to indicate that the Yankees would only carry ten pitchers for the ALDS. If that's the case, they'll have a six man bench at their disposal. Jose Molina, Gardbrera, Hinske, and Pena are virtual locks for those spots right now. How the remaining two openings are filled will hinge upon what happens in an MRI tube at some point today.

Recycling A Thirty-Five Year Old Bad Idea

Good morning Fackers. This is Herb Washington. More specifically, this is Herb Washington's 1975 Topps baseball card, to which our black and white policy here does absolutely no justice (check the color photo here). You may notice that Washington's position on the card is listed as "pinch runner". He is the only man in the 59 year history of Topps baseball cards to have such a position listed on his card.

Washington was a track and field star at Michigan State University in the late sixties and early seventies. He hadn't played baseball since high school, but that didn't deter colorful Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley from signing him to be his "designated runner" in 1974. The A's used six different players as a pinch running specialists during the mid-70s, but Washington was the most famous amongst the six, and was the only one of them to never register a plate appearance nor appear in the field defensively.

In 1974 and 1975, Washington appeared in 105 games for the A's, scored thirty three runs, stole thirty one bases and was caught stealing seventeen times (64.6% SB). He appeared in five post-season games in 1974 without scoring a single run or stealing a base, getting caught stealing in both his ALCS appearances and getting picked off first as the tying run in the ninth inning of Game Two of the World Series.

So why do I bring up one of Charlie Finley's several unorthodox innovations some thirty-five years later? Well, because as I mentioned in yesterday's game preview, the Yankees added Freddy Guzman to the 40 man roster and recalled him from Scranton. Ostensibly, Guzman is an outfielder, but according to Joe Girardi's pre-game comments yesterday, he is now in the mix for the post-season roster as a pinch running specialist.

I'm trying to remain level-headed about this for the moment. With less than three weeks left in the season and relatively comfortable leads in both AL East and homefield races, there isn't any major harm in giving some lesser known quantities a look - even if that quantity is 28 years old and not really a prospect. And while in principal I don't like DFA'ing young unproven commodities (not to mention the PTBNL the Yankees still owe the Orioles from the initial deal) for guys that haven't appeared in the Big Leagues in two years and have washed out of five different organizations since then, losing Anthony Claggett shouldn't be that big of a deal - I just hope he gets an opportunity elsewhere to get his career ERA under 30.00.

However, unless Freddy Guzman proves to be baseball's version of The Flash, can cut the bag perfectly, read every pitcher flawlessly, and get incredible jumps off the pitcher and off the bat each time, I have no interest in him being on the post-season roster.

Giving a guy a look when you have a 40 man roster and essentially are playing with house money is one thing. Carrying a guy as one of twenty-five when each game pushes you closer to the ultimate goal or going home is quite another. Each of one of those post-season roster spots is precious, and they should be filled in such a manner as to optimize a team's chances of winning. Despite Freddy Guzman's considerable speed, he is not a good baseball player and his shortcomings in the other aspects of the game are not made up for by his ability to run from base to base really fast.

I understand that the Yankees have an excellent line up from top to bottom, and that the center field spot will likely be the only one to ever need a pinch hitter. I realize that resident speedster Brett Gardner may occupy that CF spot from time to time and that pinch hitting for him would remove his considerable speed from the game. I realize that Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui are likely to require a pinch runner from time to time. As Brett Gardner reminded us last night, I realize all too well that despite its inherent risks, there are certain points in the game where a stolen base can be exceedingly valuable. I realize that if the Yankees finish with the best record in the league and choose the "A" schedule for the ALDS that they'll only need three starting pitchers and can likely afford to carry an extra position player. But none of that means Freddy Guzman should make the post-season roster.

Freddy Guzman has appeared in 37 MLB games since 2004. He has stolen five bases and has been caught three times. In 95 plate appearances he has hit .213/.263/.281. He has an astounding 25.1 UZR/150 as a center fielder, but given that he's played the equivalent of 18 games there, sample size is a huge issue.

In 2,174 AAA plate appearances since 2003, Guzman has hit an unimpressive .266/.337/.356 and has stolen an impressive 250 bases in 296 attempts (84.5%). In four (four!) AAA stops this year he's swiped 45 in 54 attempts (83.3%) and has hit .223/.272/.294 in 381 PA. Without adjusting for park, that triple slash line has a Major League equivalent of about .194/.236/.251 with 38 SB in 48 attempts. For comparison's sake, Braves pitcher and former Yankee Javier Vazquez is hitting .194/.231/.242 this year and he's only about the fifteenth best hitting pitcher in the NL. In other words, save for on the bases, Freddy Guzman has no discernible value, and given the importance of offense and defense relative to base running, his excellence in this one facet of the game does not justify his presence on the roster.

I imagine the Yankees will carry 11 pitchers in the post-season, potentially even 10 in the ALDS . That would leave them with a five or six man bench. Gardbrera, Jose Molina, Eric Hinske, and Jerry Hairston Jr are mortal locks for four of those spots. Candidates for the remaining spot(s) include Ramiro Pena, Shelley Duncan, potentially even Francisco Cervelli, Juan Miranda, or any number of players at Scranton not currently on the 40 man (Austin Jackson, Kevin Russo) who are superior to Freddy Guzman.

While the remaining options certainly don't offer the speed Guzman does, several of them are not slow and offer value that Guzman does not. Pena is a sure handed fielder, provides another middle infield option for substitutions in blowouts, can play the outfield in a pinch, and is no slouch on the bases. Duncan could be a weapon off the bench against a left handed relief specialist and can the play OF corners or first. Miranda could be a dangerous bat against right handed pitching.

Guzman would be a waste of a roster spot. The Yankees will have sufficient pinch runners in the back-up center fielder, Hairston, and (hopefully) Pena. All of them offer value beyond speed on the bases. If the Yankees insist upon carrying someone strictly as a pinch runner, maybe they should consider Edwar Ramirez - at the very least he could eat up a few innings too if a game were to get out of hand.