Ralph Houk: 1919-2010

He was nowhere near the mythical figure of George Steinbrenner or the constantly stately presence of Bob Sheppard, but yesterday, just a few weeks shy of his 91st birthday, former Yankee catcher, manager, and general manager Ralph Houk passed away in his home in Winter Haven, Florida.

Drafted by the Yankees in 1939, Houk played three years of minor league ball before voluntarily enlisting with the Army Rangers. He attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Riley in Kentucky and eventually participated in the invasion of Normandy and The Battle of the Bulge. After being shot in the calf during the latter, he returned to the battlefield immediately after he had the wound bandaged.

Later in that same battle, Houk disappeared for three days after he was sent him out to doing some scouting of enemy troops, his commanding officer recalled:

When he turned up he had a three-day growth of beard and hand grenades hanging all over him. He was back of the enemy lines the entire time. I know he must have enjoyed himself. He had a hole in one side of his helmet, and a hole in the other where the bullet left. When I told him about his helmet, he said 'I could have swore I heard a ricochet.' We marked him 'absent without leave' but were glad to have him back alive.

Houk returned from the war decorated with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with an oak leaf cluster and a Purple Heart and earned the nickname The Major.

When he rejoined the Yankees in 1946, he started in AA and made the jump to AAA mid-way through the season. When the '47 season rolled around, he found himself serving as Yogi Berra's back up for the Big League club and went 3 for 3 with a double and a walk in his debut on April 26th. He only made it to the plate 104 times in that season, and it would turn out to be a career high, never amassing more than 14 in the remainder of his eight years with the Yankees. During all that downtime, he talked with the pitchers out int he bullpen and started collecting an impressive amount of knowledge about all angles of the game.

He began his career as a manager before he even hung up his cleats. The Yankees named him manager of their AAA team at the time, the Denver Bears, and he strapped on his gear and took a couple of hacks at the plate in 1955 before deciding his days as a player were over. In 1958, he left Denver to serve as Casey Stengel's first base coach, where he remained for three years.

The experiences The Major had in the army ended up coming in handy when he took over for the ousted Stengel before the 1961 season, as he said in an interview with Time Magazine:

Being in the war probably helped my managing. It made me understand the problems young men have and the pressures they go through not only in a war but in baseball.

By most accounts, Houk was a "player's manager" but possessed a fierce temper which he would occasionally direct towards the umpiring crew. He wouldn't throw one of his men under the bus to the media, but he would unload on them behind closed doors if he perceived a lack of effort.

Houk would arrive to the ballpark four hours early - something that wasn't nearly as common is those days as it is now - to begin preparing for the day's game. He spent that time looking over line up cards and strategizing with his coaches and scouts about the opponent to see if he could "pick up one or two little things".

His disciplined preparation - along with an incredibly loaded roster - brought the Yankees two World Series titles in his first two seasons at the helm and an AL Pennant in the third. After the 1963 season, however, Houk became general manager and asked Yogi Berra to be his skipper. The Yanks lost in the Fall Classic again in 1964 and Houk (unpopularly) fired Berra and replaced him with Jonny Keane.

After Keane led the team to a 77-85 record in 1965 (good for just 6th place in the AL after five consecutive pennants) and began the '66 season 4-16, Houk took over as manager once again. The Yanks finished in last place that, 9th out of 10 the following season, and had descended into mediocrity. Houk's final season as the Yanks' skipper was in 1973, the last year that the team was still owned by CBS. George Steinbrenner asked Houk to return, promising to bring him talent and restore the once-great franchise but demoralized by the fans' constant booing, Houk decided to move on.

From New York, The Major went to Detroit, managing the Tigers through five marginal seasons from '74 to '78. He also skippered the Red Sox from 1981 to 1984 but had no division titles to show for his efforts in either stop. He became vice president of the Twins in 1986 and held that post in 1989, when he decided to retire for good.

Despite spending the end of his career with other organizations, Houk is best remembered as a Yankee. Although he wasn't a big part of it, the Yankees won six World Series in his eight years as a player. His managerial career started with the legendary summer of '61 and ended just before George Steinbrenner took over the team in 1973. He was a great solidier and baseball man who lived a long, proud life. Rest in peace, Major.

Game 86: Jesus Is Just Alright

I was away from my computer today. Did I miss anything?

No? Good.

In all seriousness, I saw the report break after I finished recapping last night's game but didn't have time to write anything about it before I left for the day. I was nowhere near a computer at any point, but kept checking on the rumors on my phone, hoping against hope that the propsed trade for Jesus Montero and (less importantly) David Adams didn't go through.

Cliff Lee is obviously an incredibly talented pitcher who would make any team in the history of the sport significantly better, but I don't like the idea of trading the best prospect in the system for him now, when the Yankees already have five capable starters and he has three months left on his contract. Yes, they could still swing a deal for Javy Vazquez, but they'll have zero leverage with whatever team might be interested in him.

There's also an element of stacking the deck at work here. The Yankees are clearly capable of winning the World Series as currently constructed. They have the best record in baseball, for fuck's sake. Do they really need to add one of the top 5 starting pitchers in the game? Does the marginal increase in their chances of winning a World Series really justify getting rid of an awesome prospect and some other potentially useful pieces? If they make the trade and don't win, the answer to that question is painfully obvious. If they pull the trigger and win a Championship, the answer could still be "no".

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I like rooting for a team that tries to develop their own players and isn't willing to mortgage their future for a slight increase of winning it for one year. Maybe Jesus Montero never pans out to be the great hitting catcher that he's projected to be but I'd rather that than the Yankees dealing him out of impatience and insecurity and watching him blossom somewhere else.

Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah.
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright.

I don't care what they may know,
I don't care where they may go,
I don't care what they may know,
Jesus is just alright, oh yeah.

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Mariners:
Cliff Lee won't be on the mound tonight as originally scheduled and he won't be in either dugout, as Joel Sherman is now reporting that the M's have a deal with Texas, unless of course they back out of that one too.

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.

=====

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.

Game 60: Get Up Jake

Now that we've reached the stage of the season where clubs can promote minor leaguers without having to worry about them being eligible for Super Two status, this year has really begun tp produce a bumper crop of top prospect debuts in the MLB.

Jason Heyward began his career as an Atlanta Brave with a bang at the beginning of the season and Ike Davis was called up when the Mets were struggling in mid-April. More recently, we've seen the debuts of Steven Strasburg, former Yankee farmhand Jose Tabata, fellow Pirate Brad Lincoln, and Mike Stanton (who is not related to the former Yankee reliever) to name a few. Still on the horizon are promising youngsters like the awesomely-named Carlos Santana - a catcher in the Indians' system, outfielders Domonic Brown of the Phillies and Desmond Jennings of the Rays, Scott Boras' Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez and Kyle Drabek - now property of the Blue Jays - who was the centerpiece of the Roy Halladay deal. Even these players experience a higher than expected rate of attrition, there's a good chance that we'll look back at this class of rookies as one of the best in the ten or fifteen years surrounding it.

Tonight, a highly-regarded Baltimore prospect will make his debut, but given the performance that happened just two days ago and forty miles down I-95, this one will seem considerably more subdued.

Jake Arietta was a fifth round pick in the 2007 draft but didn't begin his ascent through the minor leagues until the 2008 season. He debuted at High-A ball and struck out 120 batters in 113 1/3 innings while maintaining an ERA of 2.87. Last season, started with the AA Bowie Baysox, pitched 59 strong innings over 11 starts there and was promoted to AAA. While in Norfolk, Arrieta's strikeout rate dropped and his ERA rose, but was still respectable in his 92 innings there, tallying an ERA of 3.92 and a K/BB ratio comfortably over 2.

The twenty four year old right hander broke camp with the Triple-A squad this year and got off to a great start. Although his strikeout and walk rates aren't as strong as they were in the lower levels of the minors, they are better than they were at the same level last year and Arrieta has an ERA of just 1.85 through 11 starts. He has been more or less unhittable so far, surrendering fewer than six hits per nine innings and allowing only three homers in 73 IP.

In the past two years, the Orioles have seen more than their fair share of pitching prospects make their Major League debuts. Brad Bergesen first appeared in the Big Leagues April 21st of 2009, the less-celebrated-but-still-young David Hernandez joined the club May 28th, last night's pitcher Chris Tillman was called up at the end of last July, Brain Matusz made his debut six days later. Tonight, Arrieta will get his shot.

When we talked to Orioles fan and blogger Daniel Moroz before the season began, he surmised that barring a number of injuries, Arrieta wouldn't see more than a cup of coffee this season. Koji Uehara, who began the rotation, is on the DL and Hernandez, who has been ineffective in his eight starts, has been relegated to the bullpen. Those two moves, along with Arrieta's dominance and the O's futility, created Jake's chance to be called up.

It might not be occurring under the greatest of circumstances and it might not pay dividends immediately, but tonight should be a bit of a silver lining for Orioles fans, if such a thing can be found in one of their worst stretches in one of their worst seasons in franchise history.

Get up Jake, it's late in the mornin',
The rain is pourin' and we got work to do.
Get up Jake, there's no need a-lyin',
You tell me that you're dyin', but I know it's not true.

Now, me and Jake, we work down on the river,
on the ferry "Baltimore".
And when Jake don't rise up in the mornin',

People lined up along the shore.

[Song Notes: I've been a fan of this tune for a long time and it was the first thing I thought of when I heard Arrieta was going to be starting tonight. The lyrics don't line up perfectly, but the kid's name is Jake, "Baltimore" and "lined up" are in the song and that's good enough for our purposes. If only there was someone named Dan from Savannah on the Yankees, it would have really sealed the deal.

I had to upload the version from To Kingdom Come because the only "video" on YouTube kind of sucks.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Brett Gardner is once again out of the lineup; Marcus Thames gets the start in left field tonight. Pray for lots of groundballs and strike outs. Francisco Cervelli gets the finale off, with Chad Moeller getting the start against his former team.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Marcus Thames LF
Chad Moeller C

RHP A.J. Burnett

Orioles:

Corey Patterson LF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott LF
Adam Jones CF
Matt Wieters C
Scott Moore 2B
Cesar Izturis SS

RHP Jake Arrieta

Fack Youk's First Annual Half-Assed Draft Preview!

For the defending World Champions lying in wait with the 32nd pick, the MLB Draft is not nearly as big of a deal as it is for the teams at the top of the heap, picking among the premier amateur talents available. In general, because most of the prospects taken are so far away from the Big Leagues and the attrition rate is so high, baseball's draft is inherently less compelling that its NFL (and especially) NBA counterparts.

However, that didn't stop Major League Baseball from moving the first round of it to 7:00pm tonight on MLBN, televising rounds 2-30 on Tuesday and rounds 31-50 on Wednesday. If the draft isn't that interesting to begin with, well, why not make it more interesting by slowing down the intervals between picks, inserting commercials and putting it in prime time!

Maybe I'm being a little to cynical there. To the average fan - meaning casual followers who don't read blogs - the draft is more or less inconsequential. However, to those of us who try to keep tabs on the farm system and get excited about prospects, it's at least worth paying attention to your own team's pick, in addition to the inevitable drama that will surround the efforts to sign Bryce Harper and other top talents.

As far as the Yankees are concerned, they are said to be targeting "one of two high school bats", but who they will select depends very heavily on who is taken in front of them. Typically, a couple of high-ceiling talents fall to the bottom of the first round every year because teams are concerned that they won't be able to sign them due to high signing bonus demands.

No team wants to face the dilemma of overpaying for their highest draft pick or simply letting them walk away and waiting until next year to pick in a similar spot. But the Yankees obviously have the financial power to ink a great prospect who is looking for a big payday and can afford for the pick not to reach the Majors in a worst case scenario, so they can take someone who might not pan out but will probably be pretty awesome if they do.

Again, who knows who will be available when the Yanks pick, but here are some names that they've been linked to in recent days:

• Tyrell Jenkins, who was Dave Chappelle's character in Half Baked.
  
  /touches earpiece
  
  I'm sorry, that was Thurgood Jenkins. This kid is a right handed pitcher out of Texas.
  
  
• Christian Yelich, an athletic, left handed hitting first baseman from Florida.
  
  
• Ryan LaMarre, an outfielder from the University of Michigan.
  
  
• Drew Vettelson, a high schooler from the state of Washington who is capable of pitching from both sides but will probably be drafted as a hitter.
  
  
• Robby Rowland, who was an excellent basketball player in high school but committed to play baseball at Oregon. He's a right handed power pitcher.
  
  
• Jesse Biddle, a 6'5" left handed pitcher who went to high school outside of Philadelphia.

There are going to be live blogs/chats at River Ave. Blues, FanGraphs and Big League Stew to name a few, and I'm sure all of those places will have plenty of valuable information should you want to follow along. We'll probably have something on the Yanks' pick first thing tomorrow morning. Enjoy the off night, Fackers, and we'll talk at you then.

Trembely's Time?

Rise and shine, Fackers. According to the Baltimore Sun, Dave Trembley is going to be fired before today's game. Or perhaps he was already canned when the team return from New York last night. He was supposedly close to getting axed about a week ago, but that rumor proved to be false. Even if it isn't today, the writing is certainly on the wall.

Directly and indirectly, the Yankees led to Trembley's termination. Their sweep of the O's is likely the last straw and their presence in the AL East - the Yanks were 36-15 against Baltimore in his tenure - made their quest for a respectable season much more difficult.

The O's are obviously having a dismal 2010. Thanks to a couple of blown saves, they got off to a 1-11 start and have only improved upon that marginally since. They are now 15-39, which puts them a whopping 21 games behind the Rays one-third of the way through the season. In theory, they are playing roughly at the pace you would expect a team comprised solely of replacement level players to perform. And their run differential only says that they should be two games better than they are.

You have to imagine - for a marginal team in a division as tough as the AL East - the players knew their season was over before it had even really started. The fans knew it too, because they set a record for the fewest number of people at Camden Yards when the team was just 1-5 and came very close to topping bottoming that twice against the Royals in May.

These guys are professionals, but when it's obvious that your season is completely fucked and the only time people show up to see if is when the Yankees or Red Sox are in town, it's gotta be tough. Tough to grind out at bats as a hitter when you are down by right runs like they were on Wednesday. It has to be demoralizing for a starting pitcher like Brian Matusz who pitched a hell of a game on Tuesday only to get tagged with the loss because of an unforced throwing error. The YES cameras panned to him for a reaction but he had already vanished down the dugout steps.

Of course, only so much of this is Trembley's fault. I don't know how big his family is, but there isn't much he can do to fill the stands. He didn't injure Brian Roberts, Koji Uehara, Felix Pie, Jim Johnson or Mike Gonzalez. He definitely didn't blow all of those saves in the beginning of the year. Perhaps he bears some responsibility for the fact that the Orioles don't appear to be playing to the level they are capable of - that he "lost" the team - but I don't know if there is a manager out there who could have kept this team from spiraling out of control after those tough losses and subsequent brutal start.

While Trembley's 187-282 record during his time with the team isn't impressive, the fact that he got the job in the first place certainly is. When Sam Perlazzo got fired 69 games into the 2007 season, Trembley was promoted from bullpen coach to interim manager. He never played the game professionally and instead comes from a more academic background (he has a masters in Education and did graduate work in Sports Psychology), but Andy MacPhail, who had recently taken over as the president of baseball operations, gave him a chance anyway. The team started off 20-14 under the new skipper, he kept his job until the end of the year and finally lost the "interim" part of his title over the winter.

Trembley more than paid his dues, managing for 20 years in the minor leagues before joining the Big League club, so that was one of the reasons that Andy McPhail thought it would be good idea to allow him to oversee a couple of rebuilding seasons. It didn't quite go as planned and in a year when the O's were supposed to take a big step forward and possibly flirt with .500, they took an even bigger one backwards and are on pace for one of the worst seasons in a very long time.

Perhaps third base coach Juan Samuel - who did play in the Majors for 16 seasons - or whoever else takes over the team when Trembley is ultimately whacked will have better results. But it will probably be because some of those five guys on the DL come back from injuries, Matt Wieters, Adam Jones and Miguel Tejada start hitting and Matusz and Brad Bergensen start pitching to their potential.

Given how his tenure with the O's went, it's tough to see Trembley landing another Major League managerial gig, but at least he can say he got a shot and made the most out of it. From a distance, he seems like a stand up baseball man and hopefully he lands on his feet somewhere.

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.

Minor League Injury Notes

Good morning Fackers. Did you enjoy your off day? Feeling rested? I hope so. We've all been stressing a bit too much about the way things have gone over the past week or so, so yesterday's off day came at a good time.

The minor league affiliates did not have yesterday off however, and there are some notes coming out of the system. It appears the injury bug that was ravaging its way through the Yankees clubhouse a couple weeks back has now made its way down the organizational ladder.

As we mentioned last week, Trenton placed starting pitcher Jeremy Bleich on the disabled list with shoulder stiffness. He was sent to the team's complex in Florida for evaluation and yesterday the worst case scenario was realized. Bleich has a torn labrum, will require surgery, and is looking at ten to twelve months before he can return.

If there's any silver lining to this, it's that perhaps the labrum problem accounts for some of the control issues Bleich has had over the past year. Aside from his stellar performance against New Britain earlier this month, he has been wild, posting at 26:28 K:BB. The downside is that Bleich, who many considered a bit of reach with the 44th overall pick two years ago to begin with, has already dealt with elbow issues in college and is now facing the far more uncertain prospect of a shoulder operation.

Also in Trenton, second baseman David Adams, off to a torrid .309/392/.507 start this year, injured his ankle breaking up a double play Friday. He too is on the DL and is expected to miss two to three weeks. Adams is tied with teammate Austin Romine for the Eastern League lead in doubles and is in the top ten in batting, on base, slugging, OPS, runs, RBI, hits, triples, and total bases.

In positive news, Curtis Granderson is three games into a rehab stint at Scranton. He's DH'd twice and made an appearance in center field, going for 4 for 11 with a walk. He could rejoin the team as early as Thursday, which would be very helpful in firming up the bottom of the lineup. [UPDATE 10:15 AM: Granderson will be activated for Friday's series opener against Cleveland.]

Minor League News And Notes

Here are some minor league notes as the Subway Series hype and Yankee paranoia machines steam towards game time:

Yesterday, the Yankees extended their playing development contract with Scranton through 2014; it was set to expire at the end of this season. This seemed less likely last year, when a rainy summer and drainage problems at PNC Field combined to cause a large amount of delays and postponements. As part of the press release announcing the extension, the Yankees pledged their support to help improve or replace the existing complex.

In extending their agreement with Scranton, the Yankees ensure that they keep their top two farm clubs relatively local, with their third club being located at their Tampa headquarters, and their short-season A team being owned by the franchise and located just over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. This seems to have been a concerted effort over the past decade, relocating affiliates to be closer to the home club. It's beneficial to the Yankees in that replacement and rehabbing players are relatively close at hand, and it's beneficial to the affiliates in that there's already a local fanbase.

It's a day late now, but yesterday Donnie Collins had an outstanding and in depth look at all the cons, and the few pros, that would come with promoting Jesus Montero in the wake of Jorge Posada's injury.

All the injuries at the Big League level are having a trickle down effect as the minor league clubs shuffle players around to fill the holes. To that end, the Yankees made two minor league signings yesterday, inking utility guy Jeff Natale and catcher Rene Rivera. Chances are these guys are around only as long as the injuries persist. The Rivera signing is a bit puzzling. It would appear P.J. Pilittere has fallen down some sort of rabbit hole.

In his pre-game media session yesterday, Brian Cashman said that were he not injured, outfielder Colin Curtis would have been considered for a recall. Loyal commenter Jimmy speculated as much yesterday. Curtis is not currently on the 40 man roster and has been out of action with a high ankle sprain since April 28th. Curtis was considered a middling prospect as recently as last year, but a torrid stay in the Arizona Fall League, an impressive Spring Training, and a hot start to the AAA season had his stock rising. We may see him before 2010 is out.

This is one specifically Yankee related, but Times of Trenton writer John Nalbone has a great interview with Chris Pittaro, Oakland's Director of Professional Scouting. Pittaro had a brief cameo in Moneyball and his role in the Oakland front office has grown in the years since. Check out the interview both at the Times and at Nalbone's BareBones blog.

We're a couple days late on this one, but Trenton has placed starting pitcher and 2008 supplemental first round pick Jeremy Bleich on the DL with a shoulder problem. His has returned to the Yankee complex in Tampa. His start in New Britain last week notwithstanding, Bleich has struggled over the past year. Whether the shoulder issue is the cause or whether it's an excuse to give him some downtime and try to get him back on track in Extended Spring Training, it's not a good sign.

Lastly, and not minor league related at all, but if you're near a TV right now turn on the MLB Network. My buddy Gripp informs me their currently showing this game from the Yankees' disastrous 1990 season, featuring Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, and the notorious Andy Hawkins. I won't spoil the surprise, but this was an outstanding game, featuring some rare and impressive feats. Plus, it'll remind you that the events of this past week are nothing compared to what the Yankees suffered through twenty years ago.

Current Roster Construction & Potential Recall Options

The Yankees 25 man roster currently consists of 13 pitchers and 12 position players. Skipping Andy Pettitte two turns of the rotation ago and a rainout in Detroit over a week ago have necessitated some serious shuffling of the deck that is still impacting daily bullpen decisions and roster decisions at large.

These issues, as well as the devotion to concepts like "there must be a longman in the pen at all times" and "Boone Logan is deserving of Major League roster spot" have left the Yankees with the ever popular eight man bullpen. Because apparently if you subtract the longman from that equation, the remaining seven (seven!) pitchers out there aren't enough to get you through a game.

Regardless, I understand why the team feels the need for an extra pitcher right now, but it's coming at a rather inopportune time. With Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson on the DL, the Yankees are already down two starters. And at the risk of spoiling part of our preview, starters Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher are both out of the lineup again today thanks to nagging injuries.

As such, just as it was last night, the today's Yankee bench consists of a gimpy-footed Posada, a gimpy-armed Nick Swisher, and a gimpy-batted Ramiro Pena. So for the third consecutive night in a row, the Yankees line up drops off pretty significantly after the number five hitter. But more importantly, Joe Girardi's hands are essentially tied when it comes to making late game defensive or pinch hitting changes. As you may recall, this was a problem last night. Still, the Yankees feel having that extra extra pitcher is more important right now.

There will not be a roster move today. Scranton played a late morning game in Indianapolis, and all position players eligible for recall - Chad Huffman, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez - were in the lineup. Neither Kevin Russo nor Greg Golson have been down long enough yet to be recalled, unless they replace someone who is placed on the DL.

It's worth noting that Huffman, who we profiled when he was claimed on waivers at the start of the season, has started the last two games at first base after playing exclusively in the outfield this year. This could just be coincidental as Scranton shuffles players through the lineup, or it could be indicative of the organization getting him some experience at various positions in advance of a recall. That 13th pitcher won't be sticking around forever and with Russo and Golson still inside of the ten day window there aren't a lot of other options for recall right now.

Game 36: The Return

After Damaso Marte coughed up the lead with two outs in the top of the seventh last night, the Yankees got a massive boost from A-Rod's grand slam in the bottom half of the inning. The Bombers have their work cut out for them if they are going to carry any of that momentum over into today, as they'll be facing a resurgent Francisco Liriano.

If it seems like a long time ago that Liriano was tearing up the league and was tagged as the heir apparent to Johan Santana, well, that's because it was. Coming into August of 2006, Liriano had compiled a 12-3 record with a 2.16 ERA over 121 innings, striking out a robust 144. However, he was scratched from his start on August 1st with pain in his forearm and thus begun a downward spiral that culminated with Tommy John Surgery that November.

The Dominican left hander split the 2008 season between the Twins and their AAA affiliate in Rochester, logging 76 solid Major League innings and 118 very good ones in Triple-A. In 2009, he was added to the Twinkies' Big League roster out of Spring Training but the results were less than optimal. By the end of May his ERA was close to seven. Although he put together some better starts during the summer months, Liraino found himself primarily relegated to relief duty by the time September rolled around. He made the roster for the ALDS but pitched only two innings out of the bullpen.

This year, however, Liriano is showing flashes of the potential that everyone saw in him back in 2006. He threw three straight short shutouts against the Red Sox, Indians and Tigers, but has followed that with two more pedestrian efforts his last two times out. Still, he's carrying a 2.36 ERA and an even better 2.24 FIP through six starts and has yet to allow a home run. He's held lefties to an OPS (not a typo) of .333 and opponents on either side of the plate are slugging just .292 against him.

The Yankees got to Liriano for six runs in a start in Minnesota last July and two more in two innings during the ALDS, but it's apparent that they will be facing an entirely different pitcher this time around. He's throwing with more velocity and more movement and his results so far speak for themselves.

Andy Pettitte was actually off to a better start than Liriano is this season before he took a 10 day hiatus to allow some inflammation in his elbow to die down. Pettitte reportedly wasn't happy that his turn in the rotation was skipped, but the Yankees weren't about to take any chances with a 37 year old pitcher who has meant as much to the team as Pettitte has so far this year. If Andy really takes the skipping personally, will have a chance to show the world that he was fine all along.

Today's game feature returns of different types. Liriano has seemingly returned to his earlier form while Pettitte is back from a much shorter time in exile. As such we are treated to a matchup of two of the best left handers in the American League so far this year and the gloves are coming off. I'll take the guy rocking the NY colors.

I run through obstacles, take off my shackles,
Proper backing with the bangers and the rhyme singers,
I run with dem and others, rock NY in colors.

[Song notes: Vintage DJ Premier track behind this Brand Nubian joint. Props to Lord Jamar for rocking the Yankee hat, even though the verse we are quoting belongs to Sadat X.]

-Lineups-

Yankees: Swisher is in the two hole while Francisco Cervelli gets behind the dish, allowing Jorge Posada to DH.

Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada DH
Thames LF
Cervelli C
Brett Gardner CF

Twins:

Denard Span CF
Orlando Hudson 2B
Joe Mauer DH
Justin Morneau 1B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Delmon Young LF
Brendan Harris
Nick Punto 3B
Drew Butera C

Hillman Fired; What's Next?

In the season's least surprising turn of events thus far, yesterday the Royals sacked skipper Trey Hillman, just days after he was given the dreaded vote of confidence from GM Dayton Moore. In two plus seasons at the helm, Hillman was just 152-207 (.423), including 12-23 this year, good for the second worst record in baseball.

Hillman certainly wasn't chiefly culpable for the mess that is the Royals, but he wasn't doing much to help either. Even with the bad hand he was dealt in KC, Hillman didn't do himself any favors. Perhaps it was his lack of prior Major League experience. Perhaps it was a bad attitude. Perhaps it was his poor relationships with his players. Perhaps it was simply his pattern of questionable or downright indefensible decisions. Perhaps no one could take him seriously while he sported such a badass 'stache.

Whatever the cause, Hillman deserved the axe sooner or later. His contract was set to expire at the end of this season, and barring something wholly miraculous, he had little to no chance of returning next season anyway. It was probably in Kansas City's best interest to make this move now rather than wait until the end of the season. But make no mistake, a change of managers isn't going to magically cure all that ails this organization.

All of this is a far cry from when Hillman was hired following the 2007 season. After a successful twelve year career as a minor league manager, Hillman took over the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League in 2003. In five seasons in the Far East, Hillman's club made three post-season appearances, twice reached the Japan Series, and took home the championship in 2006. He was something of hot commodity when the Royals inked him to a three year deal on October 19, 2007.

The day before, Joe Torre refused the Yankees' one year offer to return as manager in 2008, and for the first time in twelve years, the Yankees' managerial job was open. Had Hillman not already been past the point of no return in negotiations wth the Royals, he likely would have joined the trio of Joe Girardi, Don Mattingly, and Tony Pena as candidates for the Yankees' job.

Two and a half years later, it's easy to look back and be relieved that Hillman never made it into that mix. I certainly wouldn't trade out Girardi for him, or for either of the other candidates for that matter. But that doesn't mean that Hillman isn't a good baseball man, and it doesn't mean that he won't be of some future value, in another role, to a different organization.

Hillman joined the Yankees organization as a minor league coach in 1989. The next year he was promoted to manager of the short-season Oneonta team, where he won the NY-Penn League championship. He spent twelve years as a manager in all levels of the Yankees' system, with stops at Greensboro, Prince William, Tampa, Norwich, and Columbus. He had three first place finishes, three playoff appearances, and one championship. But more importantly, he oversaw the development of future Yankee stalwarts like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada, as well as one-time prospects like Carl Everett, Ricky Ledee, Ruben Rivera, Mike Lowell, and Eric Milton.

He's still well-regarded in the Yankee organization, has a good relationship with Brian Cashman, and prior to getting hired by the Royals, was in regular contact with the Yankees G.M. His time in Kansas City can't be considered anything but a failure, but that doesn't mean he isn't still a good baseball man. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him end back with the Yankees in some sort of roving instructor or player development role.

Friday Grab Bag

Good morning, Fackers. I hope Brain Hoch is right and the Yankees are in fact picking up their bats when they come back to New York.

Ben Kabak from River Ave. Blues made an appearance on the Bloomberg Sports podcast to talk about the site, along with the minor league system, Austin Jackson, Joba's ceiling and more. It's about 15 minutes long and quite enjoyable. LISTEN TO IT.

Mike from The Yankeeist ties a bow around his trip to Detroit.

Is an article with effusive praise for Phil Hughes enough to get you to read Mike Lupica? Nah, probably not...

But over at the WSJ, Scott Cacciola wrote a nice feature on Hughes and some of the things that have helped him be successful this year. Greg Fertel from Pending Pinstripes gets more specific, looking at Hughes' fantastic fastball.

On the same day that Matt from TYU suggested another way to look at how effective pitchers are (runs per 100 pitches), Beyond the Box Score ranked the best pitchers of all time according to Wins Above Replacement per 200 innings pitched. Can you guess the best starter and reliever? Massive hint: both were in the World Series last year.

When you combine all five teams' records, the AL East is 16 games over .500 this year, best in the league by 7 games. Sean Forman at the Bats Blog looks at how the balance of power has shifted to different divisions in recent years.

Mike Ashmore, who does an excellent job of covering the Trenton Thunder, wrote an excellent piece about Alan Horne beginning to recover from the surgery that sought to repair an 80% tear in his rotator cuff. He's receiving Platelet-Rich Plasma treatments and hopes that they will help him heal more fully. Horne is 27 and no longer a prospect, but there are plenty of guys who don't make their Major League debut until they are in their late 20's or 30's and can still have good careers.

When they weren't totally nicking our hooks, Bronx Banter had two excellent interviews this week - one with Dayn Perry and one with Josh Wilker - about their upcoming books.

What do Jonah Keri and Marlo Stanfield have in common? Their names both ring out in the streets. Except I don't think Jonah had to hand out money for it to happen.

The 193 acre farm that contains the Field of Dreams is up for sale. Here are the particulars of the property.

The Sports Hernia comes up with a worthy sequel to my favorite SH post ever.

Craig Calcaterra doesn't use too many tags, but when he does, they are downright awesome.

I'm with Bengie Molina here and I think it's excellent that athletes can use blogging to defend themselves against other, larger forms of media. This is the first post of Molina's I've read and while he's not quite Morgan Ensberg on the keyboard, he did a great job of making his point and staying on the high road, something that's not easy to do if you feel you've been offended personally.

They ah makin' it hah-dah to pahk you-ah cah around Fenway Pahk. WHAT THE FACK!?1/!

I don't listen to WFAN so I had no idea about former New York Football Giant Brad Bensen's ridiculous radio ads until this post on Deadspin highlighted them.

Can someone tell Will Leitch to cinch up his tie?

Now that his daughters are watching the show religiously, Joe Posnanski breaks out a bunch of obscure facts about Gilligan's Island. The show was obviously way before my time but I used to get up early when I was in grade school and watch the reruns before the bus picked me up. The episodes are all pretty much self-contained and the only thing you have to know going is conveyed to you by the theme song. It's right up there with Scooby Doo and House as the most formulaic television show of all time, but when you're 9 years old that only serves to make it easier to understand and enjoy.

And finally, here is a video of an octopus killing a shark. To be fair, Spiny Dogfish Sharks aren't exactly the kings of the ocean and the Giant Pacific Octopus is rather massive, but it's still pretty crazy to watch. The narrator almost ruins it so I suggest that you mute it and skip to the 1:30 mark.

Friday Morning Link Party

We are five for five: a linkaround everyday this week. Some may feel that's excessive, but Michael Phelps is totally down with it, brah! Wait, what were we talking about?

During her recap of last night's game, Emma Span at Bronx Banter got all anagrammy on your asses. Examples - A.J. Burnett : A Burnt Jet; Curtis Granderson : Transcends Rigour; Michael Kay : Lama Hickey.

There was plenty of talk about Robinson Cano's bat after his performance last night but Maric Carig collected some quotes about his defensive abilities.

Ian O'Connor talked to the infamous Ed Whitson - the first time the former Yankee granted an interview to a New York reporter about his time with the team since he left them in 1986. Whitson's name has been invoked frequently in attempts to frame the struggles of Javy Vazquez and he offers some advice on handling the vitriol to Javy at the end of the article.

Soxenfredue! FanGraphs Audio breaks down the panic in Red Sox Nation.

FJM founder, former writer for The Office and co-creator of Parks & Recreation Michael Schur just signed a multi-year deal with NBC.

Details about Eastbound and Down's second season are emerging. (This link and the last via Aaron Gleeman)

YES Network extra and commenter extraordinaire Mode weighs in with some thoughts on the future of PEDs in baseball.

Brain Hoch asks what the matter with A-Rod is and Joe Girardi answers.

Phil Musnick is bitching about how visible John Sterling was in the photos of the Yankees trip to the White House. I have to agree with him on this one and mentioned to a few people that I thought the players and coaches should have been together in the middle behind the President with everyone else out of the picture on the sides. I'm sure that was what they were hoping for, but these are probably the kind of logistical kerfuffles that happen when you are the lowly World Champions getting squeezed into the President's schedule.

Will Leitch and Joe DeLessio began their tour of New York area minor league baseball stadiums with a trip out to Long Island to see the Ducks.

Lahhhs Anduhson is in fackin' Pawtucket! It's only a matter of time until his name with be comically mispronounced by the Fenway Faithful.

R.J. Anderson juxtaposes the takes of Jonah Keri and Greg Doyel on the Ryan Howard signing and explains what Jonah's has in spades that Doyel's has almost none of at all.

I can't decide which I want more, this shirt, these shoes or this cake.

What the fuck should you make for dinner? Find out.

And finally, again via Mr. Gleeman, this may be my favorite mashup ever.

Minor Matters

Good morning Fackers. Here are some minor league news and notes to start off your humpday:

• Jesus Montero has begun his AAA career with a six game hitting streak. He's also hitting just .250 as he's picked up just one hit in each game. Such are the trappings of hitting streaks. Montero came up with a big eighth inning hit last night, giving Scranton the lead for good and allowing Kei Igawa to earn a vulture victory in relief of an outstanding Ivan Nova.


• Scranton manager Dave Miley has been rotating infielders Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez through the infield positions. All three have seen time at each of second base, third base, and shortstop thus far. Miley is also rotating the outfielders through all three positions and David Winfree started at first base last night. Due to paperwork issues related to the waiver claim, Chad Huffman did not make his Scranton debut until last night.


• Alan Horne, who has missed the majority of the last two years after winning Eastern League Pitcher of the Year honors in 2007, has decided against surgery to repair a tear in his rotator cuff. After consulting with Dr. James Andrews, Horne has instead decided to try rest and rehab combined with platelet rich plasma treatments. Let's just hope he stays away from Dr. Galea.


• The official diagnosis is in on Christian Garcia, and it's not good: torn elbow ligament. No course of action has been determined yet, but Garcia is likely staring at a second Tommy John surgery and third overall elbow surgery in the last four years. This could be death blow for Garcia's career. It would easy to write him off as impressive talent who just couldn't stay healthy, but as his comments to Mike Ashmore indicate, Garcia is optimistic and appreciative of the support he's received in the past. That's an awful lot of grace to display in light of what he's facing.


• Garcia's spot in the Trenton rotation has been taken by Lance Pendleton. Pendleton had a strong season between Tampa and Trenton last year, but had been squeezed out of the rotation in the numbers game. He got roughed up in his start last night.


• Pendleton has been replaced in the bullpen by Jon Van Benschoten. The Yankees signed him as a minor league free agent this past off-season and had been in Extended Spring Training. Despite being thirty years old, a former first round, eighth overall draft pick, and having made just one appearance in AA since 2003, Van Benschoten is happy to have a job.


• Top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos was scratched from his scheduled start for Tampa on Sunday. He was later added to the disabled list. No official word has been released yet, but the prevailing rumor is that he had an appendectomy. I'll take a freak appendectomy over an arm injury any day.


• Just as the Yankees shared their Stadium with Pele and the New York Cosmos in the 1970s, the Tampa Yankees will be sharing Steinbrenner Field with FC Tampa this year. (h/t Pending Pinstripes)

We've got another weekday matinee today. Back with more in a bit.

Minor League Round Up

Good morning Fackers. Full season minor leagues had their Opening Night last night, and the Yankees had their AAA, AA, high A, and A teams in action. The organization went four for four on the night, sweeping their slate of games.

• Jesus Montero made his AAA debut, catching and batting sixth. He doubled in his first at bat, then went 0 for 2 the rest of the way. Scranton beat Buffalo, the Mets' affiliate, 1-0 behind a David Winfree home run and a combined shutout from Ivan Nova, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, and Jonathan Albaladejo. For Opening Night at least, the infield was Kevin Russo, Eduardo Nunez, Reegie Corona, and Juan Miranda from third to first. Colin Curtis, Greg Golson, and Winfree were the outfielders with Jon Weber DHing. Here's the full Scranton roster at present, courtesy of Pending Pinstripes.


• Recently acquired Chad Huffman was not in Scranton's line up last night, presumably because he hadn't arrived yet. Padres' assistant GM and Moneyball superstar Paul DePodesta had some comments on Huffman yesterday, and Rob Neyer extrapolated on them.


• Back to Montero, RAB's Mike Axisa, in his other gig over at MLBTradeRumors, took a look at Montero's status as a blocked prospect.


• Elsewhere in Scranton, Kei Igawa is heading to the bullpen. While Bronx Baseball Daily's Chris Barrows is in favor of the move, I don't like it. Igawa would be no better than the club's third best option for a lefty reliever, behind Boone Logan and Royce Ring. Behind them at AA are southpaws Wilkins Arias and Wilkin De La Rosa. Igawa is of even less value to the Yankees as a reliever. He's proven to be a successful starter at the AAA level, but a disaster in the Bronx. By no means should he be in the Scranton rotation ahead of more viable prospects, but if nothing else he can serve as an innings eater there. If he's of no value doing that, it's high time the Yankees flip him to a lesser club that has some use for him. He's not going to hack it in the Bronx; his posting fee and contract are sunk costs; the club might as well take a flier on a C-level prospect in exchange for him.


• Ivan Nova left his start last night after only four innings, but don't fret, he was pulled after a rain delay. Trenton wasn't quite so lucky with their starter, as their 4-o victory was marred by a sixth inning elbow injury to starter Christian Garcia. It's just the latest in long line of injuries for Garcia, and unfortunately the early returns are that it's pretty serious. Garcia has always had great stuff, prompting this glowing review from former scout Frankie Piliere earlier this spring. But since being drafted in 2004 Garcia has topped 65 IP just once - in 2005 - missed all of 2007, and threw just 25 innings last year. He's on the Yankees 40 man roster and since he was injured in minor league play, he cannot be transferred to the 60 day DL to clear a roster spot. If he is indeed out for the year the Yankees would either have to recall him and DL him, or DFA him to clear the spot.


• Prospects Austin Romine, David Adams, Brandon Laird, and Damon Sublett all made their AA debuts last night. Romine and Adams had a base hit apiece, Laird had two, and Sublett took the collar. Reid Gorecki, the odd man out in Scranton's outfield crunch, is also on the Trenton roster after seeing action in 31 Major League games for the Braves last year.


• High A Tampa also won via shutout, taking a 4-0 victory over Lakeland. Hector Noesi, added to the 40 man roster in the off season, went six strong innings, allowing two hits, a walk, and fanning six. He's the most likely candidate to take Garcia's spot in Trenton.


• Charleston was the only affiliate to allow a run last night, beating Lexington 5-2. Charleston's roster is comprised mostly of last year's draft picks who played at short-season Staten Island last summer. Slade Heathcott is not amongst them at present, as he'll begin the season in Extended Spring Training.

We don't do a ton of minor league coverage here, but with last night being Opening Night and the big club having an off night, today was a good day to go through this. For day-to-day minor league coverage be sure to check out Mike's nightly Down on the Farm post at RAB as well as Greg and Sean's work at Pending Pinstripes. Further, both Scranton and Trenton have excellent beat writers providing great coverage. Donnie Collins takes over for LoHud's Chad Jennings at The Times-Tribune, and Mike Ashmore maintains Thunder Thoughts.

Yanks Claim Huffman

Good morning Fackers. The Yankees filled the final opening on their 40 man roster yesterday, claiming Chad Huffman from the San Diego Padres, who had been DFA'd to make room for Matt Stairs.

Huffman is a soon-to-be 25 year old outfielder with four years of professional experience. He was San Diego's second round selection in the 2006 draft and rose to AAA for the first time last year. In 135 games at Portland, Huffman hit .269/.361/.469 with 20 HR. He's a career .289/.385/.474 hitter and has spent minimal time at first base in addition to the outfield corners.

Longtime San Diego GM Kevin Towers, now working as a special assignment scout for the Yankees, likely had a large say in making the claim. I'm sure Towers knows Huffman well, but I can't help but be a little a curious about the claim.

Despite being a right handed hitter, Huffman does not fair well against lefties, posting just a a .191/.308/.331 line against them last year according to minorleaguesplits.com. As such, he's not exactly a solid insurance policy should the Yankees decide to part ways with Marcus Thames. Further, his batting line last year, while impressive, is buoyed by the hitting friendly Pacific Coast League, and carries a Major League Equivalent of just .236/.310/.392 with 16 HR.

Huffman's presence also adds to the considerable log jam at Scranton. Jesus Montero will see the lion's share of playing time behind the plate, and may also DH on his days off. He's backed up by Chad Moeller, but P.J. Pilittere and Robby Hammock are also on the catching depth chart. Pilittere can also play first; Hammock can play both the infield and outfield corners.

In the infield, Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez figure to rotate through second base, third base, and shortstop. Juan Miranda will man first, but Jorge Vazquez will see time at both infield corners and DH once he comes off the DL.

In the outfield, Huffman joins Jon Weber, David Winfree, and Colin Curtis as corner outfield options. Fellow 40 man roster member Greg Golson will be the center fielder. Outfielder Reid Gorecki is not listed any of the affiliates' rosters, but as of yet there has been no news of his release.

Scranton's season starts tonight against Buffalo, the Mets' affiliate. The official roster should be released at some point later today. Perhaps that, and these first few games will offer some insight as to how the line ups and playing time will shake out.

Prospect Game: The Kids Are Alright

Well here we are Fackers. It's the final day of Spring Training and we're just one day away from real baseball. Much like the Yankees' starting rotation, Jay and I have limited our innings this spring, trying to preserve some energy after a long 2009 season. But we're in the best writing shape of our lives and are working on some new pitches.

So before we kick things off for real tomorrow night, I suppose we should get in some training of our own with one of signature our game previews. We haven't done one all spring, but today's Spring Training finale offers a good opportunity.

The Yankee regulars will take on a team of the organization's top prospects at 1 PM on YES. Javier Vazquez will get the nod for the regulars. It'll be interesting to see if the mentally weak Vazquez can handle the immense pressure of facing the best minor leaguers the organization has to offer.

According to Chad Jennings, Marcus Thames has officially made the roster, bringing the Yankees' 40 man roster to 39. The final bullpen spot is the only thing up for grabs. Boone Logan is still in camp, and his making the team likely depends on the health of Damaso Marte, and to a lesser extent, Alfredo Aceves. Jorge Posada is in the line up today after missing the last two days with a stiff neck. Catchers Mike Rivera and P.J. Pilittere are still in camp, in case the bumps and bruises of Posada and Francisco Cervelli require a third catcher for the opening series. However, Jennings is also reporting that the Yankees have signed the recently released Chad Moeller, who spent much of the 2008 season with the club, to a minor league contract and that Rivera will be released. As expected, Nick Johnson is not playing today after suffering a bone bruise yesterday. Nick Swisher will DH; Randy Winn will play right, and the rest of the regulars are in the starting line up.

For the Prospects, Jonathan Albaladejo inexplicably gets the start. I guess Manny Banuelos, Jeremy Bleich, Zach McAllister, et. al. had other plans. Albie goes from making the Opening Day roster both of the last two years to starting for the Prospect team this year. Tough break. The Prospects' starting line up features last year's first round pick Slade Heathcott, Corban Joseph, Jesus Montero, David Adams, last year's second round pick JR Murphy as the DH, Colin Curtis, Bradley Suttle, Eduardo Nunez, and Melky Mesa. I'm sure we'll see others, including Austin Romine, as the game progresses.

In light of the recent injuries and the long, boring grind of the spring, these guys are more than ready to get away from Tampa. The prospects will stay behind a few days longer until the minor league season starts. Let's just hope everyone finishes today without any further bumps and bruises.

So as we get a chance to see the kids of the organization today, we'll turn to footage of some of rock and roll's foremost geezers, back when they were just young whippersnappers. In light of the embarrassing Super Bowl halftime show two months ago, I suppose it's nice to have reminder that back when Keith Moon and The Ox were still around, The Who weren't a total joke.

Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away
Bells chime, I know I gotta get away
And I know if I don't, I'll go out of my mind
Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright
The kids are alright