The LoHud Yankees Blog

The Yankees have announced their rotation, they’ve made it clear that Andruw Jones and Eric Chavez are on the Opening Day roster, and they’ve picked Bartolo Colon as their long man. Joe Girardi is expected to announce the rest of his Opening Day roster this afternoon (except perhaps a pair of injury replacements).

Backup catcher
Favorite: Gustavo Molina
After Francisco Cervelli broke his foot, and the prospects showed they still have a few things to learn, Molina has emerged as the clear front-runner for this role. If you weren’t convinced already, the fact he caught CC Sabathia and a series of big league relievers on Saturday should have sold it. Probably a short-term place holder.

Utility infielder
Favorite: Eduardo Nunez
Nunez and Ramiro Pena seemed pretty even when camp opened, but Nunez has been dynamic enough that I have to think he’s the favorite for the spot. It wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to carry Pena — mostly because this is going to be such a minimal role — but Nunez is the one who keeps getting regular time in left field and the most at-bats.

Pedro Feliciano replacement
Favorite: Steve Garrison
Probably won’t get this announcement today, but Garrison does seem to be the front-runner. He’s a lefty — which makes him a natural replacement — but he’s also on the 40-man, which makes him an easier addition than Luis Ayala or Mark Prior. Indications are that Romulo Sanchez will be out of the organization soon, and Garrison would give the Yankees a second lefty who could also pitch three or four innings if necessary.

Curtis Granderson replacement
Favorite: Chris Dickerson
The Yankees have seen more of Greg Golson and Justin Maxwell, but those two are right-handed hitters. Their roles would be minimal with Andruw Jones on the roster. Dickerson is a lefty who’s hit right-handed pitching in his career. He’s the best fit, but he has to get past his hamstring injury. It’s doubtful the Yankees will announce anything about this situation until Tuesday or Wednesday (or maybe even Thursday). There’s still a chance Granderson will break camp.

Associated Press photo of Nunez

Spring training numbers helped tell the Yankees that Bartolo Colon might have something left and that Eric Chavez might be healthy again, but they weren’t nearly enough to give Jorge Vazquez a shot at the big league roster or win Luis Ayala the setup role.

As a general rule, spring training numbers don’t mean much. And they mean almost nothing for Andruw Jones.

This spring, Jones is hitting just .171/.261/.293, but he’ll certainly break camp with the team, and the Yankees need to look no further than Marcus Thames for proof that a guy like Jones has to be judged on more than the month of March.

Jones is basically the new Thames. His responsibilities are to hit for power — primarily against lefties —  and to play occasionally in the outfield corners. Last season, Thames was terrific in that role. His defense wasn’t good, but it was generally passable, and he hit .288/.350/.491 while playing more often than expected.

Such a season came after Thames hit just .135/.182/.269 in spring training. Those numbers were even worse before he homered twice in the last six games.

“You don’t get too caught up in spring training numbers,” Joe Girardi said. “You go more on a history.”

The fact Jones hit .230/.341/.486 last season carries considerably more weight than his slash line this spring. Jones’ batting average was low last season, but the power is what the Yankees want. They especially like that he hit .256/.373/.558 against lefties.

“I’ve watched his at-bats,” Girardi said. “He’s worked on some things. We brought Andruw in to play against left-handers, and the majority of his at-bats (this spring) have been against right-handers. I’m happy with what he’s done.”

Associated Press photo

Houston general manager Ed Wade told MLB.com that he tried to work out a trade to keep Rule 5 pick Lance Pendleton, but the Astros and Yankees couldn’t come up a deal.

Instead, Pendleton was sent back to the Yankees this afternoon. He was assigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a pitching staff that’s overflowing as it is.

“I was thinking they might be able to work out a trade for me and be able to send me to Oklahoma City,” Pendleton told Brian McTaggart. “But you just never know. I figured that’s what they were waiting for to see if something like that was going to happen. I wasn’t surprised.”

In the next week, the Yankees will have to make some tough decisions about the Triple-A pitching staff. The addition of Kevin Millwood at least temporarily confuses a rotation that seemed more or less set with Andrew Brackman, Hector Noesi, David Phelps, D.J. Mitchell and Adam Warren.

That’s a minor, short-term issue, though. It’s the bullpen that’s especially tough to predict.

Luis Ayala, Mark Prior and Andy Sisco showed some things in big league camp suggest they could pitch their way to New York this season. I’d peg Ayala for the Triple-A closer role — just a guess on my part — while Prior and Sisco would give the Yankees experienced depth from the right and left side.

The Yankees must like new lefty Jose Ortegano or they wouldn’t have claimed him off waivers, and returned Rule 5 picks Pendleton and George Kontos also deserve Triple-A spots.

That leaves one open bullpen job for someone from this group: Ryan Pope, Brian Anderson, Buddy Carlyle, Eric Wordekemper, Kei Igawa, Amaury Sanit, Kevin Whelan, Grant Duff, Josh Schmidt and Wilkins Arias. That’s 10 names, and I might very well be leaving someone off the list. Being released wouldn’t be the worst thing for some of these guys. It’s too crowded in this organization.

• Jerry Crasnick reports that former Yankees prospect Jeff Marquez has been placed on waivers. Just yesterday, Marquez seemed to be in line for the White Sox long relief job.

• By the way, that Nick Swisher trade just keeps looking better and better for the Yankees. I’m sure Marquez can still play a role in the big leagues, but that’s still an absolute steal for the Yankees.

• Robert Fish has finally made his way back to the Angels. The Yankees took him in the Rule 5, the Royals claimed him off waivers, and now he’s been returned to Anaheim. Given the Pedro Feliciano injury, Fish might actually have made the Yankees bullpen with a strong spring. Nice guy, just didn’t show much this spring.

• Another former Yankees reliever has been released. The Braves let Scott Proctor go today.

• Good friend Donnie Collins reports that Jorge Vazquez is still hitting big home runs down at the minor league complex.

• Meant to link to this a couple of days ago: The Wall Street Journal’s new Yankees beat writer Dan Barbarisi did a cool story on the media training that takes place in Yankees camp.

• Finally, Jack Curry reports that the Yankees have no interest in released Cubs pitcher Carlos Silva. This is all Joe Girardi had to say about Silva this morning: “I don’t really have any thoughts on him because I have not seen a lot of him.”

That’s an AP photo of Pendleton doing sliding drills in Astros camp. That training will not come in handy this season.

Kevin Long said there were times these past two years when he could tell Alex Rodriguez didn’t have it. The one-time Best Player in the Game would show up in the cage, and Long could tell there was something missing.

“You could tell when he didn’t have life to his body, or there was no energy to what he was doing,” Long said. “It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying to work the right way, but he’s definitely got a lot of life now when he’s working. It’s explosive.”

Rodriguez said his big spring numbers — .404 average with six homers and 14 RBI — are simply a product of what’s happening “behind the curtain.” He’s no longer going through any sort of rehab work, and with a full training schedule, his surgically repaired hip feels more fluid and flexible. That work in the cage is carrying onto the field, and as Long said, Rodriguez might be the most season-ready player on the roster.

“It’s really hard to gauge with four swings in a night (during a game),” Rodriguez said. “But I think when you have the sessions that Kevin Long and I have – maybe 30, 40, 50 swings – I think you have a better idea of how you feel, and that’s been much better. More consistency through my swing. More flexibility. I think there’s just more explosion that I feel, and that I think he sees.”

Rodriguez said he wants to play 150-plus games this season, and Joe Girardi said that’s not out of the question. With Eric Chavez looking like a productive hitter again, it’s possible that Chavez could get occasional starts at third to give Rodriguez a few more DH days. More DH days might keep Rodriguez this fresh and healthy, and if Rodriguez is this fresh and healthy, there’s no telling how good he could be.

At 35 years old, is it possible he could return to that 2007 form?

“I slept good every night that year,” Rodriguez said. “Those are years that you look up and you’re like, ‘Holy (cow) – that’s not normal.’ It’s one of those years that you’re so flattered by and very happy about, but to use that as a barometer, that would be tough. I don’t want to set myself for failure, that’s for sure. I think overall, what I’m doing now, I’m enjoying the game and I think I’m going to help the team win this year.”

Here’s Long speaking briefly about Rodriguez’s cage work.

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Joe Girardi said he plans to announce most of his final roster decisions tomorrow. The Yankees might have to wait a day or two to determine Curtis Granderson’s status, and they might not immediately name a replacement for Pedro Feliciano, but Girardi said he expects to announce his backup catcher, utility infielder and reserve corner infielder.

He will not announce an Opening Day lineup.

“I’m still thinking about it,” Girardi said. “I haven’t turned my brain off to it by saying, okay, this is what I’m doing. I’m still thinking about it. We’ll still have one long conversation about it.”

Based on recent lineups, my best guess is that the Yankees are going to use the two-lineup approach: They’ll have Brett Gardner leadoff against right-handers and Derek Jeter leadoff against lefties. It’s a pretty solid plan, actually. Girardi said he probably won’t announce an Opening Day lineup until Opening Day itself.

Otherwise: Eduardo Nunez seems to be the favorite for the utility job, Gustavo Molina seems to be the favorite for the backup catcher position and Eric Chavez is all but official as the reserve corner infielder.

“We just haven’t announced it yet,” Girardi said. “I’ll talk to Cash one more time, but we’ll announce it probably tomorrow. Like he said, we’ve got to make sure people are healthy.”

• Pedro Feliciano had an MRI this morning. It showed some sort of muscle problem — Girardi wasn’t sure of the exact diagnosis — but the bottom line is this: “It’s pretty hard to think that he would start with us,” Girardi said. “I’m hoping it’ll be shorter (term), but you can never predict.”

• As possible replacements for Feliciano, Girardi once again mentioned Luis Ayala and Mark Prior, but neither of those two is on the 40-man roster, and today’s conversation certainly made it seem like the Yankees are leaning toward Steve Garrison. “He’s done a good job for us against left-handers, and he’s a viable option for us,” Girardi said. “We’ll probably see him throw one more time before we leave and then we’ll make a decision.”

• Here’s Girardi’s cryptic comment about why Romulo Sanchez was scratched from this road trip: “That got cancelled for reasons I can’t give to you at this point.” Someone mentioned a trade and Girardi gave a weird look that suggested a trade is in the works (or certainly some kind of move).

• Girardi on how quickly he knew Chavez could make the team: “Right when he got to camp, we saw the bat speed in Chavez. We said, ‘Wow, if he’s healthy, he can help us.’ Because, you’re not going to really forget how to hit, it’s just if you’re physically capable, and he looked great.”

• Pat Venditte faced two hitters today. He pitched right-handed to one and left-handed to the other. Turns out, the decision to bring in Venditte had a lot to do with the new pitching coach. “Larry (Rothschild) wanted to see it,” Girardi said. “The kid has done well in the minor leagues wherever he’s been.”

• Speaking of Venditte, those paying attention in the crowd seemed to enjoy it: “You heard a little ‘Ohhh’ when he switched,” Girardi said.

• A nice early version of HOPE Week today with the little girl who saved the even littler girl’s life. The families were hanging around the Yankees dugout throughout batting practice. It was pretty neat to see.

• The Yankees lost 7-6 today, but they had 13 hits, including three by Austin Krum and two by Mark Teixeira. Krum is, by most accounts, a pretty good fielder but he had a rough time today with two errors and a missed attempt at a diving catch. Austin Romine and Robinson Cano homered today.

• Garrison faced two big-time lefties today. He got Justin Morneau to pop up, but Jim Thome took him deep.

• Buddy Carlyle was knocked around a little bit in his start, but for the most part, the other guys brought up from minor league camp pitched well today. Wilkin Arias had a rough third of an inning — hit a batter and walked a guy — but Francisco Gil, Josh Schmidt, Andy Sisco, Eric Wordekemper and Venditte combined for 4.2 scoreless.

• Today the Yankees faced Carl Pavano. Girardi said there was a time this winter when there really seemed to be a chance that Pavano would return to the Yankees. “It was a possibility that he was going to be with us,” Girardi said. “We talked about it. His name was thrown around. It never came to a fruition, but he’s resurrected his career. He’s pitched well for the Twins and he’s given them innings. When we’ve faced him in the playoffs, he’s pitched well. The guy knows how to pitch. The big thing is for Carl that he’s been healthy.”

Associated Press photos of Krum, Carlyle and Girardi with 12-year-old Julianne Ramirez

Curtis Granderson remains questionable for Opening Day, but Joe Girardi keeps growing a little more optimistic that he’ll have his center fielder from the very beginning. It seems to be a cautious optimism, but the idea isn’t off the table.

“Every day he can take the next step, you have to be optimistic,” Girardi said. “But you still want to see it turned up.”

Everything went as planned today, and the Yankees are planning to have Granderson take batting practice tomorrow (regular BP with the coaches, not live BP against a pitcher). The last big league spring training game is Tuesday, there will be a minor league game on Wednesday — in theory Granderson could play in that — and Opening Day is Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Yankees got fairly good news on Chris Dickerson. He took batting practice today, but the team’s still not sure what exactly is wrong with him.

“He felt better today,” Girardi said. “Still not sure if it’s a slight strain or just a cramp.”

YANKEES (12-14-3)
Eduardo Nunez SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Andruw Jones RF
Ramiro Pena LF
Jesus Montero C
Austin Krum CF

RHP Buddy Carlyle (0-0, 18.00)

TWINS (17-11)
Aaron Hicks CF
Matt Tolbert 2B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Jim Thome DH
Delmon Young LF
Danny Valencia 3B
Drew Butera C
Alexi Casilla SS

RHP Carl Pavano (1-1, 0.95)

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., not on television

WEATHER: A lot of people have been talking about this being the nicest spring they can remember. That’s because of days like this. Absolutely perfect. Wind blowing out to right-center.

UMPIRES: HP Sam Holbrook, 1B Brian O’Nora, 2B Tim Timmons, 3B Manny Gonzalez

ON THE LINE: There are really only four choices left to make: Utility infielder, backup catcher, Pedro Feliciano’s replacement and possibly a short-term replacement for Curtis Granderson. Most of those decisions seem to be more or less made at this point.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE YANKEES: The Yankees brought a ton of minor league relievers. Not sure which ones might actually get in the game, but these are on the trip: Steve Garrison, Ryan Pope, Eric Wordekemper, Josh Schmidt, Francisco Gil, Pat Venditte, Andy Sisco, Kevin Whelan, Amaury Sanit, Wilkin Arias and Tim Norton.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE TWINS: Unless I’m missing it in the notes, the Twins don’t have their relievers listed.

OFF THE BENCH: I don’t have access to the backups on these long road trips without an open clubhouse. These are the other position players on the trip: C Gustavo Molina, C Austin Romine, C J.R. Murphy, INF Ronnie Belliard, INF Doug Bernier, INF Luke Murton, INF Luis Nunez, INF Yadil Mujica, OF Justin Maxwell, OF Abe Almonte and OF Ray Kruml.

NO NEWS: Girardi said pregame that he has no update on Curtis Granderson or Chris Dickerson. Maybe we’ll learn something postgame.

UPDATE, 1:31 p.m.: Through an inning and a half, the Yankees and Twins are tied at 1. The Yankees have four hits, but only one run on Robinson Cano’s first-inning home run off Pavano. The Twins evened the score with Michael Cuddyer’s solo shot off Carlyle.

UPDATE, 1:41 p.m.: Lance Pendleton has been returned from Houston. He’s been assigned to Scranton.

UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: The Twins scored four runs in an ugly second inning — Austin Krum made two errors on one play and couldn’t make a diving catch, letting a triple roll to the wall — but the at-bat of the inning that probably mattered the most was the last one. Steve Garrison faced Justin Morneau and got a weak pop to shallow center. Morneau took an ugly swing at some sort of offspeed pitch.

UPDATE, 3:29 p.m.: The writers spent a lot of this game down in the clubhouse talking to Alex Rodriguez. Got back up to the press box in time to see Austin Romine hit a home run, and now in time to see Pat Venditte come out in the bottom of the eighth.

The immediate news out of today’s pregame session with Joe Girardi is that Pedro Feliciano is almost certainly going to open on the disabled list. He was supposed to throw today but his arm didn’t feel good, so the session was cancelled.

Without him, it seems likely that Steve Garrison will make the Opening Day lineup. Garrison has been pretty solid this spring. He’s a lefty who could also pitch multiple innings, and he’s on the 40-man (a significant issue considering the Yankees already need to find room for two pitchers, a catcher and Eric Chavez).

Speaking of which, something is in the works with Romulo Sanchez. Girardi couldn’t go into specifics, but it sounds like he could be traded, possibly at some point today.

Eduardo Nunez SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Andruw Jones RF
Ramiro Pena LF
Jesus Montero C
Austin Krum CF

RHP Buddy Carlyle

At last, the final Yankees road trip of the spring. Unfortunately, it’s a long one.

The Yankees clubhouse opens down in Ft. Myers in a couple of hours, so I’m making my way down with the usual carload of reporters (in this case Mark Feinsand, Marc Carig and Sweeny Murti). Unless the Yankees email a lineup, we won’t have one until we get down there. Until then, he’s a cool Associated Press story about Alex Rodriguez and a special guest for today’s game.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Alex Rodriguez connected, even before he stepped on the field.

On behalf of the New York Yankees, the star slugger called a 12-year-old girl Saturday and invited the young hero and her family to a game this weekend. Less than an hour later, Rodriguez homered as the Yankees beat Pittsburgh 4-2.

Last June, Julianne Ramirez of Tampa noticed 3-year-old family friend Bella Villa had stopped swimming and was sinking underwater at a backyard pool party. Ramirez, having learned CPR as a third grader in the Girl Scouts, rescued Villa from the pool and began chest compressions.

“I have two daughters and I can just really appreciate what an amazing thing she did. She’s a true hero,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez surprised Ramirez with a phone call about 25 minutes before the Yankees played the Pirates. He extended the invitation for Sunday’s game against Minnesota in Fort Myers.

“I have a little surprise for you,” Rodriguez told Ramirez from an office phone near the clubhouse. “We would like to invite you to a game tomorrow as our special guest. Would you be interested in coming down and watching us?”

Ramirez quickly said “yes” and added “thank you.”

“We’re going to make sure that it’s a very, very special day and a day you’ll never forget,” Rodriguez replied. “We’re very proud of you. It’s a remarkable story and it’s one that I shared with my teammates. I’m inspired by it and can’t wait to hear more about it, and really enjoy a great day with you tomorrow.”

Rodriguez’s call was part of the Yankees announcing the return of Hope Week for the third consecutive season, a weeklong community program that highlights inspirational stories.

The Yankees and Twins are jointly hosting a pregame ceremony to honor Ramirez at Minnesota’s spring training home. The Twins are holding their own HOPE Week in June.

From July 25-29 this year, the Yankees will recognize an individual, family or organization each day. All players, coaches and manager Joe Girardi will participate.

Many of the events will take place away from Yankee Stadium, which allows interaction with individuals in the settings of their success. HOPE Week received the President’s Volunteer Service Award last July.

Rodriguez also had an impact on the field Saturday, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning against the Pirates.

Assocaited Press photo