Yankees vs. Red Sox 2008

How the Yankees stack up against the World Champions...

First base:

Kevin Youkills vs Jason Giambi and Shelly Duncan

Edge: Boston but if Giambi rebounds it could be a big year for the Giambino.

Second base Dustin Pedrola vs Robbie Cano

Edge: Yankees Pedrola won the rookie of the year but Cano hit 19 homers, batted .306 and is on verge of stardom.

Shortstop Julio Lugo vs Derek Jeter

Edge: Yankees We give this one to the Captain.

Third base Mike Lowell vs Alex Rodriguez

Edge: Yankees Lowell had an MVP type year... the only problem is that A Rod is The MVP.

Left field Manny Ramirez vs Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui

Edge: Boston Manny who is on the last year of his contract and could have a monster type year.

DH David Ortiz vs Jason Giambi/Hideki Matusi/Shelly Duncan

Edge: Boston Big Popi is the best DH in the business and batting in front of Manny does not hurt.

Centerfield Coco Crisp/Jacoby Ellsbury vs Melky Cabrera

Push Both teams have great defense in center.The Yankees can take the lead in this postion if the Milk Man has a better year at the dish.

Right Field JD Drew vs Bobby Abreu

Edge: Yankees Even with his injuries Abreu put up big time numbers and another guy could have a big year on the final year of his contract.

Starting Pitching

Push With the injurys to both Beckett and Schilling you have to give this a push. If they were at full strength you would have to give it to the Bosox. The key for the Yanks is Phil Hughes. If he can win 15 you might swing it over to the Bronx side. Look for both clubs to push for more pitching through trades by mid summer.

Bullpen

Edge: Boston I know it is very hard as a Yankees fan to say but the combination of Papelbon and Okajima right now is just a little better than the Rivera/Chamberiain combo. But if Joba pitches to a .038 era with the rest of the pen being about even it could swing to the Yankees side.

Bench

Edge: Yankees With Mogan Ensberg, Shelly Duncan and Wilson Betemit the Yanks have some big bats coming off the bench. Plus if Giambi or Matsui are not in the lineup you have two big left handed bats off the bench.

That is this Yankees fans opinion; let the games begin. By the way the Yankees and Boston meet for the first time April 11 at Fenway.

Andy's not ready just yet.

Andy Pettitte has taking another small set back... he will start the season on the DL. Manager Joe Girardi announced on Friday that Pettitte will stay back in Florida and work out and if all goes well he will start next Saturday against Tampa at the Stadium.

Long man Jeff Karstens has a groin strain and will not be on the opening day roster. On Friday the team sent down right handers Scott Patterson,Darrell Rasner, Jose Veras and Edwin Ramirez. Also cut was high priced Kei Iagwa who had a bad spring and has been a bust since coming over from Japan. I was pulling for Scott Patterson a 27 year old who has been around the minors fora while who only allowed one run all spring.

As of right now lefty Billy Traber (pictured) another long shot, has made the team. This spring has been the most competitive in years for roster spots.

Click here for the roster

Pettitte's Ready

Andy Pettitte gave the Bombers some good news: he will not miss a start. After he threw a bullpen session yesterday and felt no pain he was deemed OK. He will not get the second start of the year but probably the fourth.

Mike Mussina will get the ball in game two against the Jays. Mussina, who has pitched will this spring will get the ball against Florida and then be ready for the Wednesday start. One pitcher who has not done very well this spring is Chin Ming Wang who got hit hard by the Phills yesterday and has a spring ERA over 8. And that is from the Opening Day starter.

Coming up in our next bolg we will take a look at the Yankees vs the Red Sox 2008 so stay tuned.

The Last 5 Cuts

In just over a week it is Opening day and the New York Yankees still have a few cuts to make.

With pretty much 20 of the 25 roster spots set there are still a few jobs to be won or lost. In the bullpen Jeff Karstens figures to be the long reliever while Billy Traber and Sean Henn fight for the left handed reliever spot. The other two bullpen spots are all righties fighting for the last spots: Chris Brittion, Brian Bruney, Ross Ohlendorg, Scott Patterson, Jose Veras and Jonathan Albaladejo who the Yankees got in the Ty Clipper deal from Washington.

So far this spring Patterson and Veras have looked good but Bruney is proven and may have the upper hand. As for the position players it is unclear if the team will take two utility infielders. Wilson Betemit who came over from the Dodgers last year started the spring slow but has come on strong and can play all 4 Infield positions giving him the upper hand.

Nick Green Chris Woodward and Cody Ranson can play both infield and the outfield and all have had big league experience. Also factor in Morgan Ensberg who can play first and third but has a big right handed bat off the bench.

In my recent blogs I have stated this would be diffrent than recent camps with more jobs to win. So in the next week Joe Girardi and his staff have some tough calls to make and it could come down to next weekend when the team heads to Miami to take on the Marlins in a two game series before they head to the Bronx a week from Monday.

To my fellow Yankees fans enjoy the exhibition games and have a Happy Easter.

Joba to start in the Pen, VT Game

Wednesday the Yanks announced that 22 year old Joba Chamberlain will start the season in the bullpen in the same role he had in 2007. During the first weeks of spring training he has been getting groomed as a starter but as of today he will return to the pen. Both manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland gave the news to Joba. Girardi said that Chamberlain could wind up in rotation later in the year but right now he will set up Mariano.

I feel this was a no brainier after the success last year if they had him out there earlier in the year maybe theywould have won the division and gone farther in the post season. A good call from this Yankee fan...what do you think?

Meanwhile...a good thing happened Tuesday when the Yankees played a very inspirational exhibition game against the Virginia Tech Hokies baseball team. Next month will mark the one year anniversary of the 32 people killed on campus in one of the countries biggest tragedies. Even though the Bombers won 11-0 the score was not the story. Just having the Yankees showing up giving the campus some support was the real story.

The Yankees showed up with most of there regulars and wore their pinstripes at the VT field. A Rod said it was one of the most important games he has played as a Yankee and even sat in the Hokies dugout for one inning. It was a very good gesture bythe whole organization to show up for this exhibition and to top it off, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner donated one million dollars to the VT Memorial fund. A class call by all.

Phil Hughes: Number 3 Starter?

This spring the best looking pitcher in camp has been Phil Hughes. After not allowing
a run in first three spring appearances, Hughes got roughed up by the Reds on Friday. Cincy hit the rookie for four runs in 2 1/2 innings. Hughes, who did not have a lot on his fastball, could wind up as the Yankee third of fourth starter.

In other pitching news Andy Pettitte threw a bullpen session and did not feel any pain he will get a start against Boston on Monday.

Duncan and Cabrera Hit with Bans

Shelly Duncan and starting center fielder Melky Cabrera were suspended for three games to start the season by MLB from the hard slide that Duncan put on Tampa's second baseman Akinori Iwamura this past Wednesday which lead to the bench clearing incident.

A week after the first incident, Yankee rookie catcher Francisco Cervelli was bowled over at home plate by Tampa's Elliot Johnson. The retaliation by Duncan turned into a loss for New York. What this means is that in two weeks when the Yankees open at home against the Blue Jays they will be down two players and be a weaker team on defense. Johnny Damon, who was slated as the left fielder will have to move to center and Hideki Matsui will have to start in left.

One thing this whole mess means is that the last few role jobs in camp will be important. Infielder Cody Ransom, who has opened some eyes in camp could make the team. The same for Jason Lane; the outfielder first baseman formerly of the Astros could wind up in the opening day line up. Morgan Ensberg, in camp as a backup first basemen could wind up as the starting first baseman, the role Duncan could of had.

It willl be a true fight of competition in camp for the next week and a half, a move that could of been avoided if Duncan did not take the unwritten baseball laws into his own hands. Just a bad move.

Jorge and A Rod

Manager Joe Girardi's hard workouts in the early part of spring have put two Yankee superstars on light duty for a few days. Both Rodriguez and Posada are dealing with sore muscles on there right side. Both state if it was the regular season they would both play. For now it could be just DH duty or a some rest.

As we spoke about in our recent blogs this year, unlike the last few years, it has been a very hard camp as Joe Girardi is pushing both veterans and rookies to work hard with tougher drills. Once again that brings up the question: do you feel his camp is too tough?

Some good news on Friday: Mariano Rivera made his spring debut in great form as he pitched a perfect inning and said he felt great. Also Andy Pettitte looked good in his 2 2/3 innings of work as the Yankees lost to Houston in Grapefruit League action.

Joba & Bobby

After only a few preseason games things look ok but Wednesday there was a little hiccup after watching the Twins down the Bombers 7-5. Joba Chamberlain pitched 2 innings which brings up the question: should he be a starter or a reliever? Last year at 21 years of age Joba was lights out as Marino's 8th inning guy. But he was on pitch count as he was rushed through the system. The famous Joba rules! I feel its too early to call him a starter or a reliever. But if the next time out he goes 4 to 5 innings it could mean he will start. If that is the case one of the leagues top bullpens comes back to the middle of the pack. Rivera would continue to be the closer but Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins would be the 8th inning guys. Keep Joba in the pen after last year and you could see he had the makeupto be the closer of the future. I just hope the team gives him a better supply of off when going into Cleveland.

Even if you're not a Yankee Fan you've got be pulling for former Yankee outfielder and current broadcaster Bobby Murcer. Any 40 plus Yankee fan like myself goes back both in terms of Bobby Ray in pinstripes and in the booth. Murcer got great news on Wednesday as after his biopsy that was preformed on his brain revealed only scar tissue and no signs of cancer. Great, great news. Murcer in a statement said he will rest this week but should be there for the last Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. I was very fortunate to meet Murcer at the Yankee Fan Fest back when they ran this convention back in the 90's. He was a real nice guy just as he sounds on TV. Let's pull for Bobby.