Loose Ends: Patterson & Marte

A couple of loose ends to tie up for the week.

1) Joe Girardi issued final cuts yesterday and Scott Patterson was pretty disappointed. After an impressive spring and an equally impressive 2007 season in the minors, Patterson failed to capture a bullpen spot. Girardi has said that his inexperience ultimately cost him a chance, however, he does expect to see Patterson sometime soon. Brian Bruney will be kept on a short leash and if he fails or if Ohlendorf fails, Patterson can definitely get the nod.

2) Next up, even with the bullpen supposedly set, Devan Kovacevic, a writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, states that the Yankees are still very interested in Damaso Marte. If Farnsworth or Hawkins don’t pan out (well, Farnsworth hasn’t panned out already), I can see the Yanks pursuing Marte even further. However, they may feel inclined to work with what they have in the minors, unless their pen totally fails.

Your 2008 Yankees

PA’s got the roster up:

Lineup
Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Jorge Posada C
Hideki Matsui DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Melky Cabrera CF

Bench
Jose Molina C
Shelley Duncan 1B-RF-LF
Morgan Ensberg 1B-3B
Wilson Betemit 1B-2B-3B-SS

Starters
RHP Chien-Ming Wang
RHP Mike Mussina
RHP Phil Hughes
RHP Ian Kennedy

Relievers
RHP Mariano Rivera
RHP Joba Chamberlain
RHP LaTroy Hawkins
RHP Kyle Farnsworth
LHP Billy Traber
RHP Ross Ohlendorf
RHP Brian Bruney
RHP Jon Albaladejo

————-
60-day disabled list
RHP Andrew Brackman
RHP Humberto Sanchez
RHP Carl Pavano

15-day disabled list
LHP Andy Pettitte
RHP Jeff Karstens
LHP Sean Henn

This is our team and I’m pretty excited. As you can see, the Yankees placed Pettitte on the DL but it’s backdated, so he’ll be available the first week of April. This allowed Girardi to carry an extra reliever in Jonathan Albaladejo. Girardi opted to go with Ross Ohlendorf over carrying a long man which, in view of the spring training performances by Kei Igawa, Rasner and Karstens, seems like the best idea. Ohlendorf can get some ground outs with his sinker and he’s got a different look when compared to Bruney, Farnsworth or Joba. The team looks very solid right now. Great bench, good stuff in that bullpen.

The iYankees Award

Hey everyone. I’ve been trying to set up a giveaway for a long time now and I finally have the means to do that. I’ll be giving away either Yankees tickets next week, or something more than that (I can’t say right now) so stay tuned. I finally have it worked out. Thanks for sticking around.