Shuffling The 25-Man Deck To Make Room For Roster Reinforcements

Had to post that clip.  Too funny not to.

But on a more serious note, the Yankees are going to get a shot in the arm over the next handful of days with regards to their 25-man roster.  They are finally starting to get healthy, with Brett Gardner and Eric Chavez both scheduled to come off the DL either today or tomorrow, and some guy named Andy Pettitte is going to be added to the starting rotation on Sunday.  There's been a recent burst of roster shuffling activity to cover for the injuries to Chavez, Mo, and Swish's missed time, and the shuffling will continue this weekend.

Looking at the active roster, it's pretty clear who the 3 targets for 25-man termination are.  Cody Eppley, who was recalled last week to replace D.J. Mitchell in the bullpen, should get the boot from his low-leverage mop-up spot when David Phelps gets knocked back to the bullpen to make room for Andy.  In the field, Jayson Nix and Dewayne Wise will likely get axed for Gardner and Chavez.  It will be a shame to lose Wise, who doesn't have any options and would have to clear waivers before the Yankees could try to stash him in Triple-A again.  He has hit incredibly well since Spring Training and can play all 3 OF positions better than anybody else left on the Yankee bench, but there just isn't any way that he's getting the nod over the Joneses and Ibanezes of the world.

The Yankee roster has never been the complete 25-man version it was expected to be at the opening of spring camp, and it never will be with a few guys out for the season.  But with the return of Chavez, Gardner, and Pettitte, it will become deeper and have more depth of talent than it has in the past few weeks.