What To Do With Cervelli When He's Ready To Be Activated?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

While daily updates on Shawn Kelley's back, Carlos Beltran's elbow, Mark Teixeira's wrist, and what impact level of treadmill CC is walking on have become a common part of the Yankee news cycle lately, Francisco Cervelli has been quietly working his way back from his April hamstring strain.  It started a few weeks ago when he began running the bases and taking BP at the team complex in Tampa and it's continued over the past week as he's played in a handful of MiL rehab games.  Cervelli is eligible to be activated off the 60-day disabled list this Saturday and Joe is going to have a tough decision to make on what to do with him.  On a team that has holes everywhere, there doesn't seem to be a clear way for Cervelli to come in and help.

Lots Of Sound Logic In Joe's Opening Day Roster Decisions

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

As the Yankees were coming down the home stretch of Spring Training last week, I thought I had Joe's final roster selections all figured out.  I thought he was going to go with the experience/performance combo and take Matt Daley for the final bullpen spot, which also would have allowed Vidal Nuno to stay stretched out as a starter in Triple-A and be ready to come up and spot start in case of an emergency.  When it came to the final bench spot, I thought Eduardo Nunez's tenure as a Yankee and familiarity with their system would give him the advantage over Yangervis Solarte and Joe would give him the nod based on loyalty.

In another shining example of why Joe and Cash have the jobs they have and I'm a cube monkey who blogs in his spare time, I was wrong on both accounts.  Joe didn't go on experience and he didn't go on loyalty.  He thought about what his team was going to need the most in the first few weeks of the season and made the 2 most logical choices to meet those needs.

Yankees Acquire Dean Anna From San Diego

(Courtesy of Val Valdez Photography)

It's not in the same universe as trading for Chase Headley, but the Yankees and Padres hooked up for a small trade yesterday that does bring a little more infield depth to the Yankee roster.  The Yanks acquired MiL infielder Dean Anna from San Diego in exchange for High-A pitcher Ben Paullus.

Anna is a 26-year-old, lefty-swinging utility infielder who has most of his experience at second base and shortstop.  He had been in the SD system since 2008 and worked a slow and methodical climb up the ladder until he reached Triple-A last season.  In 582 PA there, Anna hit .331/.410/.482 (.400 wOBA) with 9 HR, 38 2B, 90 R scored, and solid BB and K rates (10.5% and 11.2% respectively).

He's never been much of a power guy and will likely be even less of one at the Major League level, but Anna does appear to be a step up from Corban Joseph, the player whose spot he essentially took on the 40-man roster.  He can play more positions defensively, and the fact that shortstop is one of them suggests he's got a better arm than CoJo.  While I wouldn't anticipate Anna seriously factoring into any 25-man roster competitions, he's a nice utility piece to have on hand in case of injuries.

Mark Reynolds Finally Give Overbay The Platoon Partner He Needs

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

It took much longer than it should have, and it's a little puzzling that the Yankees decided to let weeks go by after the trade deadline before finally addressing it.  Still, the addition of Mark Reynolds to the bench gives them the right-handed platoon bat they very much needed to pair with Lyle Overbay.  As first reported by Jon Heyman, the Yanks and Reynolds agreed to a deal last night, and he should be with the team and available for the start of tonight's series against the Sawx.  After suffering through the first few months of the season with next to no right-handed power, the Yanks now have another big righty bat to use.

Yanks Add Ishikawa To The Bench Mix

He's not the right-handed platoon bat the Yankees could use for Lyle Overbay at first base, but Travis Ishikawa can and will be the lefty bench bat this team definitely needs right now after the Yankees claimed him off waivers from Baltimore yesterday.

Ishikawa had just 2 singles and 8 strikeouts in 18 PA for the O's this season, making him a very expendable piece for them.  His .316/.413/.525 line he was putting up in 208 Triple-A PA and career .260/.324/.399 Major League batting line are more telling about what he's capable of bringing to the Yankee bench.  Ishikawa is a useful left-handed hitter with just enough power and just enough patience to make him dangerous playing with a short porch in right.  He's also a plus defender at first base, so he can be used to rest Lyle Overbay without losing much defensively.  His primary duty will be as a left-handed pinch hitter - a role the Yankees really needed to fill with their surplus of light-hitting righty left infield bats - and his career .739 OPS and .322 wOBA against RHP makes him viable in that role.

Ishikawa is another in the long line of small, marginal upgrades the Yanks have tried to make to this roster as the season has gone on.  He likely won't be a world beater, but he will be a better late-game hitting option than Stewart or Cruz or Gonzalez if the Yankees need a run.  I'd expect David Adams to be sent down to clear a spot for Ishikawa and I expect that move will happen later today.

Overbay In Right? Why The Hell Not?

(Courtesy of Paul J. Bereswill/NY Post)

The Yankees zigged when most of us thought they were going to zag again yesterday, electing to send Brennan Boesch down to Triple-A to clear a 25-man spot for Andy Pettitte and going ahead with the "Lyle Overbay in the outfield" plan.  It had been hinted at, talked about, but never truly believed as a viable option  in the last week until he was written in as the starting right fielder for last night's game.  I mean, we're talking about a 36-year-old career first baseman who had never played a single inning in the outfield in his Major League career before last night.  He was using Boone Logan's glove out there in place of his regular first baseman's glove last night!  It was another outside-the-box roster decision made out of necessity, the latest in a long series of similar decisions made this season, and once again it worked out for the best.

Who Gets The Axe Today? (Updated)

Mike Eder already beat me to the punch earlier today, but the Yankees have a 25-man roster decision to make today with Andy Pettitte set to come off the DL.  It'll arguably be the most difficult one they've had to make so far this season, because as Mike pointed out, there is a case to be made for cutting and keeping every player on the bubble.  The Yankees' still uneasy health footing with Teix and Youkilis makes it difficult to single out any of their excess infielders as the one who should go, and the last thing they want to do is get rid of somebody like Overbay and then watch Teix go back on the DL for season-ending wrist surgery.

That's why I think it'll be David Adams who gets taken off and optioned back to Triple-A.  He's cooled off with the bat and doesn't offer the defensive versatility of a Brignac or a Nix nor the first base experience of an Overbay.  Regular at-bats are still the thing he needs most and he won't get those with Youkilis back in the picture and the SS platoon around, so why not make the move that's in his best interests?  The Yankees were already starting to experiment with Adams at first and second base again before he was called up.  They can keep doing that again if they want to try to expand Adams' potential roles for the future.

You made a fan of me, Dave.  I'm officially on the bandwagon.  But I think you're gone in a few hours, buddy.

** UPDATE 1:47 PM- Jack Curry reporting that Lyle Overbay will get the start in right field tonight.  Honestly did not expect that.  Maybe that means it's Brennan Boesch who's getting sent down and Adams will stick. **

Why Is Brennan Boesch Getting Work At First Base?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

And why are all my Brennan Boesch-based posts titled in the form of a question?  Last week it was wondering how and if Joe was planning on using Boesch at all after he didn't get much burn in the first few games.  This week it's trying to figure out what the rationale is in Boesch getting worked out at first base before the last few games.  He's never played a game at first in his professional career, and according to Boesch he hasn't played it since high school.  The Yankees, even with Teix out of the picture for the near future, are pretty well covered at first right now with Lyle Overbay and Kevin Youkilis, and there are a few other guys on the roster who make more sense as an emergency option over Boesch.  So why look to add another body to the position so early in the season?  And why Boesch?

Nunez Confusion Continues

A little over a month ago, Brian Cashman stated that Eduardo Nunez would be shifted back to the utility infielder role that was taken away from him in 2012 because of his defensive struggles.  That announcement inspired my response post in which I openly questioned the Yankees' logic and decision making when it came to handling Nunez.  While acknowledging that Nunez has all the tools to be an effective utility infielder and was the best in-house candidate for the job, I felt and still feel that the Yankees' failure to stick with one defined role for Nunez was hindering his development and possibly contributing to his continued problems in the field.

This past weekend, the saga continued when Joe announced that Nunez would work exclusively as a shortstop in camp this year and there are no plans to work him in at any other position "for right now."  The reasons for doing this are obvious and sound, as Derek Jeter is expected to have a slow spring to work himself back from his ankle surgery and will definitely need regular days off early in the season regardless of whether he is able to play on Opening Day or not.  Nunez is the most logical choice as a backup for Jeter, and making sure he's prepared to fill that role makes sense.

With regards to the utility infielder position and Nunez's involvement in that role, however, Joe's statement does cause a bit of trepidation, if for no other reason than it's not in agreement with what Cash said earlier.  Third base is going to be just as much an area of concern with respect to health and rest as shortstop is, and Nunez was expected to be the backup for that position as well under the "utility infielder" title.  This disagreement in role definition from the two guys most in control of setting the definitions could be setting Nunez up for failure again, and could result in an adjustment of the projected bench roles and players filling those roles if there are still questions about Nunez's ability to handle the utility infielder job.

Is Scott Hairston Really The Answer?

With Torii Hunter and Melky Cabrera already off the board and never really looking like they were serious candidates to end up in pinstripes, it was only a matter of time before Scott Hairston's name came up.  He's been on the offseason wish list for the past couple years, but was never a high priority while the Yankees still had 3 good starting outfielders.  Now that they're down to just 2, it was inevitable that he'd be connected to the Yankees and that connection came to light over the weeked thanks to Dan Martin of The NY Post. 

My TYA teammate Mike Eder posted his thoughts on the Yankee-Hairston connection earlier this morning and while he made some good arguments for why Hairston is a good fit, Mike concluded that the Yankees could do better and that's a sentiment I echo.  2 years ago, I would have been all over bringing Hairston aboard, but now?  Not so much.

Yeah, the power is nice, and he's a defensive upgrade over Andruw Jones, but that's really all there is to like.  He doesn't walk, therefore he doesn't get on base; his power is almost exclusively pull power, which doesn't translate as well to YS3 as all-field power does; and he doesn't hit right-handed pitching at all, which means the Yankees will be set up for another outfield platoon setup.  Add that to the revolving door at DH and the quasi-platoon situations at third base and shortstop, and the 2013 team would resemble a Little League World Series team where players are constantly being moved into and out of the lineup.

As an emergency insurance option, sure.  But as a planned platoon "solution" for right field next season with Ichiro, I would be very much against the Yankees signing Scott Hairston.

P.S.- "Jus-tin Up-ton! Clap, clap, clapclapcap!"