Opening Day Roster Prediction: March 18th

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

Exactly two weeks from today, the Yankees will be in Houston, playing the Astros to open the 2014 season at Minute Maid Park. Between now and then, Joe Girardi will have quite a few decisions to make regarding who he would like to have with him for the opening series.

As I did last week, I'm picking this roster off of the assumption that the Yankees will bring 12 pitchers and 13 hitters with them to Houston.

The hitters: Brian McCann, Francisco Cervelli, Mark Teixeira, Brian Roberts, Derek Jeter, Kelly Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Ichiro Suzuki, Eduardo Nunez, Brendan Ryan.

A lot of the same coming over from last week. I put Nunez on the roster this time around because he is actually playing well lately, and even though you could make a case for Yangervis Solarte, he's never played in the majors before, and his career minor league numbers kinda tell you why that might be.

Without realizing it, I left Ryan off of my list last week, so he's on there now. He was pretty much a lock to make the team coming into camp, especially after the Yankees gave him that two-year contract in the offseason.

You could also make a case for Scott Sizemore, who has been able to stay healthy this spring as he comes back from a second torn ACL. He probably won't be 100 percent ready until a couple weeks into the season, and has an opt-out on May 1st, so the Yankees could wait until then to bring him up, giving Nunez one last chance to prove himself, or else the Yanks won't hesitate to give Sizemore a chance.

The pitchers: CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka, Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Matt Thornton, Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley, David Robertson, Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral.

The starting five was a pretty easy choice. Michael Pineda, I think, will be the fifth starter. He's had a very impressive spring so far and the Yankees don't know if he'll be able to pitch out of the bullpen as well as David Phelps and Adam Warren can.

In the bullpen, David Robertson, Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton were basically locks, and even though Girardi said in the offseason that Preston Claiborne would have a spot in the pen, his performance this spring has been below that of many other pitchers fighting for job. Phelps and Warren will start in the bullpen, and their roles will probably be ironed out through the first month of the season.

Dellin Betances hasn't done anything but show me that he's ready to be a reliable arm for Girardi this season. I really like the way he's been throwing the ball, and has more than earned his spot.

I had a tough time filling the final bullpen spot. I figured that with Thornton, the Yankees might find it useful to have a second lefty in the bullpen, and you could make a case for that to be Vidal Nuno, but I went with Cabral because he has been throwing the ball well down south, too. Like I said before, the Yankees have had a lot of pitchers throwing well this spring, and Cabral is one of them.

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Opening Day Roster Prediction: March 10th

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

We're about a week away from being halfway through the spring training schedule, and things are starting to shape with how the Yankees might construct their Opening Day roster.

I gave you my original roster prediction a couple weeks ago before spring game actually started, but now that I've gotten a good amount of games to look back on, it's time to update that roster prediction.

I'm picking this roster off of the assumption that the Yankees will bring 12 pitchers and 13 hitters with them to Houston to open the season.

The hitters: Brian McCann, Francisco Cervelli, Mark Teixeira, Brian Roberts, Derek Jeter, Kelly Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Ichiro Suzuki, Yangervis Solarte, Scott Sizemore.

Things things I have to say about the 13 hitters I selected. One: Ichiro is only on the team is he's not traded, and that might not be the easiest thing to do given his age an contract. The Phillies could be a possible trade partner, as ESPN's Buster Olney noted yesterday. He'll be the fifth outfielder on the roster, and though the Yankees probably don't want that, they'll have to find a role for him.

Second: Solarte will win the job if, and only if, he continues to play as well as he has so far. I think Joe Girardi knows what this guy can bring. He's a lot like Eduardo Nunez, but without the unpredictability. He can play around the infield and even give innings in the outfield. I like him, and would give him a shot if I were Girardi.

The pitchers: CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka, Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Matt Thornton, Preston Claiborne, Shawn Kelley, David Robertson, Dellin Betances.

I think that Pineda is going to win the fifth starter job if he continues to build off of his very impressive debut on Friday against the Tigers. If he doesn't pitch that way for the best of the spring, there is no way he loses the competition against Phelps and Adam Warren.

And Betances has been great so far. He offspeed pitches have been filthy, and he's finally pitching like the Yankees hoped he would turn out to be some day. He could be a very important piece in the Yankees' bullpen this season is things come together for him.

Honorable mentions: Fred Lewis and Matt Daley have looked good this spring. Girardi noted a couple days ago that he has been impressed with Lewis. Vidal Nuno has looked goo, but was always a far outside shot at making the roster. We'll probably see him once or twice during the season if the Yankees are looking for a spot start or are trying to replace an injured starter.

Dean Anna have been solid and he's one of the guys that I've been rooting for, but in the end, there just won't be enough room for them to make the club. He'll provide depth in the minors if needed.

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Warming up: Picking my Opening Day roster

The Yankees brought 66 players to camp with them this season -- far less than the near 90 that had last spring -- but can only take 25 to Houston when they play the Astros on Opening Day. Luckily they'll more than a month to figure out who those 25 might be.

A typical club carries 12 pitchers and 13 position players, so we'll pick the team based off of those numbers.

We already have the list of player that we know will be on the team: Derek Jeter, Brian McCann, Mark Teixeira, Brian Roberts, Brendan Ryan, Kelly Johnson, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Alfonso Soriano, Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki (if not traded), CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka, David Robertson, Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton.

So that puts us at 18 roster spots -- 11 position players, with 6 pitchers -- leaving seven up for grabs.

We know that one will be filled by the winner of the fifth starter competition. That one will come down to either Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Adam Warren or Vidal Nuno. I now count seven pitchers, six spots left.

You gotta have a backup catcher, right? I think that Cervelli will win the job, with Austin Romine and John Ryan Murphy tying for a close second. 12 positions players, five spots left.

The left position player spot has to be used for the infield, without question. This is going to be a tough decision, unless one player stands out from the rest during the spring. Dean Anna, Eduardo Nunez and Scott Sizemore are the three players that will fight for the one job. My bet is that Nunez wins the spot, somehow. That's all of the position players, with four spots left.

Those four jobs will go to the bullpen. You would have to think that whoever finishes second in the fifth starter race will go into the bullpen as the long reliever.

I think that right now, Pineda is going to win the starting job, and Phelps will be moved into the bullpen. The Yankees could also decide to put Warren in the pen, where he had some good success last season.

Three spots left.

Joe Girardi said during the offseason that Preston Claiborne would have a spot in the bullpen, and though I didn't really believe it, I'll give him one of the three remaining spots. Now down to two.

Dellin Betances was one of the "Killer Bs" that the Yankees had been raving about. His control is what moved him to the bullpen, where he has been much more successful. I think that a good spring will easily put him in the bullpen on Opening Day.

The last spot in the bullpen and on the roster is going to be awarded to either Cesar Cabral or Jose Ramirez. Both are young pitchers that have high potential, and the Yankees like both of them. Again, a good spring from one of these guys will punch them a ticket to Houston.

Yankees links worth sharing:

* The Yankees made an offer to Stephen Drew earlier in the offseason, believed to be for two or three years, but he declined it, looking for someone with a few more years added on. On top of that, he rejected an offer from the Yankees after the 2012 season, leading the Yankees to sign Kevin Youkilis.

* Alex Rodriguez is suspended for the entire 2014 season, and won't be seen hanging out around the Yankees anytime soon, and apparently his jersey isn't being sold in the team store either.

* Jeter will hold his retirement press conference in Tampa today at 11:30am EST, and Wallace Matthews has one burning question that he wants to ask The Captain -- why now?

* Jeter's retirement press conference will be a lot like Mariano Rivera's last spring, with all of the Yankees' players and coaches in the room, supporting Jeter throughout the presser.

Warm-up song: "Amber" by 311. I turned on the radio, and picked the song that was playing. This was that song. So this is today's warm-up song. Enjoy!

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer for Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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