Bleacher Creature Feature

#3: Roster Follies

21 March 2002

Okay, I know I promised a piece on Jorge Posada, but this quote from the New York Times web site sparked my desire for roster speculation:

"[Joe] Torre has said he will keep 11 pitchers and 2 catchers to open the season. Besides the eight other regulars, that leaves four spots on the 25-man roster. Infielder Enrique Wilson and [outfielder John] Vander Wal seem to have spots locked up, and the corner infielder Ron Coomer has the inside track for another. F. P. Santangelo has increased his likelihood of making the roster because he can play the infield and the outfield."

Okay, the "eight other regulars" besides Jorge Posada and the backup catcher (Alberto Castillo) are Jason Giambi, Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, and Robin Ventura in the infield, Shane Spencer, Bernie Williams, and Rondell White in the outfield, and Nick Johnson at DH. Peronsally, I'd switch Giambi and Johnson -- the latter is a better first baseman -- but Giambi wants to play first base, and, well, he's Jason Giambi, and first base is a sufficiently unimportant defensive position that the Yanks can probably live with it. And if they can't, I have no trouble believing that Torre would be able to convince Giambi to put his ego in neutral and let Johnson play the field. Hell, even now I suspect they'll switch roles once a week or so, especially given that Giambi's had some hamstring problems this spring.

The 11 pitchers will be the "starting six" (whoever loses among the Wells/Hernandez/Hitchcock trio -- increasingly looking to be Hitchcock -- will likely be consigned to long relief), Ramiro Mendoza, Steve Karsay, Mike Stanton, Mariano Rivera, and someone else (probably Randy Choate, since all the other options are primarily starters). If Mendoza starts the year on the DL, the Yankees will keep one of the kids (Ted Lilly, Brandon Knight, Christian Parker, or Adrian Hernandez) up for bullpen work. My vote there would be Hernandez, actually, as the others really are starters, and would be wasting space, where I think "El Duquecito" is better suited to the bullpen role. And, dammit, if Lilly's on the team, I want him in the frelling rotation!

Calling Shane Spencer a "regular" above was probably being generous. Spencer and VanderWal are actually the perfect platoon combination. Let's look at some numbers, shall we?

From 1999-2001:

Spencer vs. left handers: .304 BA, .331 OBP, .509 SLG, 12 HR in 224 AB
Spencer vs. right handers: .240 BA, .310 OBP, .393 SLG, 15 HR in 512 AB

VanderWal vs. left handers: .230 BA, .309 OBP, .328 SLG, 2 HR in 122 AB
VanderWal vs. right handers: .288 BA, .390 OBP, .499 SLG, 42 HR in 960 AB

That's two of the most definitive platoon splits you're ever going to see. These two were born to play on the same team. The only problem is that there are so many more right-handed pitchers that one fears for Spencer's playing time. Still, they complement each other well, and both are the types of players who help you more if they get 200 well-placed at-bats than 500 ones for lack of anything better to do.

So who gets those final three spots?

Supposedly Wilson is locked up. If that's the case, they've already got their backup infielder who won't embarrass you too badly if Ventura or Jeter or Soriano needs a rest. And he can hit. Coomer and Santangelo are, essentially, the same player only they hit much worse than Wilson. Supposedly, Santangelo can play the outfield, but supposedly, so could Chuck Knoblauch. The same article made it clear that the Yanks are pretty sour on Gerald Williams (would that they had realized that GW is functionally useless before they signed him to that idiotic two-year contract that will make trading him damn near impossible). And they don't want Juan Rivera to be a backup -- he's good enough that he can play every day, but they don't think he's ready for the bigs just yet. (Although he did hit a three-run homer off of Pedro Martinez yesterday which is, if nothing else, something he can tell his grandkids.)

Personally, I'd dump either Coomer or Santangelo and see what's available on the waiver wire at the end of spring training. Spare-part outfielders are a dime a dozen, and there's certainly no need to trade for one. Where do you think the Red Sox got Troy O'Leary?

And if Rondell White starts the year on the DL? I say, give Rivera a shot. Keep the SpencerWal platoon in one corner and let Rivera patrol the other one until White comes back. If it works out, the Yankees get a good player, and more flexibility, especially since this is not likely to be White's only injury this year. If it doesn't, they send Rivera back to Columbus to improve.

Several newspaper articles have described the Yanks' outfield situation as "thin," compared to last year. Last year, it really was thin, as they had a converted second baseman who could barely field the position and wasn't hitting well enough to justify a roster spot, much less a starting job, in left (Knoblauch), and a past-his-prime right fielder playing out the last year of his contract as a shadow of his former (great) self (Paul O'Neill). The outfield looks infinitely stronger this year, with many more options. SpencerWal, Bernie, and White is a solid group, and a huge upgrade over last year.

One other question that has come up is that of lineup. Here, for no good reason, is what my lineup would be:

Posada C
Jeter SS
Williams CF
Giambi 1B/DH
White RF
SpencerWal LF
Ventura 3B
Johnson DH/1B
Soriano 2B

Posada batting leadoff? What is DeCandido smoking?

I'll address that next time when I (really this time!) do my praising of Jorgie-Porgie, My Favorite Yankee.

* * *


(A note on the numbers. Batting average, as you probably all know, is hits divided by official at-bats. There is an increasing movement -- though not increasing nearly fast enough -- to downplay the significance of BA and also look at on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which are much more complete measurings of offense. OBP is number of times reaching base in any way divided by plate appearances. SLG is total bases on hits divided by plate appearances, thus showing the value of each hit. BA is useful, but it only measures one way of getting on base. OBP also takes walks, reaching on an error, getting hit by a pitch, etc., and is more useful because, honestly, it doesn't matter how you got on base nearly as much as that you are on base in the first place. The important thing in baseball is scoring runs, and you can't do that if you don't get on base first. So, in future, if you see three three-digit numbers accompanying players' names, they are BA, OBP, and SLG, since they're all important stats.)

NEXT: Opening Day 2002

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