Veras Promoted To New York

Jose Veras has been promoted to the Yankees bullpen, filling in the spot vacated when Hughes was placed on the disabled list. Veras pitched very well while in AAA and earned saves in each of his last seven appearances.

On the year [13 appearances] Veras has allowed a mere two earned runs - both of which came in one game - and posted a season ERA of 1.38. Over those 13 innings: 8 hits, 4 walks, 21 strikeouts, .170 opponent batting average.

As Chad Jennings notes, Veras' one-inning pedigree may mean a short stay in the Bronx as long relievers are in steady demand these days. Also, the Sunday promotion of Darrell Rasner will mean a corresponding demotion is in order.

Mussina Throws Five Perfect. Building on his last exhibition start, Mike Mussina lasted five perfect innings today, striking out two along the way. Mussina pitched inside with purpose, and showed the usual good curveball, but his fastball was still 86-88mph. His slow changeup - 70-73mph - was also working well. The Pirates lineup is no murderer's row, but we all realize if Moose had allowed 8 runs on 7 hits to the Bucs his critics would be in an uproar. Therefore, it's only fair to recognize his effectiveness through five economical innings - needing 52 pitches and throwing 32 strikes.

• Damaso Marte pitched a scoreless inning, striking out Derek Jeter and allowing a hard-hit single to Melky Cabrera. Marte used his plus fastball at 94-95mph and flashed a devastating 85mph slider which had Jeter looking foolish. If the Yankees could ever pull off a trade for the dominant lefthander it would be a huge boost to a questionable bullpen.

• Jose Veras had a solid ninth inning, striking out one and shattering a bat with his mid-90s fastball.

• Shelley Duncan made a smart play at first base which saved a run for Mariano Rivera. He then tackled the baserunner, insisting he was only trying to "hug it out."

Postseason Roster is Here

The Yankees announced their postseason roster for the American League Divisional Series. My preferred roster included 12 pitchers and 13 positional players. Joe Torre decided to take Bronson Sardinha as a fifth bench player who will serve as the pinch-running option, and consequently decided on 11 pitchers.

The roster:



So the Yankees bullpen will lack a LOOGY, and quite frankly, Villone is not a lefthanded specialist in the first place. The Bull Dog from Bergen was a good middle reliever for Seattle, and has been a serviceable long-reliever for New York. The Yankees coaching staff were smart in recognizing that you do not have to take a southpaw if a righty can do an equal or better job.

I am probably among the minority, but I think that the inclusion of Jose Veras is the right move. His plus stuff, a 93-96 mph heater along with a solid power-curve, pushed him past other options, and rightly so. Veras has a lot to prove, but if he can avoid walks I have some unjustified belief that he can be a valuable piece out of the pen.

Wisely, Torre also chose Ross Ohlendorf over Edwar Ramirez, Ron Villone and Chris Britton. Ramirez showed too many weaknesses down the stretch, though an improved command of his fastball could result in an extended career with New York. It seems probable that Britton will become a fixture in the 2008 bullpen, but the Big Boy from Baltimore needs to work on his armstrength.

While with Baltimore, I vividly remember Britton flashing a plus fastball 91-94 mph with a tough low 80s mph slidepiece. His fastball in 2007 was league average, hovering between 88-91 and the slider was 77-79 mph. That power aspect to his pitching didn't just get up and walk away, so his mechanics could be to blame. Whatever the case, next season might see a new and improved version of Britt.

Torre + Bullpen = Trouble

Alex Rodriguez hit his 53rd homer of the year in style, bashing a grand slam that raised his RBI total to 151. Kei Igawa fought tooth and nail through five scoreless innings, walking five and throwing 87 pitches.

Unfortunately, the 5-0 lead Igawa handed the bullpen would be blown the very next inning with Edwar Ramirez and Brian Bruney doing the heavy lifting. The assist goes to Torre, who after seeing Edwar walk two batters decided to go to the man who could walk a dead dog. That of course, is Bruney, whose pitch arsenal includes a 93 mph fastball, a 94 mph fastball and a 95 mph fastball. All of which are straight.

He followed Edwar's example by walking two of his own, including one with the bases juiced, and then served up a grand salami to a career minor leaguer. If you TIVOed the game, go back and watch Bruney's appearance. He didn't thrown one off-speed pitch. Just grooved fastball after fastball, graduating from Kyle Farnsworth U. and securing his unconditional release.

And just like that, a night of celebrating a playoff berth became an absurd loss. Maybe the playoff auditions should wait until after the playoffs have become a certainty, Joe. Maybe tossing a reliever out onto the mound who can throw strikes would help the team escape a pitching jam.

After only 87 pitches, Igawa probably could have gone another inning, and if Torre was that hellbent on getting him out of the game, he could have gone batter-to-batter with him. I first guessed on this one, thinking Torre went to his bullpen too early...again. I also first-guessed that Bruney would walk as many batters as Edwar did, and throw nothing but fastballs. It was a bad time to be right.

Torre also could have used Ross Ohlendorf in that spot. His uncanny ability to throw strikes and induce groundballs would have been a better answer than Bri and Eddie. And before you say that Ohlendorf pitched on Monday afternoon, remember that Jose Veras threw just as many pitches on Monday (22), but still managed to pitch Tuesday night. Before Monday's appearance, Ohlendorf only faced one batter on Saturday, meaning he was more than capable of tossing an inning last night.

Sure, Ohlendorf's future is more important to the Yankees than a guy like Veras, but an innings cap is far from necessary. After throwing 180+ innings for the Diamondbacks farm system in 2006, he's been limited to under 100 innings in 2007, due largely in part to several minor back injuries.

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Any dreams of a divisional crown have fallen by the wayside, and because Detroit won last night, New York's magic number remains at 1