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

Rookie Hazing Photos Unleashed

As is customary for major league teams on their final roadtrip of the season, the Yankees dressed up their rookies in embarrassing costumes this afternoon. The motif this year? The Wizard of Oz.

Edwar Ramirez faced a more difficult dilemma: How to shimmy into that little Wicked Witch of the West dress?

He eventually made it, then pulled on his pointy black hat and looked into a mirror. Just for confirmation, he called across the clubhouse to Derek Jeter.

"Jeet! Jeet!" the pitcher said. "Nice?"

Jeter studied the ensemble and smiled.

"Yep," he said. "Bueno."

Joba Chamberlain plays the Cowardly Lion. Phil Hughes is the Tin Man. Upon further review, Shelley Duncan is not a country western singer, but the Scarecrow. Ian Kennedy uncomfortably donned the Dorothy attire. Ross Ohlendorf was a palace guard and Kei Igawa appropriately dressed as one of the flying monkey things.

Here they are: