I'm sure everyone has their opinions about who should make the Yankees playoff roster. Outside of the obvious (CC), the pitching rotation is up in the air. Jesus Montero has been all but guaranteed a spot, so who's spot is he taking? And let's not forget Jorge. I think it's a no-brainer that you have to take him. It's not worth risking the PR hit and potential fan mutiny that would result if he wasn't on the roster. But there are still plenty of questions. That's what I'm here for.
Rotation
CC's going to be on super-extended rest in Game 1 of the Division Series on Friday. That wouldn't have been my course of action with him (I would've had him go on three days' rest in one of the games yesterday, then be on normal rest on Friday), but my last name's not Girardi, so I'm not going to pretend I know what's better for the Yankees than that other Joe. As for the right-handers, the six-man rotation has to be trimmed down to four, so two of them are out. The two that are all but guaranteed spots in the postseason rotation are Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia. Rookie of the Year candidate Nova's a lock. Garcia should be, too. His bad games have been few and far between, and he often ends up on the right side of pitchers' duels. That makes him a pretty solid selection for a postseason start.
So, that leaves Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Bartolo Colon. Colon's out. He's been really shaky of late and is the only Yankee starter with a record below .500. Colon hasn't pitched this many innings since 2008 and it's definitely showing. Now we're down to two. I think the choice is easy. Despite all his well-publicized struggles, I'm handing the ball to A.J. Burnett in Game 4. When A.J.'s bad, he's really bad. But the good A.J. (the one that pitched Game 2 of the 2009 World Series) is one of the best starters in baseball. I think his last two starts locked up his spot. But I'm taking Burnett over Hughes for another reason, too. Hughes has proven he can pitch out of the bullpen no problem. You can't say the same about Burnett. If you send Hughes to the bullpen, he won't get upset and he'll still be productive. That's a dangerous arm to add to an already stacked bullpen.
Bullpen
Speaking of the bullpen, those selections, for the most part, should be pretty easy. Mariano, Robertson and Soriano are all obvious. As the only lefty, so is Boone Logan. Luis Ayala and Cory Wade have also earned spots with their consistency throughout the year. There's no need to go with 12 pitchers (and only four bench players) in the postseason, so there's only one spot left. The three guys in contention are Hughes, Colon and Hector Noesi. My pick is Hughes, for many of the same reasons I gave for picking Burnett as the fourth starter. Hughes has shown he can do it. As either a long man or a short man. Adding that arm to an already ridiculous bullpen is borderline unfair. Colon's value would be as a long man if A.J. falls apart. Same thing with Noesi. He's young. His time will come. You bring him along for the ride in the postseason, but you don't put him on the active roster.
Starting Lineup
Let's not kid ourselves, we all know eight of the nine position players who'll be in the Yankees' starting lineup on Friday night. Russell Martin behind the plate. Teixeira, Cano, Jeter and A-Rod around the horn. Gardner, Granderson and Swisher left to right in the outfield. The only question is who's going to DH? Well, that's probably going to depend on who's pitching. If they play the Tigers, Jorge Posada DHs against Justin Verlander in Game 1. If they play the Rangers, C.J. Wilson is pitching, so Montero DHs. I think it'll pretty much go like that throughout the postseason, although there are options at DH (lefty Eric Chavez and righty Andruw Jones). Then there's always the possibility Eduardo Nunez starts and one of the infielders DHs. But I'd be surprised if it's anything other than a Posada-Montero platoon, at least in the Division Series.
Bench
For the sake of argument while constructing a bench, we'll make Posada the starting DH. Of the five bench guys I'm taking, three are locks--Eduardo Nunez, Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones. The non-DHing half of Posada/Montero will obviously be a bench guy, as well. That leaves one place. If he was healthy, that spot would obviously go to backup catcher Francisco Cervelli. But Cervelli's been out for a while with a concussion and I'd be very hesitant to put him on the postseason roster if I wasn't 100 percent sure he'd be able to play. Thus, a backup catcher is needed. There's been some talk that both Montero and Austin Romine will be on the roster so that Romine can serve as the backup catcher, but I don't think that's the way to go. Russell Martin is more than capable of catching every inning of the postseason. As a result, putting Montero on the roster as the "backup catcher," even if he's going to get a lot of DH at-bats is sufficient. (Don't forget, Posada can catch too.)
Besides, I think that roster spot would be better spent on an outfielder. Andruw Jones being the only backup outfielder on the team for most of the year was really frustrating. Especially since Girardi likes to take Nick Swisher out for defense late in games. That's why my call for the 25th guy on the postseason roster is Chris Dickerson. Dickerson was a frequent rider on the Scranton Shuttle all season, but he's earned a place on the postseason roster. He's performed consistently whenever he's been with the big club. He's fast, too, so that makes him valuable as a potential pinch runner, as well as a late-game defensive replacement for Swisher in right field.
So, in a nutshell, here's my Yankee roster for the Division Series, broken down by position...
SP: CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, A.J. Burnett
RP: Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Cory Wade, Luis Ayala, Phil Hughes
C: Russell Martin, Jesus Montero
IF: Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Eduardo Nunez, Eric Chavez
OF: Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Andruw Jones, Chris Dickerson
DH: Jorge Posada
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