Now that the Yankees have re-signed Chris Capuano for some reason, it's starting to look more and more like they're not going to make a run at Max Scherzer (although, I think the door isn't quite closed on James Shields yet). While I don't understand the Capuano thing, assuming he's the final member of the Opening Day rotation, that makes the roster a little bit clearer.
As I see it, there are 23 roster spots already accounted for. That will probably change because of injuries, trades, signing free agents, releasing guys, etc., but, for the most part the Yankees' 2015 Opening Day roster is pretty much set. While they aren't world beaters and they'll probably be projected to finish third in the division in a number of different publications, they also shouldn't be as bad as last year if everyone can stay healthy for a majority of the season. (I understand that's a big if.)
Anyway, there's a fair amount of turnover from the end of 2014 to the start of 2015. And, as is often a problem with the Yankees, there's only a handful of numbers to be handed out. Although, they've freed up some low ones with the trade of Francisco Cervelli (29), David Robertson (30) leaving as a free agent and the likely not re-signing of Ichiro (31). And if Hiroki Kuroda decides to either retire or stay in Japan, 18 becomes available, too. Brandon McCarthy's 38, which was presumably being reserved for Scherzer, is free (although reliever Preston Claiborne wore that before McCarthy and could presumably take it back). Should Shields sign with the Yankees, he'd actually be able to wear 33, like he has for his entire career.
Before figuring out what numbers the new guys (Didi Gregorius, Justin Wilson, Andrew Miller) might wear, there are also a couple of Spring Training number situations that need to be resolved. Now that Cervelli has been traded, John Ryan Murphy becomes the backup catcher. When Murphy was called up in the past, he wore number 66. But he's on the roster full-time now. He needs a real number. So does Jose Pirela. I'm figuring here that Pirela's on the team to start the season. That means no more number 67.
I really hate unnecessary high numbers. He might look like one, but Joba Chamberlain's not an offensive lineman! Wear a real number! I understand this is really only a problem for the Yankees since they famously don't have any numbers under 11, and a bunch of other prime jersey numbers are also retired, but there's still no reason to wear number 61 when you can just as easily wear something lower.
If it's Spring Training, that's one thing. I can even tolerate the random high numbers in September. But if you get called up in June, wear a real number! You're in the Majors! There has to be one number available between 1 and 59. (If it were up to me, there wouldn't be any double-digit numbers starting with a 6 worn anywhere in the Major Leagues.) Unless you have an actual reason for wearing one, no football numbers! That's why Dellin Betances is allowed to keep 68. Because he's 6'8.
This is a completely arbitrary exercise (if they do change numbers, the Yankees certainly won't make a big deal about it), but I'm going to give Pirela No. 29 and Murphy something in the 30s (33 if they don't sign Shields, 30 if they do).
Then there are the guys that are brand new. Didi Gregorius is the most interesting case. Mainly because, with Capuano coming back, he can't be 26. He's the starting shortstop, so he needs something low, which means Kuroda's 18 is really the only number left for him. If Kuroda does decide to pitch, then Gregorius gets 29 and Pirela takes one of the available ones in the 30s/40s (I'll give him 31).
Andrew Miller's easy. Number 48 is their generic left-handed reliever number. It doesn't matter who. Boone Logan, Matt Thornton, Rich Hill, insert lefty here. Since Miller already was number 48 last year in Baltimore, that one's easy. Justin Wilson was No. 37 with the Pirates, which, not surprisingly, he can't wear with the Yankees. But 31 and 38 are available. Chase Whitley is 39 and Eury Perez is 40, but there's no guarantee either of them makes the team, so those could become available, as well. At the very least they'll be at Spring Training, and I'm thinking Claiborne goes back to 38, which means Wilson ends up with 31.
So, with that, here are the Yankees by number for 2015 (at least according to me):
11-Brett Gardner, 12-Chase Headley, 13-Alex Rodriguez, 14-Martin Prado, (15-Retired), (16-Retired), 17-Brendan Ryan, 18-Didi Gregorius, 19-Masahiro Tanaka, (20-Not Happening), (21-Not Happening), 22-Jacoby Ellsbury, (23-Retired), 24-Chris Young, 25-Mark Teixiera, 26-Chris Capuano, 27-Shawn Kelley, 28-Joe Girardi, 29-Jose Pirela, 30-, 31-Justin Wilson, (32-Retired), 33-John Ryan Murphy, 34-Brian McCann, 35-Michael Pineda, 36-Carlos Beltran, (37-Retired), 38-Preston Claiborne, 39-Chase Whitley, 40-Eury Perez, 41-David Phelps, (42-Retired), 43-Adam Warren, (44-Retired), 45-, (46-Not Happening), 47-Ivan Nova, 48-Andrew Miller, (49-Retired), 50-, (51-Unavailable/Retired), 52-CC Sabathia, 53-Esmil Rogers, 54-, 55-, 56-Tony Pena, 57-, 58-Larry Rothschild, 59-Rob Thomson, 60-Gary Tuck, 68-Dellin Betances
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