April 1, 2002
No April Fool: Yanks On Roll Already
PLAY BALL ... The Yankees closed out spring training on a 16-2
run, including an 8-5 drubbing of Loudmouth Larry Bowa's
Phillies in Saturday's March finale. The game dispelled some
minor injury concerns as Robin Ventura played 3B, Rondell
White played LF, Jason Giambi was in the lineup at DH as Nick
Johnson played 1B and Bernie Williams patrolled CF. Alfonso
Soriano had a couple of hits from the leadoff position,
Mariano Rivera notched the save and Derek Jeter had four hits;
everything went so well that even a pedestrian performance
from Mike Mussina (5 IP, 5 ER but no walks) was no cause for
concern.
Tearing it Up
DRAFT NOTES ... Friday, in a competitive 12-team AL-only Saber
draft, Yankees accounted for three of the first four picks
(Jeter-2, Mussina-3, Giambi-4) and five more early selections
(Rivera-11, Soriano-20, Clemens-23, Posada-36, Pettitte-45).
It was a steep drop before Wells went at 104. Of the 300
players drafted, 23 were Yankees; Ron Coomer was the first
player signed from waivers, while Adrian Hernandez, Erick
Almonte and Juan Rivera have already been dropped. Others:
Johnson (104), Ventura (130), White (140), VanderWal (147)
Spencer (148), Karsay (157), Stanton (214) and Orlando
Hernandez (218).
Slumping
FOLLOWUP ... There was heated response to last week's
assessment of the overvalued Alfonso Soriano. Let's be clear:
I hope Soriano ends up being another Rogers Hornsby. But the
"Similarity Scores" provided by the good folks at
BaseballReference.com show the most similar player to Soriano
in baseball history -- and so far, nearly a perfect match --
is Ron Gant, who started his career as a 2B with the Braves.
Other names on Soriano's list: Jeff Blauser, Don Money ... and
Juan Samuel. That Soriano is going ahead of Bret Boone and
Jeff Kent in most drafts is, um, optimistic. He's good. He's
not great -- not yet.
At the Plate
HOT CORNER TOPICS ... As noted above, Coomer was an early
waiver addition to our AL-only league, and very likely a good
one. In a deep AL league, where there is such a dearth of
corner infielders that I consider Shea Hillenbrand to be
virtually untradeable, Coomer will get enough at-bats to
deserve the roster spot. And if Ventura's injury recurs at
all, don't expect Drew Henson up from Columbus just yet;
Coomer will get the nod at the hot corner. As predicted last
week, clubhouse favorite Luis Sojo, who hit .350 during the
spring but still couldn't beat out Coomer, was informed he
would be released.
Probable Starters
April 1: Clemens @ BAL (Erickson)
April 3: Wells @ BAL (Ponson)
April 4: Mussina @ BAL (Johnson)
April 5: Pettitte vs. TB (Alvarez)
April 6: Hernandez vs. TB (TBD)
|
From the Rubber
HERNANDEZES ... Andy Pettitte is still on schedule to pitch
the home opener Friday against the Devil Rays; he threw six
strong innings in a minor league game on Saturday. El Duque
will either pitch Saturday April 6 or Sunday April 7 against
the Rays, depending on whether or not Clemens comes back on
Saturday. Duque was roughed up in his final start of the
spring, but looks to have bounced back from last year's injury
issues. The other Hernandez -- Adrian, El Duquecito -- was a
surprise option to Columbus Sunday, meaning a roster spot for
darkhorse Jay Tessmer.
On the Mend
FOUR GONE CONCLUSION? ... Tessmer, a big, skinny 30-year-old
RHP, is a former prospect who hasn't pitched in the big
leagues since 2000. He makes the team in part because New York
sent Ramiro Mendoza, Sterling Hitchcock, Christian Parker and
Randy Keisler to the DL over the weekend. Mendoza, Hitchcock
and Keisler were all considered locks to make the pitching
staff during the off-season; Parker made one start for the
Yankees in 2001 and was lit up for seven earned runs in three
innings. Hitchcock may make a minor league start as early as
this week while Mendoza is set to rejoin the Yankees on April 8.
Recent Call-ups
COMINGS AND GOINGS ... Joining Duquecito on the Columbus
Shuttle was OF prospect Juan Rivera, who had three hits and
three RBI in the win over Philly before shipping out ...
Marcus Thames also was sent down ... Looks like Alberto
Castillo will be Jorge Posada's backup rather than Todd Greene
or Bobby Estalella ... Early candidate for quote of the year
from Rondell White, who at least is good-humored about his
reputation: "I don't want to be Ron-DL" ... Don't miss a word:
these columns are all archived upon publication at
http://dellepro.dellhost.com/doherty/sports/ESPN/ or send
questions to RotoYanks@yahoo.com.
