2012 Post-season roster speculation

[Battingly]

I think you're right. He is certainly higher in the pecking order than Garcia, and I think he has now passed Nova who may be left off in favor of Lowe and Phelps.

Indeed, Lowe has come up huge down the stretch, couple of games we probably don't win without him. And after tonight I have to believe he clinched his spot on the PS roster. You can't come up bigger in a bigger spot in the regular season than he did tonight.

[Battingly]

I think there might be another question to consider:

Who is the forth starter, Hughes or Phelps?

Its probably Hughes, but who here wouldn't feel more comfortable with Phelps if the season was on the line?

[enozlac]

LINE-UP
1 Jeter SS
2 Ichiro LF
3 A-Rod 3B
4 Cano 2B
5 Tex 1B
6 Swisher RF
7 Granderson CF
8 Martin C
9 Chavez DH (vs RHP)

BENCH
10 Nunez DH (vs LHP)
11 Nix INF
12 Ibanez OF
13 Gardener OF
14 Stewart C

ROTATION
15 Sabathia
16 Kuroda
17 Pettitte
18 Hughes

BULLPEN
19 Soriano
20 Robertson
21 Logan
22 Rapada
23 Joba
24 Eppley
25 Phelps (long man)

Close.

I think Lowe will get a spot somewhere on the PS roster, and Dickerson is a shoe in. I don't think Gardner will make the postseason roster.

Maybe Lowe takes Eppley's spot?

[Carsten Charles]

Gardner will absolutely make the postseason roster.

[rajah]

Close.

I think Lowe will get a spot somewhere on the PS roster, and Dickerson is a shoe in. I don't think Gardner will make the postseason roster.

Maybe Lowe takes Eppley's spot?

1) I now think Lowe might take Rapada's spot. We haven't seen much of Rapada because Joe, for good reason, is not comfortable with him facing a RHed pinch hitter in a critical spot. I am surprised by how well Lowe has pitched recently. I still can't see them taking 12 pitchers.

2) I prefer Dickerson over Gardner. Dickerson is a much better option at the plate now with Gardner very rusty. Gardner also looks a bit rusty on the base paths. But with Nix out and Jones in the tank, there is room for both with 11 pitchers and a six man bench.

Bench: Dickerson, Gardner, Stewart, and the -ez boys (Ibanez; Chavez; Nunez).

[sweet_lou_14]

1) I now think Lowe might take Rapada's spot. We haven't seen much of Rapada because Joe, for good reason, is not comfortable with him facing a RHed pinch hitter in a critical spot. I am surprised by how well Lowe has pitched recently. I still can't see them taking 12 pitchers.

Wait, don't you mean he will take Eppley's spot? Girardi is going to want the two lefties in the pen.

2) I prefer Dickerson over Gardner. Dickerson is a much better option at the plate now with Gardner very rusty. Gardner also looks a bit rusty on the base paths.

I'm extremely bearish on Gardner and agree 100% with this.

But with Nix out and Jones in the tank, there is room for both with 11 pitchers and a six man bench.

Bench: Dickerson, Gardner, Stewart, and the -ez boys (Ibanez; Chavez; Nunez).

Right. You had me confused at first because when you start nine players there's only room for a five-man bench. But one of your "-ez boys" would be the DH on any given night, so the math works out.

The only problem I see with the bench above is that Nunez is the only right-handed bat (Stewart notwithstanding). Pearce is gone and McGehee has been buried almost since he got here. So, although Jones should be left at home, I worry that Girardi will want him there.
Gardner would be the first to go if this happens.

[rajah]

1) I did mean Rapada, as I am not sure Girardi will insist on two lefties. He has not been using Rapada much. It could depend on the team they face, but I guess they all have lefties in the middle of their lineups for whom they would not pinch hit.

2) I understand about the bench lacking much from the right side. It is unfortunate that Jones went south. But McGehee really is the only alternative and he has had few at-bats recently. Perhaps they will consider him over Gardner. He also would serve as an emergency infielder.

[Young Steinbrenner]

Rapada has been dominant against leftys, he needs to make it on the roster

[Yankee Tripper]

C - Martin
1B - Tiexiera 2B - Cano
SS - Jeter
3B - A-rod
OF - Suzuki
OF - Granderson
OF - Swisher
DH - Ibanez (could be bench but he's a lock)
BN - Chaves (could be DH or 3B with A-rod sliding to DH)
BN - Stewart
ULT - Nunez
OF - Jones or Dickerson - (hope it is Dickerson, susuepct it will be Jones)

SP - CC / Kuroda / Pettitte / Hughes
RP - Joba / Logan / Robertson / Soriano / Phelps / Papada / Epply / Lowe

Updating my 1st post the only "surprises" are Nix got hurt and is of the mix, Nova pitched himself off the post season roster, Lowe pitched his way on.

Jones/Dickerson are the only question marks for position players in my mind and I know how I'd go.
Epply/Lowe/Nova are the only questions for P, one will be without a chair and I think it is Nova.

[RenoHightower]

MY FINAL ROSTER PROJECTION

STARTERS

CC Sabathia
Andy Pettitte
Hiroki Kuroda
Hughes or Phelps (TBD)

BULLPEN

Rafael Soriano
David Robertson
Hughes or Phelps (TBD)
Joba Chamberlain
Derek Lowe
Boone Logan
Clay Rapada
Cody Eppley

LINEUP

LF Ichiro Suzuki
SS Derek Jeter
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
CF Curtis Granderson
3B Alex Rodriguez
RF Nick Swisher
DH Raul Ibanez
C Russell Martin

BENCH

Eric Chavez
Eduardo Nunez
Brett Gardner
Chris Stewart

Your final roster prediction has two spots TBD.

[Battingly]

Your final roster prediction has two spots TBD.

I have Phelps and Hughes both making the PS roster, the only thing TBD is who starts GM 4 and who goes to the pen.

[rajah]

You people are still increasing the bullpen from 7 to 8 pitchers for a series before which you will have everyone thoroughly rested and an off day in the middle. That does not make sense.

Pick two out of Epply, Rapada, and Lowe, not three.

Then there is another slot for an additional position player.

[effdamets]

You people are still increasing the bullpen from 7 to 8 pitchers for a series before which you will have everyone thoroughly rested and an off day in the middle. That does not make sense.

Pick two out of Epply, Rapada, and Lowell, not three.

Then there is another slot for an additional position player.

Lowell?

[rajah]

Sorry about that.

[effdamets]

Sorry about that.

For a minute there, I thought the Yankees picked up a new player....

[Yankee Tripper]

You people are still increasing the bullpen from 7 to 8 pitchers for a series before which you will have everyone thoroughly rested and an off day in the middle. That does not make sense.

Pick two out of Epply, Rapada, and Lowe, not three.

Then there is another slot for an additional position player.

Epply & Rapada are both specialist. Joe loves his mix and match pen. I can totaly see Rapada coming into face a lefty in the 6th or 7th (Hamilton?) and immediately being replaced by Epply to face a righty (Beltre?). I can see that being more valuable than an extra pinch runner or the ghost of Andruw Jones.

But I can also see a 7 man pen with Epply left out. Lowe & Phelps are the only relivers capable of giving multiple innings (especially since I think Nova & Garcia have no place on the roster). Everyone else is really a 1 inning reliver except in emergency.

[TheStraw]

For the ALDS

Starters (4)
Sabathia
Pettitte
Kuroda
Hughes

Catchers (2)
Martin
Stewart

Infielders (6)
Teix
Cano
Jeter
Arod
Chavez
Nunez

Outfielders(5)
Granderson
Ichiro
Swisher
Ibanez
Dickerson/Gardner/Jones (This seems to be the only difficult decision)


Bullpen(8)
Soriano
Robertson
Joba
Logan
Rapada
Eppley
Phelps
Lowe

What about that 25th spot? Do we go with speed/defense (Gardner/Dickerson), RH pinch hitting (Jones (theoretically), or an extra arm (Garcia/Nova)? Nova seems to be a non-option at this point because of both his performance and how long he takes to get loose. Garcia would be a better BP option, but I'm not sure he is needed with both Phelps and Lowe there. With Ichiro playing LF, I'm not sure that there is a need for the late inning defensive specialist. Nunez is already available to be a righty PH/DH off the bench, so Jones would seem to be out. I'm thinking they go with Gardner for that last spot solely because of pinch running, ala Guzman in 2009.

[yankeesrule2000]

I didn't think there was any shot in hell, Lowe would be on the post season roster. But with the way he has pitched the last few times out, I think he deserves to be there.

[effdamets]

I didn't think there was any shot in hell, Lowe would be on the post season roster. But with the way he has pitched the last few times out, I think he deserves to be there.

You can bet your bottom dollar that Girardi will be pushing for Lowe....
Veteran player, been there before.... Yep - a Girardi special.

[ChinMusic]

Epply & Rapada are both specialist. Joe loves his mix and match pen. I can totaly see Rapada coming into face a lefty in the 6th or 7th (Hamilton?) and immediately being replaced by Epply to face a righty (Beltre?). I can see that being more valuable than an extra pinch runner or the ghost of Andruw Jones.

But I can also see a 7 man pen with Epply left out. Lowe & Phelps are the only relivers capable of giving multiple innings (especially since I think Nova & Garcia have no place on the roster). Everyone else is really a 1 inning reliver except in emergency.

Arent we overvaluing Lowe based on a very small recent sample which has also come against very bad teams to boot? And Gardner is much more than another pinch runner. He is also an elite defender, and if he is taking game atbats, why shouldnt he be the starting left fielder, at the very least against all the righthanded starting pitchers? You could move Ichiro to right and Swisher to DH. And looking at the O's and Rangers, they only have 4 lefty starters, and it wouldnt bother me if Gardner started against Saunders, Chen or Holland. You could sit him against Harrison. They also only have 2 lefties apiece in their pens. I imagine they would want to save them for Cano and Grandy. Having the extra guy who can throw multiple innings, especially when everyone has at least 2 days off going into the series, and another day off during the series, I dont think would be as valuable as having Gardner.

[Yankee Tripper]

Arent we overvaluing Lowe based on a very small recent sample which has also come against very bad teams to boot?

I think it is clear that Giriadi values Lowe much more than Nova given that he brought him into a tie game in game 161 with a 1 game lead for the division and didn't even have Nova warming up.

[Yankee Tripper]

Oh and Gardner won't start. If he's on the roster at all he's stricly a defenseive replacement pinch runner. Clutch pick off by Gardner the other night too. Allowed Gandy & Ibanez to hit off the righty in the 9th.

[ChinMusic]

I didn't think there was any shot in hell, Lowe would be on the post season roster. But with the way he has pitched the last few times out, I think he deserves to be there.

Against Toronto and Boston. To give us a 12th pitcher for a 5 game series, with 3 days off before and 1 day off during the series? Not only that, he's put up a worse ERA with worse peripherals than Nova whilst pitching mostly in the NL. I wouldnt take Lowe over Nova, let alone over Gardner.

[ChinMusic]

Oh and Gardner won't start. If he's on the roster at all he's stricly a defenseive replacement pinch runner. Clutch pick off by Gardner the other night too. Allowed Gandy & Ibanez to hit off the righty in the 9th.

Why isnt he ready to start? It was his job, and will be again next year. Andy was thrown right back in. Why not Gardner?

[ChinMusic]

Oh and Gardner won't start. If he's on the roster at all he's stricly a defenseive replacement pinch runner. Clutch pick off by Gardner the other night too. Allowed Gandy & Ibanez to hit off the righty in the 9th.

Picked off on a balk.